Before the real estate boom, Gurgaon was dominated by Jat people and Gujjars. Jats and Gujjars, like the citizens of ancient Rome, alternated between farming and fighting for their lands in this part of the world for centuries. This fierce race had been the buffer by default shielding Hindus from foreign Islamic invasions from the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. However, after the rise of Mughals, Jats' influence gradually waned. During the British rule in India, Gurgaon was integrated into the Punjab Province. Following India's independence, Gurgaon remained a part of the state of Punjab but after the bloody Punjab insurgency, it became a part of the newly created state of Haryana.
Gurgaon remained a small farming village while neighboring Delhi emerged as India's political capital. Delhi's economic rise attracted a large influx of laborers from neighboring regions like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab rapidly increasing Delhi's population. By early 1990s, Delhi was one of the most populated and crowded cities in the world and the need for a satellite city became more apparent. Gurgaon seemed like an ideal choice given its vast undeveloped farming lands and proximity to Delhi. Haryana Urban Development Authority bought large acres of land from farmers in Gurgaon and developed residential and commercial sectors. Tax incentives by the state government of Haryana and improvement in infrastructure attracted Indian companies and foreign investment and Gurgaon emerged as one of the major manufacturing and services hub in northern India.
TRANSPORTATION
The state governments of Delhi and Haryana have created an 8 lane expressway from Delhi to Gurgaon, which meets European standards. It is part of the Golden Quadrilateral project. Though only 28 km long, the expressway became one of the few 35 motorways in the world and the fourth in India to have street lights[citation needed]. The expressway between Gurgaon and New Delhi, provides non-stop connectivity to the Indira Gandhi International Airport and the Domestic Airport and to Dhaula Kuan in Delhi over a distance of 28 kilometers (18 miles), and includes 7 flyovers and 5 underpasses along the stretch.
An inexplicable fact, modes of public transport within the city practically do not exist. There are a handful of local buses plying on a few routes. The only other form of transport is taxi. Gurgaon has 4 types of Taxis as to make them cater to all classes of the population from the rich to the poor. The taxis range from the Black and yellow cab to the most expensive taxi dubbed White Taxi. Government has not taken much of an initiative to introduce buses or other forms of public transport as the average salary in Gurgaon is double the country's average salary and accounts for 50% of tax revenues along with Faridabad for the state of Haryana.
The main Bus Depot of the city connects to all neighboring towns including Delhi. The buses to Delhi are the most frequent and have a choice of routes between AIIMS (via Mehrauli) and Dhaula Kuan. It also connects to Rohtak, Jammu, Faridabad , Dharuera and others. Recently, the Gurgaon administration and Haryana Roadways has bought 10 Cerita Motors semi low floor bus and has started some new city bus service routes in new gurgaon that connects the fashion district of MG Road to the numerous business parks like DLF City and Unitech Internatiional Business Park. Due to a lot of job opportunities inv Gurgaon, the Delhi Transport Corporation is using 15 of their 250 air-conditioned Tata Marcopolo buses to ply on the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway.
Most Gurgaonites own cars as the cream of the Delhi-ites have moved to Gurgaon but to minimize traffic on the expressway, a metro line too is supposed to link the prosperous suburb of Delhi, Gurgaon with other parts of Delhi. A Monorail or suburban railway is also being discussed by the Haryana government to link Gurgaon with Faridabad, which is the other financial hub for the state of Haryana. Plans to extend the Delhi Metro to Gurgaon have now been formally approved by both Delhi and Haryana governments, both having reached a cost sharing arrangement. Delhi Metro to Gurgaon is expected to be completed by the year 2010.
Due to the little importance of the Gurgaon railway station it has gone into disrepair and is a contrast to the modern building made of steel and glass in the rest of the cities. The rails connect to both Rewari on one side and Delhi Cantt on other. Gurgaon has its railway station located at the extreme corner of the city and little parking facilities thus improving the civil facilities of the city has been the most important topic in the administration. Gurgaon residents mostly depend on railway stations in Delhi or airports for long-distance travel.
GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Gurgaon is located at 28.47° N 77.03° E. It has an average elevation of 220 metres (721 ft).
The present Gurgaon district comprising nine blocks Tauru, Nuh, Pataudi, Nagina, Punhana, F.P.Jhirka, Sohna, Gurgaon & Farrukhnagar was created on 15 August,1979. It is the southern-most district of Haryana. On its north, it is bounded by the district of Rohtak and the Union Territory of Delhi. Faridabad district lies to its east. On its south, the district shares boundaries with the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. To its west lies the district of Rewari and the State of Rajasthan. Gurgaon is situated between the Himalayas and Aravalis mountain ranges. It is surrounded on 3 sides by Haryana and to the east, across the river Yamuna by Uttar Pradesh. Its greatest length is around 13 miles and the greatest breadth is 17 miles. Delhi's altitude ranges between 213 to 305 meters above sea level.
SHOPPING
Gurgaon is considered as the unofficial "Mall Capital of India" Gurgaon is known for its large number of malls and shopping facilities, attributed to be one of the major factors in its recent growth. Though Gurgaon lacks in historic history, the new shopping centers have opened up all around the city. The first shopping malls were established on MG Road- DLF City Center Mall and MGF Metropolitan Mall. Since then many new ones have sprung up around the city like the Ambi Mall, the largest mall in India and South Asia and 7th largest in Asia. Wedding Mall (2007) and Gold Souk are one of many speciality malls in town. Mall of India which is being constructed and is supposed to be completed in 2008 end is supposed to be the 9th largest in the world. Most new malls are targeting high-end consumers and are almost exclusively dedicated to world-famous fashion brands like Chanel and Versace. In March 2008, a new law went into effect in the state requiring all malls and shopping centers to be closed one day per week in order to conserve electricity and help traffic flow. All malls and shopping centers are closed on Tuesday. However, some major retail chains like LifeStyle stores have managed to open on all seven days.
RECREATION
There are numerous sports club around the city. Most real estate companies have established recreational facilities in their own residential complexes.
Neemrana and Pataudi Palace are Historic Hotel resorts and favorite weekend getaways for Gurgaon-ites. The Shekhawati Region near Gurgaon hosts one of the best havelis in India with beautiful frescoes. The towns of Shekhawati are eminent for their amazing painted havelis. Such is the appeal of the havelis that this region is dubbed as "open art gallery of Rajasthan". The plethora of painted Havelis in rich artistic tradition makes it commendable and fascinating. Most of the buildings are dated from 18th century to early 20th century. The Shekhawati landscape is dotted with so many havelis that tracking them is something like a treasure hunt.
MEDIA
Due to its close proximity to Delhi, Gurgaon shares media outlets with the capital city, such as radio stations, television stations, and newspapers. Television programming in the city includes two free terrestrial television channels offered by Doordarshan, and several Hindi, English and regional-languages cable channels offered by Multi system operators. Satellite television, in contrast, is yet to gain large-scale subscribership in the city.
Print journalism is also shared in Gurgaon and Delhi. During the year 2004–05, 1029 newspapers—in thirteen languages—were published in Delhi. Of these, 492 were Hindi language newspapers, and included Navbharat Times, Dainik Hindustan, Punjab Kesri, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar and fastest growing weekly The Stageman International. Among the English language newspapers, The Hindustan Times, with over a million copies in circulation, was the single largest daily. Other major English newspapers include Indian Express, Business Standard, Times of India, The Hindu, The Pioneer and Asian Age. Radio is a less popular mass medium in Delhi, although FM radio has been gaining ground since the inauguration of several new FM channels in 2006. A number of state-owned and private radio stations broadcast from Delhi, including All India Radio (AIR), one of the world's largest radio service providers, which offers six radio channels in ten languages. Other city-based radio stations include Big FM (92.7 FM)''Radio Mirchi (98.3 FM), Fever (104.0 FM), Radio One (94.3 FM), Red FM (93.5 FM) and Radio City (91.1 FM).
SPORTS
Unlike in the rest of India where Cricket is most popular, in Gurgaon, Golf has taken over. Gurgaon currently has 2, 18 hole golf courses and hosted the Johnnie Walker Classic in 2008 at the DLF Golf and Country Club. There are also plans that Delhi Open or th so called Indian Masters will be shifted to either Gurgaon, Noida or Greater Noida. It was one of the top competitors for the Indian Grand Prix which is now to take place in Delhi's other prosperous subrub, Noida. The Formula One team Force India owned by industrialist, Vijay Mallya also has plans to make a practice circuit near 32 Milestone, which houses a go karting track. There are also plans to extend the number of teams in IPL. That might give a chance for Gurgaon to have its own team.
But there is still a lack of sports complexes in Gurgaon. Most are owned by corporate companies and membership is quite expensive. The government has promised to make 5 Sports Complexes by 2010.
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