Delhi (/ˈdɛli/; pronounced Dillee in Hindi), officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) that includes the Indian capital New Delhi, is the second most populous metropolis in India after Mumbai, with a population of 16.3 million in 2011. The city is also the eighth most populous metropolis in the world. The NCT and its urban region have been given the special status of National Capital Region (NCR) under the Constitution of India's 69th amendment act of 1991. The greater NCR urban, which includes the neighbouring cities Baghpat, Gurgaon, Sonepat, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and other nearby towns, has nearly 22.2 million residents.
Delhi is known to have been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of kingdoms and empires. It has been invaded, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the Medieval era, and therefore the modern city of Delhi is a cluster of many cities scattered across the metropolitan region. Delhi is also believed to have been the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas during the times of the Mahabharata. Delhi re-emerged as a major political, cultural and commercial city along the trade routes between northwest India and the Gangetic plain after the rise of the Delhi sultanates. It houses many ancient and medieval monuments, archaeological sites and remains.
In 1639 AD, the Mughal emperor Shahjahan built a new walled city in Delhi which served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1649 until the Rebellion of 1857. The British had captured Delhi by 1803 and George V announced in 1911 that the capital of British-controlled parts of India would be Delhi. A new capital city, New Delhi, was built to the south of the old city during the 1920s. When India gained independence from British rule in 1947, New Delhi was declared its capital and seat of government.
The name Delhi is often also used to include urban areas near the NCT, and to refer to New Delhi, which lies within the metropolis. Although technically a federally administered union territory, the political administration of the NCT of Delhi today more closely resembles that of a state of India with its own legislature, high court and an executive council of ministers headed by a Chief Minister. New Delhi is jointly administered by the federal Government of India and the local Government of Delhi, and is the capital of the NCT of Delhi.
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