Thane (Marathi: [ˈʈʰaːɳeː]; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the state of Maharashtra in India and on the northeastern side of Mumbai. It is an immediate neighbour of Mumbai city proper, and a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. 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 147 square kilometres (57 sq mi), Thane city is the 15th most populous city in India with a population of 1,890,000 according to the 2011 census.
Some of the restaurants listed under Eat have bars where you can have a drink, but Thane is not a place known for its nightlife. The lower end bars tend to be sleazy, so you need to be careful.
** Desi Garbar, Shop No. 6 & 7, Akanksha Society, Panchpakadi, Thane(W) ** Shop no 14,15, Ground Floor, Siddhachal Phase 4, Near Vasant Vihar, Pokhran Rd no 2, Thane(W).
The old shopping areas are the ever busy Ram Maruti Road and the Naupada road towards Thane Station. There you will find shops on the roadside. New malls are coming up on Ghodbunder Road and the Eastern Express highway. Prominent among them are:
There are many lodges near the railway station, but there is a lack of decent hotels.
Thane (tthah-nneh) is known as the Elder Sister of Mumbai, as Thane district was divided and part of Thane district that is from Mulund to Sion was given to Mumbai for its future development. Also, Mumbai depends heavily on Thane for water supply from lakes. Thane for all practical purposes is a suburb of Mumbai. Today Thane city area is with more than 1.2 million population.
Thane was inhabited by people of the Agri and Koli communities, and their villages still exist today as "Chendani Koliwada", "Kopari Goan", and "Uthalsar". It also includes Majiwade, Balkum, Dhokali, Kolshet, Wadavli, and others. In 1825, when the British explored their newly annexed territories in Bassein, they discovered that Thane was inhabited primarily by Roman Catholics, who are both native and Portuguese, and that the latter was virtually indistinguishable from the former in skin colour and custom. The local villagers, like Kolis (fishermen), are converted into indigenous Catholics mostly from the villages of Chendani, Koliwada, and Majiwada. The Agri and Koli community people had their own cultures. Some of the upper-class East Indian families in the Khatri ward of Thane still speak Portuguese.
There are 30 lakes within and around the city, earning it the sobriquet of Lake City. Apart from being a source of water for Thane and its larger neighbour, Mumbai, the lakes are also tourist attractions. The areas surrounding the city are beautiful. The scenic locales, old forts, boat rides and resorts make Thane a great getaway from Mumbai.
This article also covers Kalwa, an important industrial hub in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The massive industrialisation around the Belapur Road, passing through Kalwa has supposedly turned it into one of the biggest industrial and manufacturing hubs in India. Now, its parks are also on the way to development in Navi Mumbai. The important old Mumbai-Pune highway passes through Kalwa. The leading industrial product exported from this suburb is fuel filters for Ford Motor Corporation.
