Hyderabad /?ha?d?r?b??d/ is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and de jure capital of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad City has a population of about 6.9 million, with about 9.7 million in Hyderabad Metropolitan Region, making it the fourth-most populous city and sixth-most populous urban agglomeration in India. In 1687 the city was annexed by the Mughals. As the capital of the princely state of Hyderabad, the city housed the British Residency and cantonment until Indian independence in 1947.

Hyderabad City became joint capital of the two states, a transitional arrangement scheduled to end in 2025. Since 1956, the city has hosted the winter office of the President of India. The amalgamation of local and migrated artisans had originated a distinctive culture, and the city emerged as the foremost centre of oriental culture. Through its cuisine, the city is listed as a UNESCO creative city of gastronomy.
 

• Area: 217 Sq Km.
   
• Languages Spoken: Urdu, Hindi, Telugu and English.
   
• Airport: The airport at Shamshabad, 22Km south of the Hyderabad city.
   
• Religion: About 50% of the population consists of Muslims; there are Hindus and Sikhs Exports: Software, Basmati rice and spices, medical transcription and oil exports.
   
• Industries: Electrical fans, cooling systems, software industries, jewellers, pharmaceuticals and automotive industries.
   

Local government
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation oversees the civic infrastructure of the city's 30 «circles», which together encompass 150 municipal wards. The HMDA is an apolitical urban planning agency that covers the GHMC and its suburbs, extending to 54 mandals in five districts encircling the city. It coordinates the development activities of GHMC and suburban municipalities and manages the administration of bodies such as the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board. As the seat of the government of Telangana, Hyderabad is home to the state's legislature, secretariat and high court, as well as various local government agencies.

The Lower City Civil Court and the Metropolitan Criminal Court are under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

A GHMC sweeper cleaning the Tank Bund Road
As of October 2014, there were 15 fire stations in the city, operated by the Telangana State Disaster and Fire Response Department. The government-owned India Post has five head post offices and many sub-post offices in Hyderabad, which are complemented by private courier services.

Pollution control
Hyderabad produces around 4,500 tonnes of solid waste daily, which is transported from collection units in Imlibun, Yousufguda and Lower Tank Bund to the dumpsite in Jawaharnagar. The city's «VIP areas», the Assembly building, Secretariat, and Telangana chief minister's office, have particularly low air quality index ratings, suffering from high levels of PM2.5's. Groundwater around Hyderabad, which has a hardness of up to 1000 ppm, around three times higher than is desirable, is the main source of drinking water but the increasing population and consequent increase in demand has led to a decline in not only groundwater but also river and lake levels. This shortage is further exacerbated by inadequately treated effluent discharged from industrial treatment plants polluting the water sources of the city.

The Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare is responsible for planning, implementation and monitoring of all facilities related to health and preventive services. 
 

The Telugu film industry based in the city is the country's second-largest producer of motion pictures. Until the 19th century Hyderabad was known for the pearl industry and was nicknamed the «City of Pearls», and was the only Golconda Diamonds trading centre in the world. Many of the city's historical and traditional bazaars remain open. Since the 1990s, the city has emerged as an Indian hub of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

Recent estimates of the economy of Hyderabad's metropolitan area have ranged from $40 billion to $74 billion, and have ranked it either fifth- or sixth- most productive metro area of India. Hyderabad is the largest contributor to the gross domestic product, tax and other revenues, of Telangana, and the sixth-largest deposit centre and fourth largest credit centre nationwide, as ranked by the Reserve Bank of India in June 2012. As of 2006, the largest employers in the city were the governments of Andhra Pradesh and India. According to a 2005 survey, 77% of males and 19% of females in the city were employed.

The service industry remains dominant in the city, and 90% of the employed workforce is engaged in this sector. The establishment of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited , a public sector undertaking, in 1961 was followed over the decades by many national and global companies opening manufacturing and research facilities in the city. As of 2010, the city manufactured one-third of India's bulk drugs and 16% of biotechnology products, contributing to its reputation as «India's pharmaceutical capital» and the «Genome Valley of India». Hyderabad is a global centre of information technology, for which it is known as Cyberabad.

As of 2013, it contributed 15% of India's and 98% of Andhra Pradesh's exports in IT and ITES sectors and 22% of NASSCOM's total membership is from the city. The development of HITEC City, a township with extensive technological infrastructure, prompted multinational companies to establish facilities in Hyderabad. Like the rest of India, Hyderabad has a large informal economy that employs 30% of the labour force. Those involved in the informal economy constitute a major portion of the urban poor.

As of 2018, the most commonly used forms of medium-distance transport in Hyderabad include government-owned services such as light railways and buses, as well as privately operated taxis and auto-rickshaws. These altogether serve 3.5 million passengers daily. Bus services operate from the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in the city centre with a fleet of 3800 buses serving 3.3 million passengers. Complementing these government services are minibus routes operated by Setwin .

As of 2018, there are over 5.3 million vehicles operating in the city, of which 4.3 million are two-wheelers and 1.04 million four-wheelers. Maximum speed limits within the city are 50 km/h for two-wheelers and cars, 35 km/h for auto rickshaws and 40 km/h for light commercial vehicles and buses. Five state highways, 225 km SH-1 links Hyderabad, to Ramagundam, SH-2, SH-4, and SH-6, either starting from or passing through, Hyderabad.