Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the financial capital of Pakistan, and the capital of the province of Sindh. With a city population of 15.5 million, Karachi is one of the world's largest cities,13th largest urban agglomeration and the 20th largest metropolitan area in the world. It is Pakistan's premier centre of banking, industry, and trade. Karachi is home to Pakistan's largest corporations, including those that are involved in textiles, shipping, automotive industry, entertainment, the arts, fashion, advertising, publishing, software development and medical research. The city is a major hub of higher education in South Asia and the wider Islamic world. Karachi is ranked as a Beta world city.

Karachi enjoys its prominent position because of its geographical location on a bay, making it the financial capital of the country. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It was the original capital of Pakistan until the construction of Islamabad and is the location of the Port of Karachi and Port Bin Qasim , one of the region's largest and busiest ports. After the partition of India and the independence of Pakistan, the city's population increased dramatically when hundreds of thousands of migrants from India, East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) and other parts of South Asia came to settle in the city.    

 Karachi city is spread over 3,530 km2 (1,360 sq mi) in area, almost five times bigger than Singapore. It is locally known as the "City of Lights" (روشنیوں  کا  شهر) and "The bride of the cities" (عروس  البلاد) for its liveliness, and the "City of the Quaid " (شهرِ  قائد), having been the birth and burial place of Quaid-e-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah), the founder of Pakistan, who made the city his home after Pakistan's independence.

The area of Karachi was known to the ancient Greeks by many names: Krokola, the place where Alexander the Great camped to prepare a fleet for Babylonia after his campaign in the Indus Valley; 'Morontobara' (probably Manora island near Karachi harbour), from whence Alexander's admiral Nearchus set sail; and Barbarikon, a port of the Indo-Greek Bactrian kingdom. It was later known to the Arabs as Debal, the starting point for Muhammad bin Qasim and his army in 712 AD.                                                   

ocated on the coast, Karachi tends to have a relatively mild, arid climate with low average precipitation levels (approximately 250 mm per annum), the bulk of which occurs during the July-August monsoon season. Winters are mild and the summers are hot; the proximity to the sea maintains humidity levels at a near-constant high and cool sea breezes relieve the heat of the summer months. Because of high temperatures during the summer (ranging from 30 to 44 degrees Celsius from April to August), the winter months (November to February) are generally considered the best times to visit Karachi. December and January have pleasant and cloudy weather.