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Document Type: | General |
Publish Date: | May 2016 |
Primary Author: | Arif Hasan |
Edited By: | Arsalan Hasan |
Published By: | The International Growth Centre |
Pakistan is a federation of four provinces. Sindh is the south-eastern province and Karachi is its capital. According to pre-census results conducted in 2013, it is the fastest growing city in the world. It is also Pakistan’s largest city and its only port. Its 2010 population was estimated at 15.4 million while its current population is estimated to have reached over 20 million. Based on these figures, it is further estimated that 9% of Pakistan’s total population and 24% of the country’s urban population, lives in Karachi. The city also generates 15% of the national GDP, 25% of the revenues, and 62% of the total income tax. There are also powerful federal landowning interests in the city in the form of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Port Qasim, Customs, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Railways and the armed forces and their various industrial and real estate activities. Karachi’s relationship with the rest of Sindh is complex. According to the last census, the city contains 62% of Sindh’s urban population and 30% of its total population and 22% of all of Pakistan’s urban population while the country’s second largest city, Lahore (capital of Punjab province), contains only 7% of Punjab’s total population . Karachi’s large-scale industrial sector employs 71.6% of the total industrial labour force in Sindh; the city produces 74.8% of the province’s total industrial output and contains 78% of its formal private sector jobs.