Karachi Province movement

A map of Karachi Division, the proposed area to be made into a separate province.

The Karachi Province movement is the movement and proposal to create a new province in Pakistan by carving out the area of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan and the current provincial capital of Sindh province.[1][2][3] This movement has largely been spearheaded by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM),[4] while the proposal is heavily opposed by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).[2] Several minor parties and movements have also supported making Karachi a province.[5] Alternate versions of the proposal have called for making Karachi a federal territory of Pakistan.[6]

Karachi is the former capital of Pakistan, and a megacity with distinct ethnolinguistic and demographic features compared to the rest of Sindh. Karachi is the only division of Sindh with an Urdu-speaking majority; 50.7% of its population is Urdu-speaking and 11.1% is Sindhi-speaking,[a] making it a Sindhi-minority provincial capital of a Sindhi-majority province.[7][8] Karachi generates around 12-15% of Pakistan's GDP and contributes 55% of federal tax revenue.[9] Karachi also contributes almost 96% of taxes collected in Sindh province as well.[10]

A map of the literacy rate of Sindh's districts as of 2023.

Karachi's districts also have the highest literacy rates in Sindh, while Sindh's literacy rate lags well below the national literacy rate of 60.7%.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Per data from the 2023 Pakistani census.
  1. ↑ Zaidi, S. Akbar (2014-01-11). "Karachi as a province". Dawn. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  2. 1 2 Khan, Iftikhar A. (2026-02-24). "'Karachi province' debate spills into upper house". Dawn. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  3. ↑ Report, Dawn (2023-07-03). "Karachi, Fata among nine new provinces proposed". Dawn. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  4. ↑ Paracha, Nadeem F. (2025-08-31). "SMOKERS' CORNER: KARACHI AND THE PROVINCE QUESTION". Dawn. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  5. ↑ "Various parties demand making Karachi a province". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "Mustafa Kamal calls for Karachi to be declared federal territory". The Nation. 2026-01-22. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  7. ↑ "TABLE 11 - POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Hasan, Arif; Alvi, Dhuha; Hashim, Amal (2022-07-31). "WHAT THE CENSUS TELLS US ABOUT KARACHI". Dawn. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  9. ↑ "Urbanisation in Pakistan". UNDP. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  10. ↑ Khan, Mubarak Zeb (2025-07-02). "Karachi leads tax collection with record 29pc growth". Dawn. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  11. ↑ "Gallup Pakistan Analysis of PBS National Census 2023 – Literacy Between the 2017 and 2023 Censuses". Gallup Pakistan. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
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