Comprehensive information and links about Pakistan Karachi

Karachi ) is the largest city in Pakistan and the capital of the province of Sindh. A native of Karachi is known as a b.

Karachi is the financial and commercial hub of Pakistan. The city is located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, northwest of the mouth of the Indus River. It accounts for the lion's share of Pakistan's GDP and generates 65 percent of the national revenue. With a population that is unofficially estimated at approximately 14 million, Karachi is one of the ten largest cities of the world.

table

Location

Karachi, located at latitude 24° 52´ N and longitude 67° 03´ E, is nicknamed b in Pakistan. In a short span of 150 years, Karachi has transformed itself from a small coastal village into a megapolitan city harbouring a diverse mix of regional cultures. It is the business and technological hub of Pakistan and has the highest literacy rate and the most prestigious educational institutions in the country. The Arabian Sea lies to the south, and the Malir and Indus Rivers to the east of the city. The Lyari River runs through the city's northern areas.

Geography

The city occupies an area of over 3,527 km² and is expanding. Karachi is mostly made up of flat or rolling plains with hills on the western and northern boundaries of the urban sprawl. Two rivers pass through the city: the Malir River (north east to centre) and the Lyari River (north to south). Many other smaller rivers pass through the city as well with general drainage being from the western and northern areas towards the south. The Karachi Harbour is a protected bay to the south west of the city. The harbour is protected from storms by Keamari Island, Manora Island and Oyster Rocks, which together block the greater part of the harbour entrance in the west. The southern limit of the city is the Arabian Sea and forms a chain of warm water beaches that are rich in natural beauty.

Karachi is located on the coast and as a result has a relatively mild climate. The level of precipitation is low for most of the year.

However, due to the city's proximity to the sea, humidity levels usually remain high throughout the year. The city enjoys mild winters and warm summers. Karachi also receives the tail end of the monsoon rains. Since summer temperatures (the end of April through the end of August are approximately 30 to 35 degrees Celsius), the winter months (November through March) are the best time to visit Karachi. December, which is the most popular month for social events such as weddings, fundraisers and charity balls, is frequently the time when most visitors, tourists and expatriates come to Karachi.

Origin of Karachi

Any history of Karachi prior to the 19th century is brief. It is said that the city called i from which one of Alexander the Great's admirals sailed at the end of his conquests was the same as Karachi. When Muhammad bin Qasim came to India in the year 712 he captured the city of Debul. It has been said that Debal was the ancestral village of present day Karachi. However, this has neither been proven or disproven.

It was in 1772 that the village Kolachi-jo-Goth was changed from a fishing village to a trading post when it was selected as a port for trade with Muscat and Bahrain. In the following years a fort was built and cannons brought in from Muscat were mounted on it. The fort had two doorways, one facing the sea called the Khara Dar or Brackish Gate and one facing the River Lyari called the Meetha Dar or Sweet Gate. Currently, the site of those gates corresponds to the location of the neighbourhoods of Kharadar and Meethadar. In 1795 the city passed from the Khan of Kalat to the rulers of Sindh.

The British Era

Image:DSC00546.JPG Karachi gained in position as port which led to its importance being recognised by the British, and consequently led to the conquering of the town on the 3rd of February 1839. Three years later, it was annexed into British India as a district. The British recognized the importance of Karachi as a natural harbor and port for the produce of the Indus basin, and the city was rapidly developed into a bustling port city. A famous quote about Karachi attributed to Charles Napier is i. Napier's quote proved almost prophetic as it was under the British raj that Karachi would grow rapily as its harbour was developed. When the First Indian War for Independence broke out in 1857, the 21st Native Infantry stationed in Karachi declared allegiance to the rebellion and joined the cause of the War on the 10th of September 1857. The uprising though, was defeated by the British who were able to quickly reassert their control over Karachi.

In 1876, the founder of Pakistan Muhammed Ali Jinnah was born in the city, and he would later be buried there. By this time Karachi was a developed city with railroads, churches, masjids, paved streets, courts and many commercial centres as well as a magnificent harbour built by the British. Many of the buildings were built in classical British colonial , contrasting significantly with the "Mughal Gothic" of Lahore. Many of these old buildings exist today and provide interesting destinations for visitors.

Karachi continued to grow in size as well as importance due to its position as a major port. A railroad connected Karachi to the rest of British India in the 1880s. Population grew from 73,500 (1881), to 105,199 (1891), to 115,407 (1901) (Britannica 1911 ed.). In 1899 Karachi was said to be the largest wheat exporting port in the East (Feldman 1970:57). In 1911 when the capital was shifted to Delhi, Karachi became closer to being a Gateway to India. Karachi was declared the capital of the newly formed Sindh province in 1936, chosen over the traditional capital of Hyderabad.

A Pakistani City

In 1947, Karachi was made the capital of the new nation of Pakistan. At that time Karachi was a city of only 400,000 people, and its growth accelerated as a result of its new status. Being the capital, Karachi became a focal point for the new nation and this added to its status as a cultural centre in this part of the world. Although the capital later moved to Rawalpindi and then Islamabad, Karachi remains the economic centre of Pakistan, accounting for a large portion of the GDP of the country and a large chunk of the nation's white collar workers.

In the 1960s, Karachi was seen as an economic role model around the area and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing. But in 1990s, Karachi was wracked with sectarian violence. Thousands of people were killed during 1992 military operation, and as result socio-economic activities gravely suffered.

In the last 20 years, Karachi has continued to grow, passing the 14 million mark (from the European Space Agency). The current economic boom in Pakistan has created a sudden growth spurt in Karachi as jobs and infrastructure projects are increasing with time and the city is considered to be the world's third largest megacity.

Government and Administrative Division

In order to decentralize the political, administrative and financial resources and responsibilities, the government of Pakistan designed a new devolution plan in 2000. The Local Government Plan 2000 and the Local Government Ordinance 2001 provided the legal roadmap to the aforesaid system that allow public participation in decision-making up to the grass-root level.

The CDG of Karachi is divided into 18 zones or towns. These towns are governed by the town municipal administration. Each town administration is responsible for infrastructure and spatial planning, development facilitation, and municipal services (water, sanitation, solid waste, repairing roads, parks, street lights, and traffic engineering) in a town, except those functions which are retained within the CDG.

Eighteen towns of CDG Karachi are sub-divided into 178 stratum that form the union council administration. A union council (UC) is the core element of the local government system. Each UC is a of 13 directly elected members, consisting of the UC Nazim (mayor), UC Naib Nazim (deputy mayor), labour and minority councillors. The UC Nazim heads the union administration and is responsible for facilitating the CDG to plan and execute municipal services, as well as for informing higher authorities about public concerns and complaints.

In the local elections of 2005, Syed Mustafa Kamal (backed by the MQM [4]) was elected City Nazim of Karachi. He succeeds Naimatullah Khan (of the Jamaat-e-Islami [5]). He took oath on October 17, 2005 at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Karachi [6]. Mustafa Kamal was the provincial minister for information technology in Sindh before assuming office as the city's mayor. His predecessor, Naimatullah Khan was chosen as one of the best mayors of 2004-05 in Asia [7].

Nazims

The City of Karachi Municipal Act was promulgated in 1933. Initially the Municipal Corporation was administrated by the mayor and deputy mayor as well as 57 councillors. In 1976, the Karachi Municipal Corporation was upgraded to a Metropolitan Corporation. Later in 2000-01, it was given the status of City District Government.

The population and demographic distribution of Karachi during last 150 years have greatly changed.

Non governmental and international sources report that Karachi's current population is estimated to be 14 to 15 million — a thirty-seven-fold increase over its population in 1947 (400,000). The city's population is currently growing at about 5% per year (mainly on account of rural-urban internal migration). Currently, Karachi is counted as one of the largest megacities of the world.

There are more than one million Afghan refugees who settled in Karachi after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The Afghan refugees include several ethnic groups: Pakhtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmen, etc. There are also hundred of thousands of Bengalis, Arabs, Iranians, Arakani Muslim refugees (from the Rakhine State in Myanmar) and Africans immigrants are also settled in Karachi. There are also Goan Catholic Christians who settled in Karachi during the British era. The poor immigrants form a significant part of the slum areas population in Karachi.

The breakup of Karachi's population is as follows: Males form 53.7% of Karachiites. 37.6% of which are under the age of 15. 4.4% are older than 50. 22.1% of the city's population are migrants from other places.

According to 1998 census the linguistic distribution of population, is as follows. Urdu 48.52%; Punjabi 13.94%; Sindhi 7.22%; Pushto 11.42%; Balochi 4.34%; Seraiki 2.11%; Others 12.4%. The others include Gujarati, Memon, Brahui, Makrani, Khowar, Burushaski, Arabic, Persian and Bengali.

According to the census the religious breakup of the city is as follows. Muslim 96.49%; Christian 2.35%; Hindu 0.83%; Ahmadi 0.17%; Others 0.13%. The others include Parsi, Zikri and Buddhist.

Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan. It accounts for the lion's share of Pakistan's GDP and generates b. Most of Pakistan's public and private banks have their head offices in Karachi. Besides banking and finance, Karachi also hosts the offices of foreign multinational corporations as well as corporations based in Pakistan. It is home to the largest stock exchange of Pakistan: the Karachi Stock Exchange.[8]. This financial boom helped Pakistan to achieve its ambitious goal of exceeding an seven per cent growth in GDP for the fiscal year 2004-05.

The recent trend of ICT (information and communications technology), electronic media and call centers has become a significant part of Karachi business hierarchy. Call centres for foreign companies have been targeted as a significant area of growth, with the government making efforts to reduce taxes by as much as 80 per cent in order to gain foreign investments in the IT sector.

Karachi also has a huge industrial base. There are large industrial estates on most of the fringes of the main city. The main industries are textiles, pharmaceuticals, steel, and automobiles. Apart from these, there are many cottage industries in the city as well. Karachi is also known as software outsourcing hub of Pakistan. It also has a rapidly flourishing b with an annual growth rate of nearly 6.5 per cent. An expo center has also been set up in Karachi and is now available to host many regional and International exhibitions.

Currently, the Karachi Port is the only large port in Pakistan, and is central to all shipping in Pakistan. The airport of Karachi, Quaid-e-Azam International Airport is also the largest airport in Pakistan.

Karachi is the nerve centre of Pakistan's economy. The economic stagnation due to political anarchy, ethnic strife and resultant military operations during the late 1980s and 1990s led to drops in industrial growth in the city.

Karachi is home to some of Pakistan's important cultural institutions. The National Academy of Performing Arts NAPA, located in the newly renovated Hindu Gymkhana has regular musical performances promoting the classical music of Pakistan including an annual musical conferance. The National Arts Council (i) also has musical performances and Mushaira (poetry recitations). Karachi has several excellant museums including the Mohatta Palace museum which regularly has exhibitions as well as the National Museum of Pakistan. The Kara Film Festival organised annually showcases independent Pakistani and international films and documentaries.

i Karachi has the highest literacy rate, and the highest number of universities and colleges, of any of Pakistan's other cities. The city is well-known for its young student population, who flock from all parts of Pakistan. Most universities of Karachi are considered to be the premier educational institutions of Pakistan, and hence the admissions process is intensely competitive with only the brightest and talented making their way into Aga Khan University, University of Karachi, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Indus Valley Institute of Art and Architecture, Bahria University, Textile Institute of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Dow University of Health Sciences, N.E.D. University, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Hamdard University, H.E.J Research Institute of Chemistry, Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC), Institute of Business and Management (IBM), Jinnah University for Women and Dawood College of Engineering and Technology.

See also the list of universities in Karachi and list of educational institutions in Karachi.

The Clifton beach in Karachi is the largest beachin Pakistan. Although it suffered a recent oil spill disaster, the beach has been cleaned and has floodlights installed for night-time visitors. The government has embarked on the beautification of Karachi's coastline by building a b in Clifton which will eventually be connected to the Jehangir Kothari parade and Bagh Ibn- Qasim. There are also a lot of other excellent beaches near the city such as i (a sandstone rock promotory with a natural arch) that are frequented by flocks of visitors every day.

Karachi is dotted with many shopping areas, large and small, all across the city. Karachiites are avid shoppers, as can be seen from the crowds of people these markets attract every evening. Tariq Road, Zamzama and Elphinstone Street are the most famous shopping areas in the city. One can find all sorts of clothing, garments, and beautiful fabrics in Karachi's bazaars, as well as a number of other items. The Saddar area in downtown Karachi is also home to countless large and small markets dealing from everyday household items to clothing and fabrics to electronics. The Empress Market is a large Victorian-era market, which is home to wholesellers of spices and other items. Some other notable shopping areas include: Paposh Market and Hyrdi.

The city has a modern international airport called the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, the premier portal and Pakistan's busiest airport. The city's old airport terminals are now used for Hajj flights, cargo facilities, and ceremonial visits from heads of state. U.S. Coalition forces used the old terminals for their logistic supply operations as well. Apart from this, the city also has two other airstrips used primarily by the armed forces.

Karachi also has the current largest shipping port in Pakistan. There are two major ports Karachi Port Trust(KPT) and Port Qasim. This sea-port has modern facilities and not only handles trade for Pakistan, but also serves as a port for Afghanistan and the land-locked Central Asian countries. Karachi port is not used for passenger traffic as a regular service.

Karachi is linked via railway to the rest of the country. The Karachi City Station and Karachi Cantt Station are the city's two major railway stations. This railway system handles a large amount of freight to and from the Karachi port apart from providing passenger services to people travelling up country. Karachi also has a circular railway system that is planned to be extended to play a part in the city's mass transit.

Currently, commuter traffic is handled primarily by motorists and minibuses, but there are plans to construct a light-rail based mass transit system in the city to decongest the roads and provide quick service to commuters.

Currently, being one of the most rapidly growing cities in the world, Karachi faces problems that are central to many developing metropolises including overpopulation, overcrowding, traffic, terrorism and crime.

Karachi faces a very severe problem of excessive traffic. According to official statistics, on an average annually 550 people are killed in road traffic accidents. The number of cars far outstrips the roads that they need to ply on. This makes driving considerably dangerous and causes loss of time due to traffic congestion.

In Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan most of the land around the urban areas is in the private ownership in the form of agriculture land managed by the owners themselves. But in Karachi majority of the land is state owned, which is easy to grab or mismanage due to widespread corruption. Karachi is located in semi-arid coastal desert area with very limited agriculture land along the two small seasonal rivers, Lyari River and Malir River, that pass through the city. Before independence, the area around Karachi had sparse nomadic population and most of the land was state owned. At the time of independence, Karachi was chosen as the first capital of Pakistan and the land area came under tight state control. According to the data prepared by the Master Plan and Environmental Control Unit of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) in 1988, nearly 400,000 acres of the 425,529 acres that make up Karachi's metropolitan area is in some form of public ownership. Government of Sindh owns 137,687 acres, KDA 124,676 acres, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) 25,259 acres, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) 24,189 acres, Army Cantonment Board 18,596 acres, Pakistan Steel Mills 19,461 acres, Defense Housing Society 16,567 acres, Port Qasim 12,961 acres, Government of Pakistan 4,051 acres and Pakistan Railways 3,119 acres. In late 1990s the undeveloped land belonging to KDA was transfered to the Malir Development Authority (MDA) and Lyari Development Authority (LDA); as a result, KDA has been deprived of most of its assets.