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Karachi
(Urdu: كراچى, Sindhi: ڪراچي) is the capital of the province of Sindh,
and the most populated city in Pakistan. It is located on the coast of the
Arabian Sea in southeastern Pakistan, northwest of the Indus Delta. The city is
the financial and commercial centre as well as the largest port of Pakistan.
The site of an ancient community of fishing villages, the modern port-city of
Karachi was developed by authorities of the British Raj in the 19th century.
Upon the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the city was selected to become the
national capital, and was exposed to a massive influx of immigrants from India,
which radically expanded the city's population and transformed the demographics
and economy. Karachi has faced major infrastructural and socio-economic
challenges, but modern industries and businesses have developed in the city, and
the population expanded even after the capital was moved to Rawalpindi in 1959.
Karachi is the most ethnically and religiously diverse city in the nation. In
the 1980s and early 1990s, Karachi witnessed a major influx of refugees from the
war in Afghanistan, and increasing political and sectarian violence between the
Punjabi and Sindhi communities, and the Mohajirs (descendants of immigrants from
India), who formed a plurality of the population. The intervention of the
Pakistani army and martial law scarred the city, but a national economic boom in
the early 21st century has resulted in economic growth, peace and prosperity for
the city.
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