Khushab

Khushab
خُوشاب
City
Khushab
Khushab

Location of Khushab

Coordinates: 32°17′55″N 72°21′3″E / 32.29861°N 72.35083°E / 32.29861; 72.35083Coordinates: 32°17′55″N 72°21′3″E / 32.29861°N 72.35083°E / 32.29861; 72.35083
Country Pakistan
Province Punjab, Pakistan
District Khushab District
Population (2009)[1]
 • Total 110,868
Time zone PST (UTC+5)
Post code 41000
Area code(s) 0454
District Government Khushab Official Website

Khushab (Urdu: خُوشاب‎) is a city as well as a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan.[2] The word Khushab means "sweet water." Khushab city also serves as the headquarters of Khushab Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district Khushab.[3]

The city of Khushab is the location of the Khushab Nuclear Complex,[4] a critical part of the Pakistan's Special Weapons Program, which has come under much heated scrutiny.[5]

Demographics

The population according to the 1901 census was 11,403.Now it is 50,000.[6]

Etymology

"Khushab" is a combination of two Persian words: khush (Persian: خوش‎‎), meaning "sweet or tasty", and aab (Persian: آب‎‎), meaning "water". A common belief is that the Persians from the west first used the word khush-aab in admiration of the sweet and tasty water found in the historical city situated on the bank of Jhelum River. In time the city became known as Khushab.[7]

Khushab Nuclear Complex

On 21 March 2000, The Christian Science Monitor published an article written by Alexander Colhoun, in which a high-resolution aerial satellite photo revealed a nuclear reactor, Khushab Nuclear Complex and a missile base in the city of Khushab. These pictures had mixed views, one of the expression of power that could shackle or reshape diplomatic landscapes[8] of a region and another of the ethical question about the usage of satellite imagery in terms of privacy and national sovereignty of a nuclear-capable nation. The report was published at a time when American President Bill Clinton was due to visit India, and it sparked concerns worldwide. According to a more recent ISIS analysis of imaging, the Khushab Nuclear Complex has four heavy water reactors and a heavy water production plant. Moreover, the plutonium produced in this site as reported by a Pakistani official is prepared to build small, short range nuclear weapons such as tactical nuclear-tipped missiles.[9]

References

  1. ↑ World Gazetteer estimate (1 January 2006)
  2. ↑ Tehsil statistics (Government of Pakistan, Statistics Division) Archived 30 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Tehsils & Unions in the District of Khushab - Government of Pakistan Archived 24 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Special Weapons Program of Pakistan, Federation of American Scientists website
  5. ↑ Shahzeb Jillani, "South Asia arms race - is it paranoia?", BBC News, 25 July 2006
  6. ↑ Khushāb Town in Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 15, p. 298.
  7. ↑ "District Courts Khushab". Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Top-Secret Kodak Moment In Space Shakes Global Security", The Christian Science Monitor, 21 March 2000
  9. ↑ http://www.isis-online.org/uploads/isis-reports/documents/Construction_Continues_at_Khushab_August12_2015_Final.pdf
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