Hyderabad is the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Musi River in the Deccan Plateau in southern India. The city has an area of 650 square kilometres (250 sq mi) with a population of 6.8 million, and the metropolitan area contains 7.7 million residents, making it the fourth most populous city and the sixth most populous urban agglomeration in the country. As of 2011, the city had per capita annual income of Indian rupee ( ) 44,300. The city was expanded in 2007 to form the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. As a growing metropolitan city in a developing country, Hyderabad confronts substantial urban pollution, traffic congestion, overpopulation and other logistic and socio-economic problems.
Hyderabad was established in 1591 CE by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah and remain under the rule of the Qutb Shahi dynasty until 1687 when Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered the sultanate, and the city became part of the Deccan province of the Mughal empire. In 1724 Asif Jah I, a Mughal viceroy, declared his sovereignty and formed the Asif Jahi dynasty—also known as the Nizams of Hyderabad. The Nizams ruled the princely state of Hyderabad for more than two centuries, under subsidiary alliance with the British Raj. The city remained the princely state's capital from 1769 to 1948—when the Nizam signed an Instrument of Accession with the Indian Union following the Operation Polo. The city became capital of Andhra Pradesh following the 1956 State Reorganisation Act. Since 1969, Hyderabad has been a major center of the Telangana movement, which demands a separate state for the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.
Situated at the crossroads of North and South India, Hyderabad is noted for its unique culture. As the former capital of the largest and richest Princely state of India and with the patronage from Nizams, Hyderabad established local traditions in art, literature, architecture and cuisine. The city is a tourist
