Karachi

 By Farhan Umer;

Karachi (/krti/; Urdu) In Sindhi: With a population of nearly 20 million, Karachi, IPA: [krati] (listen) is both the most populous metropolis in Pakistan and the 12th most populous city in the world. It is located on the Arabian Sea shoreline at the very southernmost point of the nation. It serves as both the capital of Sindh and the previous capital of Pakistan. With an expected GDP of more than $200 billion (PPP) as of 2021, it is Pakistan's leading industrial and financial hub and is ranked as a beta-global metropolis. According to an FBR report, during the fiscal year from July 2021 to May 2022, Karachi paid $9 billion (or 25% of the total country) in taxes. In terms of linguistic, ethnic, and religious diversity, as well as social liberalism, Karachi is one of Pakistan's most cosmopolitan and diverse cities. The two main seaports in Pakistan, the Port of Karachi and Port Qasim, as well as Pakistan's busiest airport, Jinnah International Airport, are located in Karachi, which also acts as a major transportation hub. In addition, Karachi serves as a hub for Pakistan's news media as well as the country's film and fashion industries. Karachi is home to the majority of Pakistan's international corporations and financial institutions. Karachi is a popular tourist destination because of its beautiful beaches, old buildings, and malls. Although the area has been inhabited for thousands of years, the city was only formally created in 1729 as the fortified settlement of Kolachi. With the introduction of the East India Company in the middle of the 19th century, the settlement's significance significantly increased. To make the city a significant seaport and to link it to the vast Indian subcontinent railway network, British administrators undertook huge initiatives. The city had the highest population in Sindh at the time of India's partition in 1947, with an estimated 400,000 residents. Following Pakistan's independence, the city underwent a significant exodus of its Hindu residents, whose numbers fell from 51.1% to 1.7% of the total population. This was accompanied by the entrance of hundreds of thousands of Muhajir (Urdu-speaking) Muslim refugees from India. With Pakistan's independence, the city's economy grew quickly, drawing immigrants from all around Pakistan and other parts of South Asia. Karachi has a total population of 16,051,521 as of the 2017 Pakistan Census, 14.9 million of who live in the city's metropolitan districts. One of the cities with the highest population growth, Karachi, is home to sizable populations from practically all of Pakistan's ethnic groups. More than two million Bengali immigrants reside in Karachi, along with a million Afghan refugees and up to 400,000 Rohingya people from Myanmar.

The principal financial and industrial hub of Pakistan is currently Karachi. The city has the largest formal economy in the nation, with an expected value of $190 billion in 2021. An estimated 25% of Pakistan's GDP is produced in Karachi, which also receives 35% of the country's tax revenue. Karachi produces around 30% of Pakistan's industrial output, and its ports handle nearly all of the country's international trade. Karachi serves as the headquarters for all banks and around 90% of the international firms that operate in Pakistan. Since 2009, Karachi, which is regarded as Pakistan's fashion hub, has been the location of the annual Karachi Fashion Week.

With the widespread arrival of weapons during the Soviet-Afghan War, Karachi—known as the "City of Lights" in the 1960s and 1970s for its thriving nightlife—became plagued by acute ethnic, sectarian, and political conflict in the 1980s. The city had a reputation for having high rates of violent crime, but after the Pakistan Rangers launched a crackdown operation against criminals, the MQM political party, and Islamist militants in 2013, recorded crimes dramatically decreased. Due to the campaign, Karachi's ranking as the sixth-most dangerous city in the world for crime fell to 128th by 2022.

Etymology

The city was well-known in Urdu before independence, but over time, the English spelling Karachi gained popularity.

According to legend, the city of modern Karachi was established in 1729 as Kolachijo-Goth during the reign of the Kalhora dynasty. According to legend, the new community was named in honor of Mai Kolachi, whose son is credited with killing a man-eating crocodile in the village after it had already claimed the lives of his older brothers. The term Karachee was first used in a Dutch report from 1742 concerning a shipwreck close to the settlement. Karachee is a truncated and corrupted version of the original name, Kolachi-jo-Goth.

Geography

In southern Pakistan's Sindh province, Karachi is situated beside the Karachi Harbour, a natural harbor on the Arabian Sea. Karachi is situated on a coastal plain with a few isolated hills, marshlands, and rocky outcroppings. In the salty waters around Karachi Harbour and further southeast, towards the vast Indus River Delta, mangrove forests thrive. The Cape Monze, also known as Ras Muari locally, is located west of Karachi metropolis and is a region distinguished by sea cliffs, rocky sandstone promontories, and beaches. The intersection of the Indian and Arabian tectonic plates, which is where Karachi is located, is a significant fault line. The Khasa Hills and Mulri Hills, which are located in the northwest and serve as a barrier between North Nazimabad and Orangi, are two small hills that are located inside the city of Karachi. The desolate Kirthar Range, which includes Karachi's hills, rises to a maximum elevation of 528 meters (1,732 feet).

Wide coastal lowlands with dried river beds and waterways are interspersed between the hills. Karachi has grown up around the Lyari and Malir rivers, with Kolachi's town lying on the Lyari coast. The floodplains of the Indus River are to the east of Karachi.

Climate

A protracted "Summer Season" dominates Karachi's hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), which is mitigated by the Arabian Sea's maritime impact. The city receives little precipitation on average each year (about 174 mm (7 in)), most of which falls during the monsoon season in July and August. The summers are hot and muggy, and dangerous heat waves frequently hit Karachi. On the other side, during the sweltering summer months, cold sea breezes frequently offer comfort. An early warning system that utilizes text messages warns individuals to take safety precautions and aids in preventing fatalities during an extremely intense heat wave or rainstorm. The dry winter season lasts from December through February. Compared to the warm, humid season that follows, which begins in March and lasts until October, winter is dry and comfortable. The year-round humidity is nearly consistent in areas that are close to the sea. As a result, the climate is comparable to a humid tropical climate, with the exception of low precipitation and sporadic highs of over 100 F (38 C) brought on by a dry continental influence. The month of July 1967 saw the city's highest monthly rainfall, 19 in (480 mm). On August 7, 1953, the city experienced its largest 24-hour rainfall total, roughly 278.1 millimeters (10.95 in) of rain, which left the city severely flooded. The highest temperature ever recorded in Karachi is 47.8 °C (118.0 °F), which was on May 9, 1938, and the lowest is 0 °C (32 °F), which was on January 21, 1934.

Demographics

In Pakistan, Karachi is the metropolis with the most linguistic, racial, and religious diversity. The city is a cultural melting pot that includes immigrants from different regions of Asia as well as ethnic groups from all around Pakistan. Karachi's population was recorded as 14,910,352 in the 2017 census, an increase of 2.49% annually since the 1998 census, which put the city's population at over 9.3 million. In English and Urdu, the demonym Karachiite and Karchwl are used to describe the city's residents.

Language

The majority of Urdu speakers in Pakistan reside in Karachi. The Karachi Division's linguistic breakdown, according to the 2017 census, is as follows:

Language	Rank		2017 census		Speakers		1998 census		Speakers		1981 census			Speakers
Urdu	1		42.30%		6,779,142		48.52%		4,497,747		54.34%			2,830,098
Pashto		2		15.01%		2,406,011		11.42%		1,058,650		8.71%	453,628
Punjabi		3		10.73%		1,719,636		13.94%		1,292,335		13.64%	710,389
Sindhi		4		10.67%		1,709,877		7.22%		669,340		6.29%	327,591
Saraiki		5		4.98%		798,031		2.11%		195,681		0.35%	18,228
Balochi		6		4.04%		648,964		4.34%		402,386		4.39%	228,636
Others		7		12.25%		1,963,233		12.44%		1,153,126		12.27%	639,560
All				100%		16,024,894		100%		9,269,265		100%	5,208,132

In the group known as "others," you can find Hindko, Kashmiri, Kohistani, Burushaski, Gujarati, Memoni, Marwari, Dari, Brahui, Makrani, Hazara, Khowar, Gilgiti, Balti, Arabic, Persian, Bengali, and Tamil.

Population

There were 105,000 people living in Karachi at the turn of the 20th century. According to estimates, there were 400,000 people living in the city at the time of Pakistan's independence in 1947. The influx of tens of thousands of Muslim refugees from the recently independent Republic of India caused a significant increase in the city's population. Following independence, South Asia's and Pakistan's rapid economic expansion drew further immigration. Karachi's population was recorded as 14,910,352 in the 2017 census, an increase of 2.49% annually since the 1998 census, which put the city's population at over 9.3 million.

The census's lower-than-anticipated population results imply that Karachi's inadequate infrastructure, deteriorating law and order, and weak economy in comparison to other regions of Pakistan rendered the city less appealing to immigrants than previously believed. All of Sindh's significant political parties reject the statistic. Since the 1998 census, Karachi's population has increased by 59.8%, reaching 14.9 million, while Lahore's population has increased by 75.3%. However, because Karachi's census district has not been changed by the provincial government since 1998, while Lahore's has been expanded by the Punjab government, some of Karachi's growth has taken place outside the city's census boundaries. The population of Karachi increased at a rate of 3.49% between the 1981 and 1998 censuses, which led several researchers to extrapolate a sustained yearly growth rate of 3.49% to arrive at an estimate of Karachi's population of almost 18 million in 2017.

Some had predicted that the city would have between 22 and 30 million residents, which would call for an acceleration of the annual growth rate to between 4.6% and 6.33%.

In an effort to weaken the political clout of the city and province, political parties in the province claim that the population of the city has been intentionally underestimated. Karachi's population was estimated by the Sindh Bureau of Statistics, a division of the PPP-led provincial administration, to be 19.1 million in 2016. Nevertheless, PPP senator Taj Haider claimed he had official documents proving the city had 25.6 million residents in 2013.

Ethnicity

Baloch and Sindhis continue to make up a sizable chunk of the Lyari area, which is one of the oldest parts of contemporary Karachi and reflects the ethnic makeup of the original colony, despite the fact that many of the population are relatively recent immigrants. Large numbers of Hindus emigrated from Pakistan to the newly formed Dominion of India (later the Republic of India) after Partition, whereas a higher proportion of Muslim migrants and refugees from India settled in Karachi. With the addition of the new residents from India, who made up 57% of Karachi's population in 1951, the city expanded by 150% over the ten years between 1941 and 1951. The city is now regarded as Pakistan's most diverse city and a melting pot for the nation.

The largest Bengali-speaking city outside of the Bengal region is Karachi.

Around 2.5 million foreigners, mostly from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, resided in the city in 2011.

A large portion of Karachi's population is descended from North Indian migrants and refugees who spoke Urdu and were referred to as "Muhajirs" in Arabic. In the wake of the 1946 Bihar riots and the Great Calcutta Killings, the first Muhajirs of Karachi arrived. Rich Hindus in the city opposed resettling refugees close to their homes; so many migrants were housed in Karachi's older, busier neighborhoods. During Partition, the city had a significant migration of Muhajirs, who were enticed to the port city and newly designated federal capital by its white-collar work prospects. Between the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, Muhajirs continued to immigrate to Pakistan, with Karachi remaining their main point of departure. In the 2017 census, the Muhajir Urdu-speaking group made up a little fewer than 45% of the city's population. The majority of Karachi's middle class consists of Muhajirs. While other minorities like Christians and Hindus increasingly see themselves as Muhajirs, Muhajirs are seen as the city's most secular minority. Many Muslim groups from what is now the Republic of India—people who do not speak Urdu—have settled in Karachi. Several Gujarati, Marathi, and Konkani-speaking refugees live in the city. Malabari Muslims from Kerala in south India have a sizable community in Karachi, numbering in the thousands. The community of Urdu speakers is assimilating these ethno linguistic groupings.

Large numbers of Pashtuns from the NWFP moved to Karachi during the 1960s and 1980s periods of significant economic expansion, and Afghan Pashtun refugees also settled there. With more Pashtun residents than Peshawar, Karachi has the largest urban Pashtun population in the world. Afghan Pashtuns are thought to be the most traditional group. On the other hand, Swat Valley Pashtuns in Pakistan are viewed as having a more liberal approach to life. The majority of manual laborers and transporters are members of the Pashtun group. Karachi, rather than Kabul, Kandahar, or Peshawar, is the largest Pashtun metropolis in the world, according to Anatol Lieven of Georgetown University in Qatar.

In Karachi, immigrants from Punjab started arriving in great numbers in the 1960s; today, they account for an estimated 14% of the city's population. The majority of the city's police officers are from the community. Punjabis make up the majority of Karachi's Christian population, which accounts for 2.5% of the city's total population. Although the city is the provincial capital of Sindh, barely 6–8% of the population is Sindhi. Several municipal and provincial bureaucrats are Sindhis. Although the majority of Baloch speakers are Sheedi, a community of African ancestry, they make up about 4% of the population of Karachi.

Many Urdu-speaking Biharis landed in the city after the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War and the independence of Bangladesh because they preferred to stay in Pakistan rather than settle in the newly independent nation. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, times of economic expansion, substantial numbers of Bengalis also migrated from Bangladesh to Karachi. An estimated 2.5–3 million ethnic Bengalis now reside in Karachi, Pakistan. Also residing in the city are Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, who speak a Bengali dialect and are occasionally mistaken for Bengalis. An estimated 400,000 Rohingya people live in Karachi. Karachi is one of the greatest population hubs of Rohingyas outside of Myanmar as a result of widespread Rohingya migration. In the city have also resided immigrants from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In Karachi's upscale neighborhoods, domestic helpers from the Philippines are employed, while many of the city's instructors are Sri Lankan. Due to the Sri Lankan economic collapse in 2022, a large number of Sri Lankans immigrated to Karachi. In the 1940s, Chinese immigrants started moving to Karachi to work as dentists, chefs, and shoemakers; many of their descendants now reside in Pakistan. Due to the CPEC project, a significant number of Chinese arrived in Karachi after 2015 as well. A few British and American expatriates also live in the city.

Over 3,000 Polish families fled the Soviet Union during World War II, some of which decided to stay in the city after Partition. After the partition, there used to be a considerable Iranian refugee community in Karachi.

Religion

More than 96% of the population of Karachi practices Islam, making it a religiously diverse metropolis. Many different branches of Islam, as well as Protestant Christianity and the Goan Catholic community are practiced by Karachiites. In addition, the city is home to sizable populations of Hindus, Zoroastrians, and Parsis. Nichola Khan claims that Karachi is also the largest Muslim metropolis in the world. The city's population was reported to be 51.1% Hindu, 42.3% Muslim, with the remaining 7% made up mostly of Christians (both British and native), Sikhs, Jains, and a tiny number of Jews. Pakistan gained its independence from Britain in 1947. As Pakistan gained its independence, the vast bulk of the Sindhi Hindu population migrated to India, while Muslim immigrants from India settled in Karachi. The city's religious demography was significantly altered as a result of this enormous migration.

Top 3 Tourist Places in Karachi

1.   Clifton Beach

Clifton Beach can be the best choice for you if you want to see genuine coastal beauty without having to pay thousands of rupees.

Famously referred to as "Sea View, Clifton Beach is a center for entertainment and home to renowned restaurants. Visit Clifton Beach if you want to take in a sunset or want to look for seashells along the shore while enjoying a cool sea breeze.

It spans from Karachi to Ormara, Balochistan, along the Arabian Sea. In addition to its natural beauty, the beach offers a wide range of leisure activities, such as camel rides, scuba diving, cliff diving, buggy rides, horse rides, and flying model airplanes.

You can also stay in the neighborhoods close to the water. The gated residential complex contains numerous units with sea views. Instead, you can get a room at one of the best 3- or 4-star hotels in the city.

Due to their location and attractions, these properties are regarded as some of the best in the city. Along the Clifton Beach beaches, there are also other residences and villas that are growing in popularity.

The Hub Dam is situated in the Lasbela District of Balochistan and the Karachi District of Sindh. The Hub River is where the dam is being built. For people in Pakistan, dams serve as ideal holiday destinations in addition to being sources of electricity and water supply. Explore Pakistan's deserts if you consider yourself an adventurous person.

2. Mazar-e-Quaid

The last resting place of Pakistan's founder, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, lies in Karachi. The Jinnah Mausoleum, also known as Mazar-e-Quaid, is one of Karachi's most popular tourist destinations.

The mausoleum's design and construction were finished in 1971 after beginning in 1960. The mausoleum, a recognizable landmark in Karachi, is a popular tourist destination in Pakistan. The mausoleum also houses the tombs of Liaquat Ali Khan, Nur ul Amin, Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, Māder-e Millat (or "Mother of the Nation") Fatima Jinnah, and Jinnah's sister, Māder-e Millat Fatima.

The entire public is welcome inside the tomb. Kindly go to the Mazar to honor the Pakistani heroes.

In Pakistan, there are countless places to have a family holiday that are both inexpensive and exciting. Nonetheless, you'll need a passport if you wish to leave the country. Learn about Karachi's passport offices. Pakistani passport holders can enter many nations without a visa. Get the services of any reputable travel agency in Pakistan if you want a hassle-free and ideal journey with your loved ones. Excellent services are offered by travel firms at a fair price.

3. Mohatta Palace

In the center of Karachi, there lays a stunning structure called the Mohatta Palace. The mansion, designed by Agha Ahmed Hussain, was constructed in 1927 in the upscale seaside community of Clifton. Its previous use was as Shivratan Mohatta, a well-known Hindu businessman’s residence. The physicians urged him to take his sick wife close to the sea, so he built the palace for her.

The pink Jodhpur stone was combined with the native yellow stone from neighboring Gizri to create the palace in the manner of Rajasthani stone palaces.

Fatima Jinnah received the Mohatta palace following the split. She lived all her final years here in the palace. Mohatta Palace has political and historical roots, to put it briefly. The palace is now owned by the state and functions as a museum.

The building's stunning architecture is a truly magnificent sight. The buildings stand out from the others with their large gardens and corner tomb structures. Visit Mohatta Palace if you want to see a true representation of modern Mughal art and architecture.

 https://www.graana.com/blog/places-to-visit-in-karachi/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karachi