Gwadar
Encyclopedia
Gwadar also known as Godar (in the southern Pashto accent) is a developing port city on the southwestern Arabian Sea
coast of Pakistan
. It is the district headquarters of Gwadar District
in Balochistan province and has a population of approximately 50,000.
Gwadar is strategically located at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman
. The city's strategic, warm-water, deep-sea Gwadar Port
was completed in 2007. The port is 47 feet (14.3 m) deep and handles the largest cargo ships to Pakistan. The city is emerging as a trade hub and a transit for Chinese oil imports. The city has also been taking an increasing role in China's String of Pearls
.
Gwadar is one of the few planned cities in Pakistan (others being Faisalabad
, Jauharabad
, and Islamabad
), which have been developed from scratch under an urban master plan. Before development, the town was a fishing village.
, appears to be ancient. The area shows inhabitation as early as the ancient Bronze age
people where settlements existed around some of the area's oases. The Baloch people of this area originally referred to themselves as Moka or Maka. It is from this that word Makran
, the original name of Balochistan is derived. The region was known to the Bactria
ns as Godar or Godar-shua (in [Pashto). It was this term that the Greeks Hellenzied to Gedrosia. Gedrosia
then became a region of the Achaemenid Persian empire. It is believed to have been conquered
by the founder of the Persian empire, Cyrus the Great
. The capital of the satrapy of Gedrosia was Pura, which is thought to have been located near the modern Bampûr
, in Iranian Balochistan. During the homeward march of Alexander the Great, his admiral
, Nearchus
, led a fleet along the modern-day Makran coast
and recorded that the area was dry
, mountain
ous, and inhabited by the "Ichthyophagoi" (or "fish
eaters"), an ancient Greek
rendering of the ancient Persian phrase "Mahi khoran" (which has itself become the modern word
"Makran"). After the collapse of Alexander's empire
the area was ruled by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander’s general
s. The region then came under indigenous rule around about 303 BC.
for a millennium
until the Arab
-Muslim
army
of Muhammad bin Qasim
captured Gwadar in 711 A.D. and over the intervening (and nearly equivalent) amount of time the area was contested by various powers, including the Mughals
(from the east) and the Safavids (from the west).
tribe
s. The city was visited by Ottoman
Admiral
Seydi Ali Reis
in 1550s and mentioned in his book Mirat ul Memalik
(The Mirror of Countries), 1557. According to Seydi Ali Reis, the inhabitants of Gwadar were Baloch
and their chief was Malik Jelaleddin, son of Malik Dinar.
of Kalat granted suzerainty
over Gwadar to Taimur Sultan, the defeated ruler of Muscat
. When the sultan
subsequently retook Muscat, he was to continue his rule in Gwadar by appointing a wali
(or "governor
"). This wali
was then ordered to subjugate the nearby coastal town of Chah Bahar (in modern-day Iran
). The Gwadar fort was built during Omani
rule, whilst telegraph lines were later extended into the town courtesy of the British
.
for $
3 million. Gwadar officially became part of Pakistan on 8 December 1958. At the time, Gwadar was a small and underdeveloped fishing village with a population of a few thousand.
The Pakistani government integrated Gwadar into Balochistan province on 1 July 1977 as the district headquarters of the newly formed Gwadar District.
In the 1993, the Government of Pakistan formally conceived the plan to develop Gwadar into a major port city with a deep-sea port and connect it with Pakistan's highway and rail networks. On 22 March 2002, the Government of Pakistan began construction of Gwadar Port
, a modern deep-sea port, the first phase of which was completed in December 2005. Gwadar Port became operational in December 2009.
The city underwent major construction from 2002-07. In 2002, Pakistan's National Highway Authority (NHA) began construction of the 653 km-long Makran Coastal Highway
linking Gwadar with Karachi
via Pasni
and Ormara
and onwards with the rest of the National Highways of Pakistan, which was completed in 2004. In 2003, the Gwadar Development Authority was established to oversee the planning and development of Gwadar and Gwadar Industrial Estate Development Authorty was established to promote industrial activities in mega port city of Gwadar . In 2004, Pakistan's NHA began construction of the 820-km long M8 motorway
linking Gwadar with Ratodero
in Sindh
province via Turbat
, Hoshab, Awaran
and Khuzdar
and onwards with the rest of the Motorways of Pakistan
. In 2006, the Gwadar Development Authority conceived, developed and adopted a 50-year Master Plan for Gwadar. In 2007, the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan acquired 4300 acres (17.4 km²) to construct a new greenfield
airport, the New Gwadar International Airport
, on 6000 acres (24.3 km²), at an estimated cost of Rs. 7.5 billion. China
has funded 80% of the initial $248 million construction of the city.
However China has not announced being requested to operate the port by Pakistan.
Like Ormara
further east, Gwader is situated on a natural hammerhead
-shaped peninsula forming two almost perfect but naturally curved semicircular bays on either side, namely the Gwadar West Bay and Gwadar East Bay. Gwadar is largely flat barren land with two hills, the Koh-e-Batil (maximum height 449 ft.) at the head of the hammerhead peninsula and Koh-e-Mehdi (maximum height 1,112 ft.) to the east of the city.
belt, it still receives light monsoon showers in summer. However, in winter, Western Disturbance
can cause heavy rainfall. Annual rainfall is only 100mm (3 inches). In June 2010, Gwadar was lashed by Cyclone Phet
with record-breaking rains of 372 mm and winds up to 75 mph.
, three of which form Gwadar city, these are:
Gwadar's location and history have given it a unique blend of cultures. The Arabic influence upon Gwadar is strong as a consequence of the Omani
era and its close proximity to the Arabian peninsula
. The legacy of the Omanis is observed in the local Makrani population
who can trace their lineage to Afro-Arabs and Zanj
slaves, who have settled in the town during Omani rule. They have an Arab dance and music called Liwa
which is also performed in the Arabian Peninsula
.
, a modern deep-sea port, the first phase of which was completed in December 2005. Gwadar Port became operational in December 2009. The 1400 km Trans-Afghan Gas Pipeline (TAP) from Turkemenistan to Gwadar(Pakistan), a long-dormant project that would pump Turkmen natural gas to markets in South Asia, may finally be poised to begin at a cost of $3 billion. The Government has announced that a massive defense facility will be constructed in the city in order to guarantee the security of the area. The Government has also announced that a new shipbuilding centre will be built at Gwadar, with an as-yet unspecified international partner.
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
coast of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. It is the district headquarters of Gwadar District
Gwadar District
Gwadar District is a coastal district in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Gwadar city is the district headquarters of Gwadar District.-Administration:Gwadar District is subdivided into the following tehsils or subdistricts:* Gwadar* Jiwani* Ormara...
in Balochistan province and has a population of approximately 50,000.
Gwadar is strategically located at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman
Gulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman is a strait that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs to the Persian Gulf. It is generally included as a branch of the Persian Gulf, not as an arm of the Arabian Sea. On the north coast is Pakistan and Iran...
. The city's strategic, warm-water, deep-sea Gwadar Port
Gwadar port
Gwadar Port is a developing warm-water, deep-sea port situated at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, about 460 km west of Karachi and approximately east of Pakistan's border with Iran...
was completed in 2007. The port is 47 feet (14.3 m) deep and handles the largest cargo ships to Pakistan. The city is emerging as a trade hub and a transit for Chinese oil imports. The city has also been taking an increasing role in China's String of Pearls
String of Pearls (China)
The String of Pearls refers to the Chinese sea lines of communication which extend to Port Sudan. The sea lines run through the strategic choke points Strait of Mandab, Strait of Malacca, Strait of Hormuz and Strait of Lombok as well as other strategic naval interest such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka,...
.
Gwadar is one of the few planned cities in Pakistan (others being Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
, Jauharabad
Jauharabad
Jauharabad is a planned town situated in Khushab District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It has a population of approximately 40,000 and it is the district headquarters of Khushab District....
, and Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
), which have been developed from scratch under an urban master plan. Before development, the town was a fishing village.
Pre-Islamic era
Inhabitation of Gwadar, like most areas of PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, appears to be ancient. The area shows inhabitation as early as the ancient Bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
people where settlements existed around some of the area's oases. The Baloch people of this area originally referred to themselves as Moka or Maka. It is from this that word Makran
Makran
The present day Makran is a semi-desert coastal strip in the south of Sindh, Balochistan, in Iran and Pakistan, along the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. The present day Makran derived its name from Maka, a satrap of Achaemenid Empire....
, the original name of Balochistan is derived. The region was known to the Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
ns as Godar or Godar-shua (in [Pashto). It was this term that the Greeks Hellenzied to Gedrosia. Gedrosia
Gedrosia
Gedrosia from Pashto Gwadar-khua is the hellenized name of an area that corresponds to today's Balochistan. Eastern Balochistan is southwestern province of Pakistan and parts of southwestern and south-central Afghanistan and western Balochistan is divided between Iranian provinces of Hormozgan and...
then became a region of the Achaemenid Persian empire. It is believed to have been conquered
Conquest (military)
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. One example is the Norman conquest of England, which provided the subjugation of the Kingdom of England and the acquisition of the English crown by William the Conqueror in 1066...
by the founder of the Persian empire, Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
. The capital of the satrapy of Gedrosia was Pura, which is thought to have been located near the modern Bampûr
Bampur
Bampur is a city in and capital of Bampur District, in Iranshahr County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 9,073, in 1,664 families....
, in Iranian Balochistan. During the homeward march of Alexander the Great, his admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
, Nearchus
Nearchus
Nearchus was one of the officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. His celebrated voyage from India to Susa after Alexander's expedition in India is preserved in Arrian's account, the Indica....
, led a fleet along the modern-day Makran coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
and recorded that the area was dry
Arid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
, mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
ous, and inhabited by the "Ichthyophagoi" (or "fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
eaters"), an ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
rendering of the ancient Persian phrase "Mahi khoran" (which has itself become the modern word
Word
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
"Makran"). After the collapse of Alexander's empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
the area was ruled by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander’s general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
s. The region then came under indigenous rule around about 303 BC.
Islamic rule
The region remained on the sidelines of historyHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
for a millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
until the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
-Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
of Muhammad bin Qasim
Muhammad bin Qasim
Muhammad bin Qasim Al-Thaqafi was a Umayyad general who, at the age of 17, began the conquest of the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River for the Umayyad Caliphate. He was born in the city of Taif...
captured Gwadar in 711 A.D. and over the intervening (and nearly equivalent) amount of time the area was contested by various powers, including the Mughals
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
(from the east) and the Safavids (from the west).
Indigenous rule
This was then followed by almost two centuries of local rule by the various BalochBaloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
s. The city was visited by Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Seydi Ali Reis
Seydi Ali Reis
Seydi Ali Reis was an Ottoman admiral.He commanded the left wing of the Ottoman fleet at the naval Battle of Preveza in 1538....
in 1550s and mentioned in his book Mirat ul Memalik
Mirat ul Memalik
Mirat ul Memalik is a historical book written by Ottoman Admiral Sidi Ali Reis about his travels in South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East...
(The Mirror of Countries), 1557. According to Seydi Ali Reis, the inhabitants of Gwadar were Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
and their chief was Malik Jelaleddin, son of Malik Dinar.
Omani empire
In 1783, the KhanKhan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
of Kalat granted suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
over Gwadar to Taimur Sultan, the defeated ruler of Muscat
Muscat and Oman
Muscat and Oman was a country that encompassed the present day Sultanate of Oman and parts of the United Arab Emirates. The country is not to be confused with either the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, which were sheikhdoms under British protection since 1820....
. When the sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
subsequently retook Muscat, he was to continue his rule in Gwadar by appointing a wali
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
(or "governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
"). This wali
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
was then ordered to subjugate the nearby coastal town of Chah Bahar (in modern-day Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
). The Gwadar fort was built during Omani
Omani
Omani may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Oman, an Arab coujntry in southwestern Asia** A person from Oman or of Omani descent, collectively referred to as Omanis; see Demographics of Oman and Culture of Oman...
rule, whilst telegraph lines were later extended into the town courtesy of the British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
.
Pakistan
On 8 September 1958, Pakistan purchased the Gwadar enclave from OmanOman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3 million. Gwadar officially became part of Pakistan on 8 December 1958. At the time, Gwadar was a small and underdeveloped fishing village with a population of a few thousand.
The Pakistani government integrated Gwadar into Balochistan province on 1 July 1977 as the district headquarters of the newly formed Gwadar District.
Gwadar port
Gwadar Port is a developing warm-water, deep-sea port situated at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, about 460 km west of Karachi and approximately east of Pakistan's border with Iran...
, a modern deep-sea port, the first phase of which was completed in December 2005. Gwadar Port became operational in December 2009.
The city underwent major construction from 2002-07. In 2002, Pakistan's National Highway Authority (NHA) began construction of the 653 km-long Makran Coastal Highway
Makran Coastal Highway
Makran Coastal Highway is a 653 km-long coastal highway along Pakistan's Arabian Sea coastline. It runs primarily through Balochistan province between Karachi and Gwadar, passing near the port towns of Ormara and Pasni....
linking Gwadar with Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
via Pasni
Pasni
Pasni, the Weaning Ceremony is one in hundreds of celebrations in Nepal in which a child is first fed rice. Although centuries old tradition, modern science has established the fact that child's digestive system is capable of processing solid food when they are approximately 6 months old...
and Ormara
Ormara
Ormara is a port city located in the Makran or coastal region of Balochistan Province in Pakistan. It is located 360 km west of Karachi and 230 km east of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. This port is also mentioned in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as Oraea.- History :Ormara is an old...
and onwards with the rest of the National Highways of Pakistan, which was completed in 2004. In 2003, the Gwadar Development Authority was established to oversee the planning and development of Gwadar and Gwadar Industrial Estate Development Authorty was established to promote industrial activities in mega port city of Gwadar . In 2004, Pakistan's NHA began construction of the 820-km long M8 motorway
M8 motorway
The M8 is the busiest motorway in Scotland and one of the busiest in the United Kingdom. It connects the country's two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and serves other large communities including Airdrie, Coatbridge, Greenock, Livingston and Paisley...
linking Gwadar with Ratodero
Ratodero
Ratodero is the capital of Ratodero Taluka a sub-division of Larkana District in the Sindh province of Pakistan, it is located some 30 km away from the district capital Larkana .Indo-Pak partition, the city has a special reputation for its sweet products. The most special is known as Mawa and...
in Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
province via Turbat
Turbat
Turbat is a city located in southern Balochistan, a province of Pakistan. The town is the administrative center of Kech District and Turbat Tehsil, the town itself contains one Union council.-About:...
, Hoshab, Awaran
Awaran
Awaran is the capital of Awaran District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. As well as district capital the town serves as tehsil headquarters and as a Union Council.-References:...
and Khuzdar
Khuzdar
Khuzdar or Khozdar is a town located in Khuzdar District in Balochistan, Pakistan. Khuzdar is the capital of Khuzdar District, which was created on 1 March 1974...
and onwards with the rest of the Motorways of Pakistan
Motorways of Pakistan
The Motorways of Pakistan are the nationally coordinated high-speed, limited-access or controlled-access highways in Pakistan, and maintained and operated by the National Highway Authority.-Features:...
. In 2006, the Gwadar Development Authority conceived, developed and adopted a 50-year Master Plan for Gwadar. In 2007, the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan acquired 4300 acres (17.4 km²) to construct a new greenfield
Greenfield
-Engineering:* Greenfield land, a piece of undeveloped land * One of several related terms:* Greenfield project, a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior work...
airport, the New Gwadar International Airport
Gwadar International Airport
Gwadar International Airport is a domestic and international airport situated 9 miles north of the city centre of Gwadar, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.-History:...
, on 6000 acres (24.3 km²), at an estimated cost of Rs. 7.5 billion. China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
has funded 80% of the initial $248 million construction of the city.
However China has not announced being requested to operate the port by Pakistan.
Geography
Gwadar is situated on the southwestern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan in Gwadar District of Balochistan province.Like Ormara
Ormara
Ormara is a port city located in the Makran or coastal region of Balochistan Province in Pakistan. It is located 360 km west of Karachi and 230 km east of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. This port is also mentioned in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as Oraea.- History :Ormara is an old...
further east, Gwader is situated on a natural hammerhead
Hammerhead
- Fiction :* Hammerheads, a 1990 book by Dale Brown.* Hammerhead, a 1964 Charles Hood secret agent novel by James Mayo* Hammerhead , a 1968 film based on the novel by James Mayo* Hammerhead , a 1987 Italian action film...
-shaped peninsula forming two almost perfect but naturally curved semicircular bays on either side, namely the Gwadar West Bay and Gwadar East Bay. Gwadar is largely flat barren land with two hills, the Koh-e-Batil (maximum height 449 ft.) at the head of the hammerhead peninsula and Koh-e-Mehdi (maximum height 1,112 ft.) to the east of the city.
Climate
Gwadar is 0–300 meters above sea level and is mainly dry, arid and hot. The oceanic influence keeps the temperature lower in summer and higher in winter as compared to the interior. The mean temperature in the hottest month (June) remains between 31°C and 32°. The mean temperature in the coolest month (January) varies from 18°C to 19°C. The uniformity of temperature is a unique characteristic of the Makran Coastal region. Occasionally, winds moving down the Balochistan plateau bring brief cold spells, otherwise the winter is pleasant. In Gwadar, winters are shorter than summers. Although Gwadar is situated outside the monsoonMonsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
belt, it still receives light monsoon showers in summer. However, in winter, Western Disturbance
Western Disturbance
Western Disturbance is the term used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to describe an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean, that brings sudden winter rain and snow to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. This is a non-monsoonal precipitation pattern driven by...
can cause heavy rainfall. Annual rainfall is only 100mm (3 inches). In June 2010, Gwadar was lashed by Cyclone Phet
Cyclone Phet
Cyclone Phet was the third named cyclone of the 2010 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Phet developed from a low pressure area in the Arabian Sea that organized into a tropical cyclone on May 31...
with record-breaking rains of 372 mm and winds up to 75 mph.
Administration
Gwadar is the district headquarters of Gwadar District and the tehsil (subdistrict) headquarters of Gwadar Tehsil. Gwadar Tehsil is administratively subdivided into five Union councilsUnion Councils of Pakistan
A sherwan or village council in Pakistan is an elected local government body consisting of 21 councillors, and headed by a nazim and a naib nazim...
, three of which form Gwadar city, these are:
- Gwadar Northern
- Gwadar Central
- Gwadar Southern
Culture
Omani
Omani may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Oman, an Arab coujntry in southwestern Asia** A person from Oman or of Omani descent, collectively referred to as Omanis; see Demographics of Oman and Culture of Oman...
era and its close proximity to the Arabian peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
. The legacy of the Omanis is observed in the local Makrani population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
who can trace their lineage to Afro-Arabs and Zanj
Zanj
Zanj was a name used by medieval Arab geographers to refer to both a certain portion of the coast of East Africa and its inhabitants, Bantu-speaking peoples called the Zanj...
slaves, who have settled in the town during Omani rule. They have an Arab dance and music called Liwa
Liwa (music)
Līwa is a traditional dance performed in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, mainly in communities of descendants of East Africans from the Swahili Coast...
which is also performed in the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
.
Economy
Gwadar's economy has, in the past, been dependant mostly on fishing. Gwadar's economy is undergoing rapid transformation as a small fishing village is being transformed into a major port city of Pakistan with improved links with the rest of Pakistan. In 1993, the Government of Pakistan commenced a feasibility study for the construction of a deep-sea port at Gwadar. On 22 March 2002, the Government of Pakistan began construction of Gwadar PortGwadar port
Gwadar Port is a developing warm-water, deep-sea port situated at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, about 460 km west of Karachi and approximately east of Pakistan's border with Iran...
, a modern deep-sea port, the first phase of which was completed in December 2005. Gwadar Port became operational in December 2009. The 1400 km Trans-Afghan Gas Pipeline (TAP) from Turkemenistan to Gwadar(Pakistan), a long-dormant project that would pump Turkmen natural gas to markets in South Asia, may finally be poised to begin at a cost of $3 billion. The Government has announced that a massive defense facility will be constructed in the city in order to guarantee the security of the area. The Government has also announced that a new shipbuilding centre will be built at Gwadar, with an as-yet unspecified international partner.