Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra,

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas of Thane district; also, it is the headquarters of the namesake district. With a population of 1,841,488 distributed over a land area of about , Thane city is the 15th most populated city in

with a population of 1,890,000 according to the 2011 census. Located on the northwestern side of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

of Maharashtra, the city is an immediate neighbour of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

city and a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Etymology and other names

The ancient name of Thana was . It appears as in early medieval Arab sources. The name Thane has been variously Romanised as Tana, Thana, Thâṇâ, and Thame.

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim ...

and Abulfeda knew it as KukinTana; Duarte Barbosa as TanaMayambu. Before 1996, the city was called 'Thana', the British spelling of the city, until it was replaced with the more-local name.

History

A copper plate dating to AD 1078 was discovered near the foundations of Thane Fort in 1787. A land grant from Arikesara Devaraja, lord of Tagara, wherein he addresses the inhabitants of a city called "Sri Sthanaka". for a long time it was military training and recruitment center of

Maratha empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of S ...

British occupied Salsette Island, Thana Fort, Fort Versova and the island fort of Karanja in start of First Anglo-Maratha War but after short time it were recaptured by forces of Haripant Phadke and Tukoji Holkar it remained under control of Maratha empire until Second Anglo-Maratha War

Transport

Railways

Thana was the terminus for the first ever passenger train in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. On 16 April 1853, the passenger train service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder (Bombay) and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 km (21 mi), it was hauled by three locomotives: ''Sahib'', ''Sindh'' and ''Sultan''. Thane is connected with neighbouring suburbs through Central and Trans-Harbour Line Suburban railway network. Thane is a railway junction for the Thane- Vashi &

Panvel Panvel () is a city and taluka in Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is highly populated due to its closeness to Mumbai. Panvel is also governed for development purpose by the body of Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Panvel Municipal Corpora ...

Harbour Line and Central Line. It is one of the busiest stations in

and handles 654,000 passengers daily.

Metro

As of 2019, Wadala and Thane are being connected through a Metro line. On 26 August 2015, the MMRDA sanctioned ₹354 billion for 118 km Mumbai metro network. This includes a 40-km Wadala- Ghatkopar-Thane-Kasarvadavali Metro-4 corridor via Wadala GPO and R.A.Kidwai Marg costing ₹120 billion. As of January 2021, the MMRDA, the nodal agency for building 300 km of vast Metro network, has proposed a plan to build an elevated depot for three Metro lines : 4 (Wadala-Thane-Kasarvadavali), 4A (Kasarvadavali-Gaimukh), 10 (Gaimukh-Shivaji Nagar) and 11 (Wadala-General Post Office, CSMT) at one stop. This depot is proposed at Mogharpada, Thane. The total project cost is estimated to be ₹ 596.60 crore.

Thane Municipal Transport (TMT)

Thane Municipal Corporation started its own transport service on 9 February 1989, known as Thane Municipal Transport (TMT). TMT provides services the city interior and Mumbai suburbs like Mulund, Andheri, Mira road, Nala Sopara, Bhiwandi, Vasai, Virar, Borivali, Vashi, Airoli, Ghatkopar, Dadar, Bandra, BKC, Bhayandar, Kalyan, and

, among others.

Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT)

Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) ply in direction towards Vashi and Navi Mumbai. It goes through Airoli, Turbe etc. Most of NMMT buses ply in Thane from the Kalwa area. NMMT connects city of Thane to various parts of Navi Mumbai. NMMT operates buses to Airoli,

Rabale Rabale is a residential area located between the suburbs of Airoli and Ghansoli on the Thane-Belapur road in Navi Mumbai. Rabale Area is well known for the Rabale MIDC area which houses many manufacturing units. Rabale railway station is situa ...

, Mahape,

, Vashi, Ghansoli, Nerul, CBD Belapur etc.

Mira Bhayandar Municipal Transport (MBMT)

Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Transport (MBMT) started from 2006. The buses ply from Dahisar Check naka towards Versova haneCheck naka. So till now majority of MBMT buses can be taken up at the Check naka only. MBMT has started new services to Thane City from January 2010.

Vasai-Virar Municipal Transport (VVMT)

VVMT is the newest public transport, operational from October 2013. The area of Thane City was connected to the Vasai & Virar by the VVMT.

Future of transport in Thane

A light rail network covering 42 km has been proposed in three phases. In the first phase, consultants have suggested connectivity between Balkum and Kolshet via Naupada. It will be 16.05 km long with 14.65 km elevated, and only 1.4 km on the surface, and 11 stations in all.

Geography

Climate

Thane has a tropical monsoon climate that borders on a tropical wet and dry climate. The overall climate is equable with high rainfall days and very few days of extreme temperatures. In Thane, temperature varies from 22 °C to 36 °C. Winter temperatures can fall to 12 °C at night while summer temperatures can rise to over 40 °C at noon. The lowest daytime temperatures are witnessed during the peak of the summer monsoon in July and August when temperatures can drop to about 25 °C. Out of total rainfall, 80% rainfall is experienced during June to October. Average annual rainfall is 2000–2500 mm and humidity is 61–86%, making it a humid zone. Thana district Places of Interest 1896 map

Thana district Places of Interest 1896 map

Demographics

The population of Thane according to the 2011 census is 1,886,941. The average literacy rate of Thane city is 91.36 percent for where male and female literacy was 94.19 and 88.14 percent respectively. The sex ratio of Thane city is 882 females per 1000 males. Child sex ratio is 900 girls per 1000 boys. Total children (0–6) in Thane city are 186,259 as per Census India report on 2011. There were 98,017 boys while 88,242 are girls. Children form 10.24% of total population of Thane City. The dominant language spoken in Thane is Marathi. Around 70% of population speaks Marathi. Some of the East Indian families in the Khatri ward of Thane still speak Portuguese. About 1,800 of India's approximately 5,000

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

live in Thane.

Lakes

Education

Schools

* D.A.V. Public School *

Hiranandani Foundation School Hiranandani Foundation Schools are a group of schools founded by Lakhumal Hiranand Hiranandani for use by the residents of the housing complexes built by Hiranandani. Both are ICSE schools having classes from nursery to tenth grade. The group ...

* Holy Cross Convent High School * Little Flower High School, Thane * New Horizon Scholars School, Thane *

Podar International School Podar International School is a group of schools that is a part of the Podar Group of Schools, Podar Education Network that was established in 1927 by Sheth Anandilal Podar, with Mahatma Gandhi as the first President of the trust. The group is ...