Salsette Island
island in India; home to Mumbai
Salsette Island (Portuguese: Salsete, Marathi: साष्टी, Sashti) is an island in Konkan division of the state of Maharashtra, along India's west coast. The cities of Mumbai (Mumbai City district and Mumbai Suburban district), Thane and Mira-Bhayandar (both part of Thane district) lie on it, making it one of the most populous islands in the world. The island forms the central part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and has a population of more than 20 million inhabitants living on an area of about 619 square kilometres (239 sq mi).
Location
Salsette is bounded on the north by Vasai Creek, on the northeast by the Ulhas River, on the east by Thane Creek and Mumbai Harbour, and on the south and west by the Arabian Sea. The original seven islands of Bombay, which were merged by land reclamation during the 19th and early 20th centuries to form the city of Mumbai, are now practically a southward protruding peninsula of the much larger Salsette Island.
The island of Trombay that was to the southeast of Salsette is today part of Salsette as much of the intervening swamps have been reclaimed. It contains Sanjay Gandhi National Park, also known as Borivali National Park. The city of Thane is at the northeastern corner, on Thane Creek, while the western suburbs of Mumbai which stretches from Bhayandar in the northwest corner to Bandra which lies just before the Mumbai City district, lies on its western side while the eastern suburbs of Mumbai that stretch from Thane to Kurla lie on the eastern half of the island. Both suburbs are separated by the Sanjay Gandhi National Park till the neighbourhood of Powai in Andheri. Politically, the Mumbai City district covers the peninsula south of Mahim and Sion while most of the original island constitutes the Mumbai Suburban district.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Salsette Island” is island in India; home to Mumbai. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Salsette, Island and island, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “island in India; home to Mumbai” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q117196. VIAF identifies the subject as 315531399. The Library of Congress control number is sh2012000446. Authority coordinates are 19.200, 72.900. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Salsette Island”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Salsette Island primary sources, Salsette Island archive and Salsette research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Salsette Island”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Salsette Island” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.