The BSE is a national stock exchange - meaning it is common to all residents of the country. (Note: There is a separate exchange called the National Stock Exchange. The term national is used to stress on the fact that, the exchange is available nation wide)

A Regional stock exchange is usually located in a particular city and is open for trading only to the residents of that particular city/state which makes it inaccessible for other investors who do not reside in that region.

There are 23 Stock Exchanges in India. Apart from the NSE and the BSE, the other stock exchanges are:

* Ahmedabad Stock Exchange Association Ltd.

* Bangalore Stock Exchange

* Bhubaneshwar Stock Exchange Association.

* Calcutta Stock Exchange

* Cochin Stock Exchnage Ltd.

* Coimbatore Stock Exchange

* Delhi Stock Exchange Association

* Guwahati Stock Exchange Ltd.

* Hyderabad Stock Exchange Ltd. * Jaipur Stock Exchange Ltd

* Kanara Stock Exchange Ltd

* Ludhiana Stock Exchange Association Ltd

* Madras Stock Exchange

* Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange Ltd.

* Mangalore Stock Exchange Limited

* Meerut Stock Exchange Ltd.

* Mumbai Stock Exchange

* National Stock Exchange India

* OTC Exchange of India

* Pune Stock Exchange Ltd.

* Uttar pradesh Stock Exchange Association

* Vado dara Stock Exchange Ltd.

There used to several regional stock exchanges in the United Kingdom in Cities such as Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham. Gradually they became consolidated into the London Stock exchange. I think the last ones merged in the 1960,s or 1970,s leaving London supreme.

In 2007, however, a new stock exchange called PLUS Markets was approved by HM Treasury. So, Britain now has more than one stock exchange again.

For some reason, two, the NSE and the BSE. NSE is the National Stock Exchange, BSE is the Bombay Stock Exchange.

A Stock Exchange is the place where investors go to buy/sell their shares. You know what an Equity share is. Pls refer to Equity Sharesfor more details.

Once a company's public offering is complete, it gets listed in a stock exchange. After listing it would be available for trading to all investors in the stock exachanges where they are listed. In India we have two major stock exchanges. They are:

1. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) &

2. The Bombay Stock Exchanges (BSE)

Yes, there are many 'Stock Exchanges' in the world. e.g. Dow Jones (Wall Street), Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), London Stock Exchange (FTSE).

There is pretty much a stock exchange in almost every country in the world.