cities v/s town

City vs Town

Cities and towns are differentiated primarily by an area’s demography and its geography. In simple terms, cities are larger dwelling places than towns.

Cities cover a wider area than towns and as cities advance, they may sometimes incorporate or merge with surrounding areas. Towns on the other hand do not generally expand into other areas in the same way as cities.

Cities are more densely populated than towns. Towns, as mentioned earlier, are smaller than cities but bigger than villages. Unlike towns, most cities are the seat of most of a region’s administrative functions, that is to say, most of the important administrative offices are situated in the cities.

The governance of cities is handled by corporate bodies whereas municipal bodies rule the towns. Generally a mayor is the head of a city corporation, while a chairman is the head of a municipality. The center of power mainly rests in the cities and not in the towns.

Unlike the towns, cities are generally well planned and have proper sanitation, drinking water, roads and other modern amenities.

The first towns were those where people no longer did farming but were engaged in other occupations and trade. As towns expanded, this led to the formation of cities.

Though the classification of an area as a town or city is related to it’s population; different countries have different methods of making this classification. In the US, a ‘city’ is just a legal term that means an urban area with autonomous power. In other countries, the word may not have such a legal basis and is generally just used to refer to a large settlement.

Indian cities & Towns of India

India is a diverse country, rich in traditions and customs. With colossal heritage panned across the country and over one thousand languages. With 29 states, 7 union territories and 609 cities, and 7395 towns the country is one pool of intelligent resources. Its major cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Madras where commercial activities are at an all time high. The names of the 29 states are as follows: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Telangana , Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal. The names of the 7 union territories are: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. A town is defined as an area that is bigger than a village but smaller than a city. Hence when villagers go far off for purchases, they go into a town. Basically a town is better connected than a village but not with as good infrastructure as a city. India has more than 6 lakh villages, i.e. far more than towns and hence we say India is rooted in its villages. Nonetheless some villages are picture perfect making it a tourist haven. Indians and foreigners make their way to these tiny covets that take leisure to the next level with green landscape, colourful birds displaying nature’s beauty in its virgin state. Some of the tourist destinations are Pune, Kerala, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Bhopal. But if you go to any village on the Indian map, you will not be disappointed. Take up any state Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala....the beauty in the interior villages are beyond anything you have ever imagined. Even towns are places you can reckon with and the cities of India are ever bustling. They never sleep; you can dine and party all night long. Infact many opine that Mumbai city is almost like New York. Fast paced and there’s nothing stopping it.

India has four major metros, which are Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, and Madras. Other Indian cities of tourist interest include Pune, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur,  and Bhopal-to name but a few.

The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people (2011 census), more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing China, its population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050. Its population growth rate is 1.41%, ranking 102nd in the world in 2010. Indian population reached the billion mark in 2000.

India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4.

India has more than two thousand ethnic groups,and every major religion is represented, as are four major families of languages (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman languages) as well as two language isolates (the Nihali language spoken in parts of Maharashtra and the Burushaski language spoken in parts of Jammu and Kashmir).

Further complexity is lent by the great variation that occurs across this population on social parameters such as income and education. Only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic, genetic and cultural diversity of the nation of India.