Lucknow is the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is one of the major and most famous metropolitan cities of India and is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division. Lucknow has always been known as a multicultural city and it flourished as a cultural and artistic hub of North India in the 18th and 19th centuries and as a seat of power of Nawabs. Today it continues as an important centre of government, education, commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, culture, tourism, music and poetry.Lucknow stands at an elevation of approximately 120 metres (390 ft) above mean sea level and covers an area of 689.1 square kilometres. It is the second largest city of northern India after New Delhi and the eleventh largest city of India. It is surrounded on the eastern side by District Barabanki, on the western side by district Unnao, on the southern side by Raebareli and on the northern side by Sitapur and Hardoi. The city is on the northwestern shore of Gomti river, which flows through it. Lucknow is accessible from every part of India through air, rail and road. It is directly connected with New Delhi, Patna, Calcutta, Mumbai, Varanasi, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, and other major cities by Amausi airport. The airport is suitable for all-weather operations and can provide parking facility up to 50 aircraft. At present, Air India, Air India Express, Jetlite, Jet Air, GoAir, IndiGo, Saudi Airline, Flydubai, Oman Air and SpiceJet are operating domestic and international flights from and to Lucknow.As the seat of the government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is the site of Vidhan Sabha, the High Court and numerous government departments and agencies. Since 1 May 1963, Lucknow is the headquarters of the Central Command of the Indian Army prior to which it was headquarters of Eastern Command.