Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India. It had a population of 2,541,101 in 2006. Lucknow is also the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division.Located in what was historically known as the Awadh region, Lucknow has always been a multicultural city. Courtly manners, beautiful gardens, poetry, music, and fine cuisine patronized by the Nawabs are well known among Indians and students of South Asian culture and history. Lucknow is famous the world over as the The City of Nawabs. It is also known as the Golden City of the East, Shiraz-i-Hind and The Constantinople of India.

Economy
Lucknow is not only a major market in Northern India but is also an emerging hub for producers of goods and services with very promising potential. Being the capital the Government departments, the public sector undertakings are the principal employers of the salaried middle class. Liberalization has created many more opportunities in the business and service sector and self-employed professionals are burgeoning in the city.

Lucknow also provides a good catchment area for the recruitment of quality personnel by information technology companies for the BPO hubs of Noida, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Large numbers of expatriate labour and NRIs from Lucknow serve in the Gulf and Middle East countries who send considerable remittances to their families back home.

The city is the headquarters of both the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the Pradeshiya Industial and Investment Corporation of Uttar Pradesh (PICUP). The Regional office of the Uttar Pradesh State Industries Development Corporation (UPSIDC) is also located here.

Geography
Situated in the heart of the great Gangetic plain, Lucknow city is surrounded by its rural towns and villages like the orchard town of Malihabad, historic Kakori, Mohanlalganj, Gosainganj, Chinhat, Itaunja. On its eastern side lies Barabanki District, on the western side is Unnao District, on the southern side Raebareli District, and on the northern side the Sitapur and Hardoi districts.