Gwadar

Gwadar (Balochi: گوادر Gwadur) is a port city on the southwestern coast of Pakistan's Balochistan province where the Arabian Sea meets the Persian Gulf just outside the Strait of Hormuz near key shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf. Under development as a free trade port, it is the district headquarters of Gwadar District. Gwadar has a population of approximately 85,000. It is about 700 km from Karachi and 120 km from the Iranian border. Gwadar was an overseas possession of Muscat and Oman from 1783 to 1958. On 8 September 1958, Pakistan purchased Oman's exclave for 5.5 billion rupees, effective 8 December 1958. Most of the money for the purchase came from donations, with Prince Sultan Mohammad Shah, the reigning Aga Khan, contributing the most. The government paid the remainder through taxes.The area was integrated into Balochistan province on 1 July 1977 as the Gwadar District subdivision.

In 2011, it was designated the winter capital of Balochistan province.

Gwadar District

Gwadar District (Balochi: ضِلع گوادر), is a District in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. The name Gwadar originates from Gwat and Dar (Balochi: گوات ء در)، which means the door of air. Gwadar was notified as a separate district on 1 July 1977. The City of Gwadar is the district headquarter of Gwadar District.

Administration

Gwadar District is subdivided into four Tehsils or sub—districts:

Geography and natural history

Gwadar District has a 600 kilometres (370 mi) long coastline along the Gulf of Oman of the Arabian Sea. The district located in the coastal region on the Arabian Sea, south-west of the Quetta City, the provincial capital of Balochistan, District Lasbela is in the east and Kech and Awaran Districts are in the north and sharing its boundaries in the west with Iran It has a scenic coastal highway that originates from district Lasbela and passes through the Gwadar district. The district has a 620 km coastline along Arabian Sea. The most significant feature of the Gwadar District is Gwadar Port, a deep sea warm water port. It is located on the eastern bay of a natural hammer-head protrusion of land, from the coast, distended into the apex of Arabian Sea.