| Gwadar گوادر |
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|---|---|
| — City — | |
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Gwadar
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Balochistan |
| Area | |
| • Total | 12,637 km2 (4,879.2 sq mi) |
| Population (1998) | |
| • Estimate (2006[1]) | 53,080 |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| Calling code | 086 |
| Number of towns | 1 |
| Number of Union councils | 5 |
| Website | http://www.gda.gov.pk |
Gwadar (Baloch and Urdu: گوادر; Arabic: جوادر) is an international developing port city on the southwestern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan. A former Omani territory, it is nowadays the district capital of Gwadar District in Balochistan province as well as its winter capital.
Gwadar is strategically located at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman. The city's strategic, warm-water, deep-sea Gwadar Port was completed in 2007.[2] The port is 14 metres (46 ft) deep and handles the largest cargo ships to Pakistan.[2] The city is emerging as a trade hub and a transit for Chinese oil and timber imports and transshipments.[2] The city has also been taking an increasing rôle in China's String of Pearls.[2]
Gwadar is one of the few planned cities in Pakistan (others being Faisalabad, Jauharabad, and Islamabad), which have been developed from scratch under an urban master plan. Before development, the town was a fishing village.[2]
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Inhabitation of Gwadar, like most areas of Pakistan, appears to be ancient. The area shows inhabitation as early as the ancient Bronze age people where settlements existed around some of the area's oases. The Baloch people of this area originally referred to themselves as Moka or Maka. It is from this that word Makran, the original name of Balochistan is derived. The region was known to the Bactrians as Godar or Godar-shua (in [Pashto). It was this term that the Greeks Hellenzied to Gedrosia. Gedrosia then became a region of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It is believed to have been conquered by the founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great. The capital of the satrapy of Gedrosia was Pura, which is thought to have been located near the modern Bampûr, in Iranian Balochistan. During the homeward march of Alexander the Great, his admiral, Nearchus, led a fleet along the modern-day Makran coast and recorded that the area was dry, mountainous, and inhabited by the "Ichthyophagoi" (or "fish eaters"), an ancient Greek rendering of the ancient Persian phrase "Mahi khoran" (which has itself become the modern word "Makran").[3] After the collapse of Alexander's empire the area was ruled by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander’s generals. The region then came under indigenous rule around about 303 BCE.
The region remained on the sidelines of history for a millennium until the Arab-Muslim army of Muhammad bin Qasim captured Gwadar in 711 CE and over the intervening (and nearly equivalent) amount of time the area was contested by various powers, including the Mughals (from the east) and the Safavids (from the west).
The Portuguese captured, sacked and burnt Gwadar in 1581.[4]
This was then followed by almost two centuries of local rule by the various Baloch tribes. The city was visited by Ottoman Admiral Seydi Ali Reis in 1550s and mentioned in his book Mirat ul Memalik (The Mirror of Countries), 1557.[5] According to Seydi Ali Reis, the inhabitants of Gwadar were Baloch and their chief was Malik Jelaleddin, son of Malik Dinar.
In 1783, the Khan of Kalat granted suzerainty over Gwadar to Taimur Sultan, the defeated ruler of Muscat.[6] When the sultan subsequently retook Muscat, he was to continue his rule in Gwadar by appointing a wali (or "governor"). This wali was then ordered to subjugate the nearby coastal town of Chah Bahar (in modern-day Iran). The Gwadar fort was built during Omani rule, whilst telegraph lines were later extended into the town courtesy of the British.
On 8 September 1958, Pakistan purchased the Gwadar enclave from Oman for $3 million. Gwadar officially became part of Pakistan on 8 December 1958. At the time, Gwadar was a small and underdeveloped fishing village with a population of a few thousand.
The Pakistani government integrated Gwadar into Balochistan province on 1 July 1977 as the district headquarters of the newly formed Gwadar District.
In the 1993, the Government of Pakistan formally conceived the plan to develop Gwadar into a major port city with a deep-sea port and connect it with Pakistan's highway and rail networks. On 22 March 2002, the Government of Pakistan began construction of Gwadar Port, a modern deep-sea port, the first phase of which was completed in December 2005. Gwadar Port became operational in December 2009.
The city underwent major construction from 2002-07.[2] In 2002, Pakistan's National Highway Authority (NHA) began construction of the 653 km-long Makran Coastal Highway linking Gwadar with Karachi via Pasni and Ormara and onwards with the rest of the National Highways of Pakistan, which was completed in 2004. In 2003, the Gwadar Development Authority was established to oversee the planning and development of Gwadar and Gwadar Industrial Estate Development Authorty was established to promote industrial activities in mega port city of Gwadar .[7] In 2004, Pakistan's NHA began construction of the 820-km long M8 motorway linking Gwadar with Ratodero in Sindh province via Turbat, Hoshab, Awaran and Khuzdar and onwards with the rest of the Motorways of Pakistan. In 2006, the Gwadar Development Authority conceived, developed and adopted a 50-year Master Plan for Gwadar. In 2007, the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan acquired 4,300 acres (17 km2) to construct a new greenfield airport, the New Gwadar International Airport, on 6,000 acres (24 km2), at an estimated cost of Rs. 7.5 billion. China has funded 80% of the initial $248 million construction of the city.[2]
However China has not announced being requested to operate the port by Pakistan.[8][9][10][11]
Gwadar is situated on the southwestern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan in Gwadar District of Balochistan province. Like Ormara further east, Gwader is situated on a natural hammerhead-shaped peninsula forming two almost perfect but naturally curved semicircular bays on either side, namely the Gwadar West Bay and Gwadar East Bay. Gwadar is largely flat barren land with two hills, the Koh-e-Batil (maximum height 449 ft.) at the head of the hammerhead peninsula and Koh-e-Mehdi (maximum height 1,112 ft.) to the east of the city.
Gwadar is 0–300 meters above sea level and is mainly dry, arid and hot. The oceanic influence keeps the temperature lower in summer and higher in winter as compared to the interior. The mean temperature in the hottest month (June) remains between 31°C and 32°. The mean temperature in the coolest month (January) varies from 18°C to 19°C. The uniformity of temperature is a unique characteristic of the Makran Coastal region. Occasionally, winds moving down the Balochistan plateau bring brief cold spells, otherwise the winter is pleasant. In Gwadar, winters are shorter than summers. Although Gwadar is situated outside the monsoon belt, it still receives light monsoon showers in summer. However, in winter, Western Disturbance can cause heavy rainfall. Annual rainfall is only 100mm (3 inches). In June 2010, Gwadar was lashed by Cyclone Phet with record-breaking rains of 372 mm and winds up to 75 mph.
Gwadar is the district headquarters of Gwadar District and the tehsil (subdistrict) headquarters of Gwadar Tehsil. Gwadar Tehsil is administratively subdivided into five Union councils, three of which form Gwadar city, these are:[12]
Gwadar's location and history have given it a unique blend of cultures. The Arabic influence upon Gwadar is strong as a consequence of the Omani era and its close proximity to the Arabian peninsula. The legacy of the Omanis is observed in the local Makrani population who can trace their lineage to Afro-Arabs and Zanj slaves, who have settled in the town during Omani rule. They have an Arab dance and music called Liwa which is also performed in the Arabian Peninsula.
Gwadar's economy has, in the past, been dependant mostly on fishing. Gwadar's economy is undergoing rapid transformation as a small fishing village is being transformed into a major port city of Pakistan with improved links with the rest of Pakistan. In 1993, the Government of Pakistan commenced a feasibility study for the construction of a deep-sea port at Gwadar. On 22 March 2002, the Government of Pakistan began construction of Gwadar Port, a modern deep-sea port, the first phase of which was completed in December 2005. Gwadar Port became operational in December 2009. The 1400 km Trans-Afghan Gas Pipeline (TAP) from Turkemenistan to Gwadar(Pakistan), a long-dormant project that would pump Turkmen natural gas to markets in South Asia, may finally be poised to begin at a cost of $3 billion.[13] The Government has announced that a massive defense facility will be constructed in the city in order to guarantee the security of the area. The Government has also announced that a new shipbuilding centre will be built at Gwadar, with an as-yet unspecified international partner.
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