Haldwani is said to be the financial capital of Uttarakhand, having the most commercial, economic and industrial activities of the state.

The Haldwani Urban agglomeration has 656,000 people as of 2021, and is the third most populous UA in Uttarakhand, after Dehradun and Haridwar.

Located in the Bhabhar region in the Himalayan foothills on the banks of the Gaula River, the town of Haldwani was established in 1834, as a mart for hill people who visited Bhabar during the cold season.

The Haldu trees were found in abundance around the city prior to deforestation of the region for agriculture and settlement.

The place was regionally known as Halduvani until George William Traill took over as Commissioner of Kumaon and renamed it to Haldwani in 1834.

[6] The Terai area southward consisted of thick forests, and was used as hunting grounds by the Mughals.

[4] Though British records suggest that the place was established in 1834, as a mart for hill people who visited the Bhabhar (Himalayan foothills) region, during the cold season.

[5][9] The Rohillas, who were accused of attacking Haldwani, were hanged by the British at Phansi Gadhera in Nainital.

[16] In 1940, at the Haldwani conference, Badri Datt Pandey voiced for granting special status to the mountainous regions of Kumaon in the United Provinces, thus, giving a way to the future Uttarakhand movement.

Geologically, Haldwani is settled on a piedmont grade (called Bhabhar) where the mountain rivers go underground to re-emerge in the Indo-Gangetic plain.

[24] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, Haldwani falls under seismic zone 4, in a scale of 2 to 5 (in order of increasing vulnerability to earthquakes).

[25][26]: 27 The Haldwani tehsil has an area of 958.6 square k.m, including both flat and hilly ground, and is in the Indian Standard Time Zone (UTC−5:30).

[27] Dozens of colonies were set up in the early 2000s without any regulation with narrow roads, making commuting a nightmare.

Apart from the towns of Haldwani and Kathgodam, the Urban Agglomeration of Haldwani also includes eleven outgrowths (judge farm, Damua Dhunga Bandobasti, Byura, Bamori Talli Bandobasti, Amrawati Colony, Shakti Vihar, Bhatt Colony, Manpur Uttar, Haripur Sukha, Gaujajali Uttar, Kusumkhera, Bithoria No.

[32] The Current population of Haldwani is about 650,000 people including urban and Rural areas.The region is dominated by the Kumaonis and migrants of various states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Bengal, hence a major population belonging to various religions and regions are present in Haldwani as per provisional data released by the 2011 census.

The Gaula river is exploited for a large quantity of boulders, sand and gravels every year, and forms an important revenue source for both the government and local business.

Members, known as Councillors, are elected to the Wards Committee on the basis of adult franchise for a term of five years, as provisioned by the 74th Amendment of the Indian Constitution relating to urban local governments.

[39] The 'Nagar Nigam Haldwani' is a unicameral legislative body, comprising sixty Councillors, and the Mayor.

The Current MLA is Sumit Hriyesh who is from the Congress Party and was previously held by the Leader of Opposition and very Senior Legislator Late Dr Indira Hridayesh who is widely acknowledged to have developed the face of modern Haldwani which she has represented 3 times since the formation of Uttarakhand .at.

[44][45] The mla of Kaladhungi and Lalkuan are Bansidhar Bhagat and Dr. Mohan Singh Bisht, both of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

[46] The most commonly used forms of transport in Haldwani include government owned services such as railways and buses.

Haldwani is well connected to the country's capital Delhi via buses run by Uttarakhand Transport Corporation.

Apart from Delhi and Dehradun, regular buses are available for several hill cities like Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh.

All trains start from Kathgodam which is a terminal of North Eastern Railway's Izzatnagar Division and then reach Haldwani and proceed towards Lalkuan Junction.

The new civil terminal is proposed to operate flights to eight routes, including Nasik, Pithoragarh, Kannur, Hubli, Faizabad, Shimla, Jamnagar and Kalaburgi.

The stadium, having a capacity of 25000 people, was inaugurated on 18 December 2016 by Harish Rawat, the then Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

Haldwani hosted a state-level football championship,[62] and the first edition of CWE (Continental Wrestling Entertainment) pro-wrestling series,[63] in 2016.

[66] Internet Services are provided by BSNL, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel,[67] Idea Cellular and Reliance jio.

Here are the best places you can explore in this otherwise undiscovered part of the mountainous state of India: In Khari Boli, Kathgodam stands for timber depot.

Direct trains from cities such as Delhi, Kolkata, Jammu Tawi, Kanpur and Jaisalmer to Kathgodam provide access to travelers to the Kumaon Himalayas.