This article is about the city of Karachi. For other uses, see Karachi (disambiguation).

Karachi
,

Metropolitan City

Counterclockwise from top: Karachi Skyline, M.A. Jinnah Tomb, Karachi Sunday Textile Market, KPT headquarters, Sindh High Court, Kemari Boat Basinand Nagan Interchange

Logo

Nickname(s): The Gateway to Pakistan, The City of Bright Lights, Mini Pakistan

Karachi
Location of Karachi in Sindh and in Pakistan.

Coordinates:

245136N 67036ECoordinates: 245136N 67036E Pakistan Sindh 2011

Country Province Metropolitan Corporation City Council Districts Government

[1]

City Complex, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town

5[show]

Type City Administrator Municipal Commissioner Area

[4]

Metropolitan City Muhammad Hussain Syed Matanat Ali Khan

[3] [2]

Metropolitan City Elevation Population (2010) Density

[5][6]

3,527 km (1,362 sq mi) 8 m (26 ft)

Metropolitan City

13,050,000 3,700/km (9,600/sq mi)

2

 Metro Demonym Time zone Postal code Dialling code Website

13,205,339 Karachiite PST (UTC+05:00) 74200 (General Post Office) 021 KarachiCity.gov.pk

Karachi (

Karc (helpinfo), Urdu: ; Sindhi: )is the largest city, and the

main seaport and financial centre of Pakistan, as well as thecapital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13[5] to 15 million,[7] while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 13 million.[6] Results in April 2012 of Pakistan's latest census initial tabulations show that the district is home to over 21 million people, at a density of nearly 6,000 people per square kilometer (15,500 per square mile).[8] Karachi is the most populous city in the country, one of the world's largest cities in terms of population[7] and also the 10th largest urban agglomeration in the world.[9] It is Pakistan's premier centre of banking, industry, economic activity and trade and is home to Pakistan's largest corporations, including those involved in textiles, shipping, automotive industry, entertainment, the arts, fashion, advertising, publishing, software development and medical research. The city is a major hub of higher education in South Asia and the wider Muslim world.[10] Karachi is ranked as a Beta world city.[11][12] It was the original capital of Pakistan until the construction of Islamabad and is the location of the Port of Karachi and Port Bin Qasim, two of the region's largest and busiest ports. After the independence of Pakistan, the city population increased dramatically when hundreds of thousands of Muhajirs from India and other parts of South Asia came to settle in Karachi.[citation needed] The city is located in the south of the country, along the coastline meeting the Arabian Sea. It is spread over 3,527 km2 (1,362 sq mi) in area, almost four times larger than Hong Kong.[citation needed] It is locally known[by whom?] as the "City of Lights" ( ) and "The bride of the cities" ( ) for its liveliness, and the "City of the Quaid" ( ,) having been the birth and burial place of Quaid-e-Azam, the Great Leader, (Muhammad Ali Jinnah), the founder of Pakistan, who made the city his home after Pakistan's independence from the British Raj on 14 August 1947.

Civic administration
Main articles: Politics of Karachi, List of mayors of Karachi, and List of Union Councils of Karachi

Civic Centre, the main offices of the City-District Government

Karachi Municipal Corporation Building

The first form of government was a conservancy board established in 1846 to control the spread of cholera in the city.[53] The board became a municipal commission in 1852, and a municipal committee the following year.[53] The City of Karachi Municipal Act of 1933 transformed the city administration into a municipal corporation with a mayor, a deputy mayor and 57 councillors.[53] In 1948, the Federal Capital Territory of Pakistan was created, comprising approximately 2,103 km2 (812 sq mi) of Karachi and surrounding areas, but this was merged into the province of West Pakistan in 1961.[54] However, the municipal corporation remained in existence and in 1976 became a metropolitan corporation, followed by the creation of zonal municipal committees, which lasted until 1994.[53] Two years later the metropolitan area was divided into five districts, each with a municipal corporation.[53] in 2001, five districts of Karachi were merged to form the city district of Karachi. It was structured as a three-tier federation, with the two lower tiers composed of 18 towns and 178 union councils,[55] with each tier focussed on elected councils with some common members to provide "vertical linkage" within the federation.[56] Each union council comprised thirteen members elected from specified electorates: four men and two women elected directly by the general population; two men and two women elected by peasants and workers; one member for minority communities; two members are elected jointly as the union mayor (nazim) and deputy union mayor (naib nazim).[57] Each town council was comprised all of the deputy union mayors in the town as well as elected representatives for women, peasants and workers, and minorities.[58] The district council was comprised all of the union mayors in the district as well as

elected representatives for women, peasants and workers, and minorities.[59] Each council was also included up to three council secretaries and a number of other civil servants. Naimatullah Khan was the first Nazim of Karachi and Shafiq-Ur-Rehman Paracha was the first district coordination officer (DCO) of Karachi, Paracha even served as the last Commissioner of Karachi. Syed Mustafa Kamal was elected City Nazim of Karachi to succeed Naimatullah Khan in 2005 elections, and Nasreen Jalil was elected as the City Naib Nazim. Again in 2011, City District Government of Karachi has been de-merged into its five original constituent districts namely Karachi East, Karachi West, Karachi Central, Karachi South and District Malir. These five districts form the Karachi Division now.[60][61][62] City administrator is Muhammad Hussain Syed [63] and Municipal Commissioner of Karachi is Matanat Ali Khan.[64] There are also six military cantonments which are administered by the Pakistan Army.