Karachi (Urdu: کراچی; Sindhi: ڪراچي; ALA-LC: Karācī, IPA: (About this sound listen)) - the capital of the province of Sindh - is the largest and most populous city in Pakistan,[las well as the 2nd most populous city in the world. By global population rankings of an agglomerate city, it is the 10th largest in the world. Ranked as a beta world city,the city is Pakistan's premier industrial and financial centre.[16] Karachi is also Pakistan's most cosmopolitan city. Located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, Karachi is a major transportation hub, home to two of Pakistan's largest seaports, the Port of Karachi and Port Bin Qasim, as well as the busiest airport in Pakistan.
Though the surroundings of Karachi have been inhabited for millennia,the city itself was founded as a village named Kolachi which was established as a fortified settlement in 1729. The settlement increased in importance drastically with the arrival of British colonialists, who not only embarked on major works to transform the city into a major seaport, but also connected it with their extensive railway network.By the time of the Partition of India, the city was the largest in Sindh with an estimated population of 400,000.Immediately following the independence of Pakistan, the city's population increased dramatically with the arrival of thousands of Muslim immigrants from India,with Karachi remaining the primary destination of Indian Muslim migrants throughout the 1950s and 1960s.The city experienced rapid economic growth following independence, attracting migrants from throughout Pakistan and South Asia.
Karachi is one of Pakistan's most secular and socially liberal cities.It is also the most linguistically, ethnically, and religiously diverse city in Pakistan.[l With an estimated population of between 15 and 23.5 million people in its greater metropolitan region,Karachi is considered to be the largest city in the Muslim world,and is the world's 7th most populous urban