About New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital of India. It forms, together with Old Delhi, a sprawling megalopolis that is one of the world's most densely populated urban areas. Since ancient times, Delhi has dominated India's cultural, economic, and political affairs. New Delhi is not only the subcontinent's industrial, commercial, and transportation hub but also home to much of India's intellectual and financial infrastructure. The capital is grappling, however, with enormous challenges. Many of New Delhi's residents live in extreme poverty. Vast, squalid slum areas have exacerbated problems of inadequate sanitation, water and electrical power shortages, traffic congestion, and crime. The city has also consistently ranked among the most polluted in the world. To address these crises, India's leaders have authorized an ambitious plan to transform New Delhi over several decades.
Landscape
New Delhi is strategically situated on the plains of northern India, where the Ganges and Indus river valleys meet. The Delhi urban area sits on both banks of the Yamuna River and covers about 1,500 square kilometers (585 square miles). The division of New Delhi and historical Old Delhi reflects the era of British imperial rule in India. In 1912, the British moved the capital from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Delhi, building the section of the city that would become New Delhi just south of the existing Old City.
The Old City, which is the current incarnation of several cities that have occupied the same site since the Muslims first arrived in India, traces its roots to the seventeenth century. Old Delhi's maze of narrow, winding streets and crowded alleyways follow no regular plan. The presence of several magnificent forts attests to the historical attractiveness of Delhi to foreign invaders over the centuries. The Old City is also home to some of Delhi's most revered temples and monuments.
New Delhi has little in common with the chaotic jumble of the Old City. The British were determined to make the new Indian capital into the architectural crown jewel of their empire. They built a grid of broad, straight, tree-lined avenues and created spacious parks and gardens. A horseshoe-shaped commercial center, Connaught Place, was located in the epicenter of meticulously planned circular streets. The graceful architecture of New Delhi's many government buildings and embassies reflects the stately sensibilities of the city's British planners.
This orderly vision, however, has been transformed over time as a result of the extreme growth taking place in New Delhi. The British designed New Delhi to accommodate 70,000 people, but by 2009 the total population of the Delhi urban area exceeded 20 million. The rapidly increasing population fueled the growth of unplanned shantytowns on New Delhi's periphery. As a result of the population boom, new residents created their own homes, many of which are unauthorized. Many of New Delhi's inhabitants live in slums and unsanctioned structures.
New Delhi's climate is notable for its oppressively hot summers. Temperatures in May, June, and July regularly climb as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit). The heat does not significantly subside until October. The spring and summer also subject the city to violent dust storms and hot, dry winds called loo. The monsoon brings some relief when it arrives at the beginning of July. The rainy season lasts through September, bringing with it most of Delhi's annual rainfall.
People
The population of the New Delhi metropolitan area was 32.066 million in 2022, according to the US Central Intelligence Agency. New Delhi's residents come from all over India. In addition to Hindi, the most commonly spoken language in India, English, Urdu, and Punjabi are also common. Many of the capital's newest arrivals are people from rural areas who have moved to New Delhi in search of economic opportunity. New Delhi's latest population boom, however, is only the most recent of a series of dramatic shifts that have taken place in the city.
Prior to the 1947 partition that led to the creation of a predominantly Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan, many of Delhi's residents were Muslim, a reflection of the twelfth-century conquest of India that compelled much of Delhi's population to embrace the faith and culture of their new overlords. The 1947 partition led to an exodus of many Muslims living in Delhi to Pakistan and an influx of many Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan into Delhi. As a result, New Delhi's population doubled in the course of one month.
New Delhi's population has continued to experience significant growth since the partition. The massive migration of Indians from outlying areas to the capital has both economic and political roots. While some have chosen to make their way to New Delhi hoping to escape poverty, others have come because they have been displaced from their homes by a series of dams constructed by the government throughout northern India. Largely illiterate and unskilled, these new residents have faced considerable challenges in their pursuit of housing and employment.
The prevalence of panhandlers on New Delhi's streets led to the 2002 passage of legislation that made it illegal to give money to beggars at traffic lights. The poverty in which many New Delhi residents live, however, shows few signs of abating.
Landmarks
Many of Delhi's historical landmarks are located in the capital's central and southern zones. At the core of Old Delhi is a busy labyrinth of ancient homes and shops known as Chandni Chowk, or Moonlight Square. Standing guard at the eastern entrance to the Old City is the Lal Qila or the Red Fort, an octagonal red sandstone fort built in 1639 when the Mughal emperor decided to make Delhi his new capital.
Opposite the Red Fort at the Old City's western end stands the Jama Masjid. With a courtyard large enough to accommodate 25,000 worshippers, it is India's largest mosque. The Old City is also home to the ancient Dighambara Jain Temple as well as the Hindu temple of Gauri Shankar.
New Delhi is also rich in landmarks. At its center is a monument honoring the 70,000 Indian members of the British military who died during World War I. This monument, the India Gate, stands 42 meters (138 feet) high. On the eastern side of India Gate, ancient citadel, the Purana Qila, or Old Fort, towers over New Delhi.
West of India Gate is the largest palace in all of India, the Rashtrapati Bhawan, originally the home of the British viceroy and now the official residence of India's president. In front of the Rashtrapati Bhawan lies a vast, open plaza, the Vijay Chowk, while behind the palace are the triple-terraced Mughal Gardens, featuring 130 hectares (321 acres) filled with roses, fountains, and gazebos.
Between the Rashtrapati Bhawan and Connaught Place, New Delhi's premier shopping district, is the Jantar Mantar. Built in 1724, it is a vast, open-air observatory commissioned by the astronomer king Sawai Jai Singh. To the west of Connaught Place stands the Birla Mandir, a temple, where worshippers pay homage to the full pantheon of Hindu deities.
New Delhi is home to many museums dedicated to preserving India's ancient history and culture. Some of the most notable include the National Museum, which features artifacts from the full spectrum of Indian civilization dating to the prehistoric era; the National Gallery of Modern Art, which displays paintings from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day; the Rail Transport Museum, which traces the history of the Indian railways; the National Gandhi Museum, which is dedicated to the life of Mahatma Gandhi; and the Indian War Memorial Museum, which traces the development of weaponry from the Mughal era through World War I.
New Delhi Cityscape
