Thane is a very old city. Thane was the capital of the Shilahar kings. Italian traveller Marco Polo visited Thane in 1290. He mentions that Thane is a beautifully developed city. Also, Thane is a major port, where traders sell cotton, linen and leather and buy horses. The Portuguese came to Thana in 1530 and ruled the city for about 200 years till 1739. The Marathas ruled the city from 1739 to 1784. the city was in the hands of the British from 1784. The first train in India ran from Boribandar (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) to Thane at 1853.

The population of Thane according to the 2011 census is 1,886,941. The average literacy rate of Thane city is 91.36 percent for where male and female literacy was 94.19 and 88.14 percent respectively. The dominant language spoken in Thane is Marathi. Some of the East Indian families in the Khatri ward of Thane still speak Portuguese.

Thane has a tropical monsoon climate that borders on a tropical wet and dry climate. The overall climate is equable with high rainfall days and very few days of extreme temperatures. In Thane, temperature varies from 22 ?C to 36 ?C. Winter temperatures can fall to 12 ?C at night while summer temperatures can rise to over 40 ?C at noon.

The economy of Thane has undergone a gradual transition from being a tiny agricultural hub to a thriving industrial axis. With the speedy development of various service sectors, IT parks, and other textiles, engineering, chemical, software and electronic industries, Thane has today become the third most industrialized district in the State. The Thane District boasts of its nearly 1548 large and medium scale and about 18,480 small scale industries. Thane industries handle the manufacturing and export of Drugs, Pharmaceuticals, Textiles, Iron & Steel, Plastic, Rubber, Chemicals, Fertilizers, Electronics and Engineering goods. Agriculture, fishery and wood products also contribute to the economy of Thane.

The natives of Thane belong to Agri and Koli communities who still inhabit the villages scattered in and around the Thane District. They have retained their culture and heritage over the centuries and protected it from the heavy torrents of modernization. During the Portuguese and British Rule over India, Thane was also occupied by Portuguese, English and local (converted) Roman Catholics. Even today some of the families of the Khatri Ward in Thane speak Portuguese. Presently Thane exhibits a mixture of predominant Maharashtrian Culture and the multi-coloured cosmopolitan culture. Thane has accommodated a multitude of immigrants arrived here from Mumbai, different parts of Maharashtra as well as the country. Next to its Marathi population, Thane houses a large number of North Indians, Gujaratis, Marwaris, Sindhis, South Indians and other communities from all over the country.