Pune (known earlier as Poona) derives from Punya Nagari (Sanskrit, "City of Virtue"). The oldest reference to this name is on a Rashtrakuta copper plate dated to 937, in which the town is referred to as Punya-Vishaya or Punak Vishaya. By the 13th century, it had come to be known as Kasbe Pune or Punavadi. Although the city's name is sometimes transcribed as Poona in English, a practise particularly common during the British Raj, the spelling "Pune" has now become standard.

Pune is also known as The Oxford of the East, due to the various educational institutions, and also sometimes referred to as The Detroit of India owing to the many manufacturing companies, particularly automobile giants, having their base within the city's metropolitan area.

Pune (pronounced /pune/, Marathi: पुणे) formerly Poona, is the second largest city in the state of Maharashtra in western India, around 160 kilometers southeast of the state capital, Mumbai. Situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula and Mutha river, Pune is the administrative capital of Pune district and the eighth most populous metropolitan area in India.

Pune is known to have existed as a town since 937 AD. Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire, lived in Pune as a boy, and later oversaw significant growth and development of the town during his reign. In 1730, Pune became an important political centre as the seat of the Peshwa, the prime minister of the Chhatrapati of Satara. After the town was annexed to British India in 1817, it served as a cantonment town and as the "monsoon capital" of the Bombay Presidency until the independence of India. In independent India, Pune is known for its educational facilities, having more than a hundred educational institutes and nine universities. It also boasts a growing industrial hinterland, with many information technology and automotive companies setting up factories in Pune district.