A friend sent me this photo and asked, “what is this?”

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This is a photo of the slums in Mumbai, India. The amazing part is the size of these slums:

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Just scroll around this satellite map of Mumbai (zoom out a bit and head north, for example) to see what I mean:

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How extensive are the slums in Mumbai? This page tells the tale:

Slums

From the page:

Today slum dwellers make up 60% of Mumbai’s population, that is approximately 7 million people…

And the slums continue to grow.

YouTube can give us a view from the ground:

Here’s the same kind of thing in Bombay:

See also:

SLUM CITIES: A SHIFTING WORLD

From the article:

Every year, millions of people around the world are leaving the countryside for cities, hoping to find a better life. But most end up in slums. In fact, the United Nations estimates that by the year 2020, 40% of the population will be slum-dwellers.

See also: Slum Rehabilition Authority – Mumbai

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