Akola, city, northern Maharashtra state, western India. It is situated on a lowland plain on the Murna River (a tributary of the Tapti River).

In the past Akola was incorporated in turn into several local Muslim kingdoms. The present-day city is a major road and rail junction in the Tapti River valley and a commercial centre trading chiefly in cotton. Akola is an important educational centre with several colleges affiliated with Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University in Amaravati. The chief crops grown in the surrounding area are rice, cotton, wheat, millet, and peanuts (groundnuts). The region’s industries are agriculturally based; cotton ginning, oil processing, and bidi (cigarette) manufacture are important. There are also textile and vegetable oil industries. A thermal power-generating station is west of the city at Paras. Pop. (2001) 400,520; (2011) 425,817.