The region has been inhabited for millennia,[26] but the city was formally founded as the fortified village of Kolachi as recently as 1729.[27][28] The settlement greatly increased in importance with the arrival of the East India Company in the mid-19th century. British administrators embarked on substantial projects to transform the city into a major seaport, and connect it with the extensive railway network of the Indian subcontinent.[28] At the time of Pakistan's independence in 1947, the city was the largest in Sindh with an estimated population of 400,000 people.[22] Afterwards, the city experienced a dramatic shift in population and demography with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants from India,[29] coupled with an exodus of most of its Hindu residents.[30] The city experienced rapid economic growth following Pakistan's independence, attracting migrants from throughout the country and other regions in South Asia.[31] According to the 2023 Census of Pakistan, Karachi's total population was 20.3 million.[32] Karachi is one of the world's fastest-growing cities,[33] and has significant communities representing almost every ethnic group in Pakistan. Karachi holds more than two million Bengali immigrants, a million Afghan refugees, and up to 400,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar.[34][35][36]
Karachi is now Pakistan's premier industrial and financial centre. The city has a formal economy estimated to be worth $190 billion as of 2021[update], which is the largest in the country.[37][38] Karachi collects 35% of Pakistan's tax revenue,[39] and generates approximately 25% of Pakistan's entire GDP.[40][41] Approximately 30% of Pakistani industrial output is from Karachi,[42] while Karachi's ports handle approximately 95% of Pakistan's foreign trade.[43] Approximately 90% of the multinational corporations and 100% of the banks operating in Pakistan are headquartered in Karachi.[43] It also serves as a transport hub, and contains Pakistan's two largest seaports, the Port of Karachi and Port Qasim, as well as Pakistan's busiest airport, Jinnah International Airport.[44] Karachi is also considered to be Pakistan's fashion capital,[45][46] and has hosted the annual Karachi Fashion Week since 2009.[47][48]
Known as the "City of Lights" in the 1960s and 1970s for its vibrant nightlife,[49] Karachi was beset by sharp ethnic, sectarian, and political conflict in the 1980s with the large-scale arrival of weaponry during the Soviet–Afghan War.[50] The city had become well known for its high rates of violent crime, but recorded crimes sharply decreased following a crackdown operation against criminals, the MQM political party, and Islamist militants, initiated in 2013 by the Pakistan Rangers.[51] As a result of the operation, Karachi dropped from being ranked the world's 6th-most dangerous city for crime in 2014, to 128th by 2022.[52]
^Abbas, Qaswar. "Karachi: World's most dangerous city". India Today. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016. Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, with a population of approx. 3.0 crore (Mumbai has 2crore people) is the country's most educated, liberal and secular metropolis.
^"Pakistani journalists face threats from Islamists". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016. This all happened in the heart of Karachi – a relatively liberal city with a population of more than 15 million.
^Talbot, Ian; Singh, Gurharpal (2009), The Partition of India, Cambridge University Press, pp. 120–121, ISBN978-0-521-67256-6, archived from the original on 11 March 2023, retrieved 20 April 2023, Like Dacca, Karachi was a Hindu-majority city sureounded by a predominantly Muslim-populated hinterland. In 1941 Muslims formed 42 per cent of the population while caste and scheduled-caste Hindus together comprised 50.9 per cent. ... Between 1947 and 1953 Karachi's population increased from 400,000 to 1.3 million. The former Hindu-majority city became dominated by refugees who accounted for just under 60 per cent of the population in 1951 while the Hindu presence slumped to 0.5 per cent.
^"Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh". Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland. 10 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
^Craig, Time. "Pakistan cracks down on Afghan immigrants, fearing an influx as U.S. leaves Afghanistan". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016. Qaim Ali Shah, the chief minister of Sindh province in southern Pakistan, said at a news conference in February that there were already more than 1million illegal Afghan immigrants living in Karachi, a rapidly growing city of 22 million people.
^"Karachi, Pakistan". Lloyd's City Risk Index 2015–2025. Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
^Isani, Aamna Haider (5 May 2013). "Fashion through the ages". Dawn. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.