Sindh Major Cities

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan and is the provincial capital of Sindh province. Located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, north-west of the Indus River Delta, the megacity is the largest city, original capital and cultural, economical, philantropic, educational, and political hub, as well as the largest port of the country.

As Pakistan's economic capital, its leading economic sectors include finance, business services, transportation, media, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education and tourism.

The metropolitan area along with its suburbs comprises the world's second most populated city, spread over 3,530 square kilometres. The city credits its growth to the mixed populations of economic and political migrants and refugees from different national, provincial, linguistic and religious origins who have largely come to settle here permanently. It is locally termed as the City of Lights for its liveliness and the City of The Quaid, for not only being both the birth and death place of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah the founder of Pakistan but also his home after 1947. Residents and those born in the city are called "Karachiites".

Hyderabad

Hyderabad is located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Formerly the capital of Sindh and known as the city of perfumes, it is now a regional headquarter of the district of Hyderabad. Before the creation of Pakistan, it was known as the Paris of India, for its roads used to be washed with perfume every day. The regional and political boundaries stage the city as a district.

Hyderabad is a hot and humid city in the south of the nation and has been a staging point for literary campaign and a birthplace of many poets. Rich with culture and tradition, the city is the largest bangle producer in the world and serves as a transit between the rural and the urban Sindh.

Sukkur

Sukkur is the third largest city of Sindh province, situated on the west bank of Indus River (Pakistan) in Sukkur District. Sukkur is a local variant of Arabic word Saqar which means intense. In the 10th century AD when Arabs invaded Sukkur (Sindh), they found extreme (hot and cold) climate, and called it saqar. 

Sukkur is given a title of Darya Dino (means the gift of river), as without the Indus this would be like Egypt deprived of Nile. Sukkur is the central city of Sindh province in Pakistan.

Mirpurkhas

Mirpur Khas with a population of 124,371 (1981), is a south eastern Pakistani city, fourth largest in the Sindh Province. Its soil is fertile and it is very popular for its mango cultivation. There are more than 250 varieties of mangoes found in this region. It lies on the Let Wah Canal at latitude 25° 24' N and longitude 69° E. It is connected by rail and road with Hyderabad and by road with Umarkot. 

The city has several shopping centers and bazaars which includes, Baldia Shopping Center, Shahi Bazaar and Khisakpura (in local slang), which sells traditional garments, modern crockery, etc.

Larkana

Larkana or Larkano is the fourth largest city located in the Northwest of Sindh Province, Pakistan, located in Larkana District. In August 2000 A.D, Larkano celebrated its hundred years of existence. Because of its subtropical location and flat topography, Larkano experiences a pleasant climate during winter and extreme heat during the summer. 

Larkano is the most important settlement in the Western Upper Sindh.  Being the hometown of many political personalities, it exercises a country-wide influence.  Being district headquarter, Larkano is also a major administrative center.  Recently the city has been elevated to the status of division headquarter.  On this basis it is expected that its importance will further increase. 

Thatta

Thatta or Thatto is a historic town of 22,000 inhabitants in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near Lake Keenjhar, the largest freshwater lake in the country. Thatta's major monuments are listed among the World Heritage Sites. Due to its proximity to the huge port of Karachi, the picturesque old town is frequented by visitors, especially on weekends. Thatta's monuments include the Jama Mosque (also Shahjehani Mosque and Badshahi Mosque), built by Shah Jahan in 1647-49 and lined with glazed tiles. This edifice has 101 domes and is designed in such a way that imam's voice can reach every corner of this building without the help of any loudspeaker or other device.

There are also the tombs of Jam Nizamuddin (reigned in 1461-1509), several Tarkhan rulers and Mughal officials. A vast old necropolis with thousands of graves may be found at the nearby Makli Hills.

Khairpur

Khairpur is the twelfth largest city in the province of Sindh in southeast Pakistan. It is the capital of the modern Khairpur District and was the capital of the former princely state of Khayrpur. At the 1998 census, the population of the city of Khairpur was 102,188 having increased from 61,447 at the 1981 census. The city has an estimated population of 127,857 in 2006. 

Khairpur trades in wheat, cotton, and dates and is linked by road and rail to Karachi. Manufactures include refined sugar. Prior to the annexation of the state in to Pakistan in 1955, Khairpur was an industrially much more advanced than Pakistan producing leather goods, carpets, silk clothing, matches, soap, shoes, cigarettes to name a few. It also had the largest factories in textiles, tobacco redrying, and silk weaving in the sub-continent.

Shikarpur

Shikarpur is the capital of Shikarpur District in Sindh province of Pakistan. It is situated about 29 km from the left bank of the Indus, with a railway station, 37 km NW. of Sukkur.

Shikarpur has always been an important place as commanding the trade route through the Bolan Pass, and its merchants have dealings with many towns in Central Asia. It has seven gates like Hathi Gate, Lucky Gate etc. It is famous for its pickles and sweets. It has a large market and manufactures cotton cloth and pottery. Because of its rich history. Arif Khan Mahar is the Nazim of Shikarpur District.

Badin

Badin is a town located in Sindh, Pakistan east of the Indus River. The region is swampy, fertile for growing rice. Some oil exists in the region. Badin is capital of Badin District.

Badin district is situated between 24º-5` to 25º-25` north latitude and 68 21’ to 69 20’ east longitude. The district is bounded on the north by Hyderabad district on the east by Mirpurkhas and Tharparker districts, on the south the Arabian Sea and Rann of Kutch, which also forms the international boundary with India, and on the west it is bounded by Thatta and Hyderabad districts. The total area of the district is 6,726 square kilometers and the district consists of five talukas, they are Badin, Matli, Tando Bago, Golarchi and Talhar and with the introduction of the Devolution System the talukas have been sub-divided into the Union Councils numbering 49, Tapas 109 and Dehs 511.

Umerkot

Umerkot is town in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is also referred to as Amar Kot as per old histories, "Amar Kot Itehas" by Tej Singh Solanki, being most notable. Once, it has been Capital of Greater Sindh Province (including some parts of present Rajisthan state of India). It also got prominent during the time of the Mughals and during the British Raj. The great Mughal king Akbar was born in Umarkot when his father Humayun lost the battle against Sher Shah Suri and was on the run. Akbar later became the King of India and was a popular figure with both Hindus and Muslims. 

Umarkot has many sites of historical significance such as Akbar's birthplace and Umarkot Fort. Another significant story is Umar Marvi. Marvi was a young Thari girl abducted by Umar-the then Ruler because of her beauty and wanted to marry her but upon her refusal he kept her in prison in the historic Umerkot Fort for many years and finally end up releasing her. Because of her brave behaviour Marvi is an ideal for the local people. The city is well connected with the other large cities like Karachi, the provincial capital and Hyderabad.