Pune has been known by a plethora of sobriquets. Popular among them: Queen of the Deccan, cultural capital of Maharashtra, pensioner’s paradise, and Oxford of the East. Pune is one of the historical cities of India with a glorious past, an innovative present, and a promising future.

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The Pune Municipal Corporation administers the city. Its boundaries extend over four hundred square kilometers and it has a population of close to four million. Thus, Pune city has been developed into a Pune metropolitan area, just equal in area to that of Greater Mumbai. It is located 192 km (by rail) and 160 km (by road) from Mumbai and is 559 meters above the mean sea level.

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Being surrounded by beautiful hills and the Sinhagad fort, it has a temperate climate. Water, which is plentiful, is supplied to the city from Panshet, Khadakvasla, and Varasgaon dams - all located about thirty kilometers from Pune. Pune is among the greenest urban areas in the country with more than 40 percent of its area under green cover.