Demographics of Karachi

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Trend of population growth (in millions) in Karachi

Karachi is the largest and most populous city in Pakistan. The population and demographic distribution in the megacity has undergone numerous changes over the past 150 years. On 14 August 1947 when it became the capital city of a new Dominion of Pakistan, it's population was about 450,000 inhabitants. However, the population rapidly grew with large influx of refugees from neighbouring Union of India (after the partition of British India). By 1951, the city population had crossed one million mark.^[1] in the following decade, the rate of growth of Karachi was over 80 percent.^[2]. Today, the city has grown 60 times its size in 1947 when it became the country's first capital.^[3] Although, Islamabad remains the nation's capital since 1960s, the city's population continues to grow at about 5% per annum, largely thanks to its strong economic base.^[4]

[edit] Migration

Whereas most megacities in the developing world have grown out of rural-urban migration from the countryside not too distant from them, Karachi's demographics are the largely contributed by long-distance immigration.^[3] Before the independence of Pakistan, Karachi already had a mix of religious and ethnic. After the independence, most of the Muslim refugees settled in Karachi. Likewise, a large number of Hindus left the city for India. Predominantly Urdu speaking, known as Muhajirs formed the dominant ethnic group in Karachi. Muhajirs originated from different parts of India and brought with them their local cultures and cuisines, thus further adding to the already diverse mix of people that earlier inhabited Karachi. Currently, these older groups of people and continuing migration from different parts of Pakistan have contributed to a rich and diverse mix of people that live in Karachi. This has given the city a very metropolitan character, and has earned it the title as the Melting Pot of Pakistan.

The government allotted most of the property left over by the departing emigrants to the immigrants who had left their homes in India, to help them settle into the new country. However, the large number of Muhajirs also formed the dominant political majority in the city, which gave them substantial political clout, to the chagrin of the earlier provincial Sindhi and Balochi inhabitants. Also, the vagaries of mass migration of populations between the two newly independent countries gave rise to ethnic tensions which have surfaced in Karachi from time to time.

[edit] Ethnic groups

Since 1979, due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and continued upheavals in their country, a steady stream of Afghan refugees have also taken up permanent residence in and around Karachi. These refugees now number more than one million and themselves consist of a number of ethnic groups: Pakhtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, and Turkmen. There are also hundreds of thousands of Arabs, Iranians, Turkish, Filipinos, Arakani refugees (from Rakhine State in Myanmar), Bosnian, Albanian, Polish, Lebanese, Armenian, Goan, Bengali and African immigrants who are also settled in Karachi. Most refugee minorities of the city live in poor neighbourhoods.

[edit] Religions in Karachi

In Karachi, there many kinds of religion. mostly of them are Muslims, and of the muslims, there are 90% Sunnis and 10% are Shia. Other minority religious groups include Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Zoroastrians .

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Economy of Karachi
• Demography of Pakistan
• List of metropolitan areas by population

v • d • e Major cities in Pakistan Capital Territory Islamabad** Sindh Hyderabad, Jacobabad, Karachi*, Khairpur, Nawabshah, Sukkur, Thatta Punjab Attock, Bahawalpur, Chakwal, Chiniot, Faisalabad, Gujar Khan, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhelum, Kasur, Mianwali, Lahore*, Multan, Murree, Rahimyar Khan, Rawalpindi, Renala Khurd, Sadiqabad, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Taxila NWFP Abbottabad, Chitral, Haripur, Kohat, Kohistan, Peshawar*, Mansehra, Mardan, Nowshera, Swat Balochistan Gwadar, Quetta* Azad Kashmir Mirpur, Muzaffarabad*, Rawalakot Northern Areas Gilgit*, Skardu * Indicates Regional Capitals ** Indicates Federal Capital