Alko

Alko is the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly in Finland. It is the only store in the country which retails beer over 4.7% ABV, wine (except in vineyards) and spirits. Alcoholic beverages are also sold in licensed restaurants and bars but only for consumption on the premises. Alko is required by law to sell drinks with lower alcohol content than 4.7% and non-alcoholic alternatives, but in practice carries a very limited stock of low alcohol beer, cider and non-alcoholic drinks and mixers as supermarkets sell the same products at a lower price. By law, alcoholic drinks may only be sold to those aged 18 or above.

Products

As the only retailer of strong alcoholic beverages in Finland, Alko has an extensive range of products ranging from rare wines to bulk vodka. Its wine selection has grown in recent decades as there has been an increase in consumption and a government drive to change Finnish drinking habits to a more "European" style, which means a move from hard liquor to wine and beer. While wine consumption has increased, this has not replaced consumption of other alcoholic beverages, negating the "Europeanization" argument. Nowadays wines occupy most of the shelf space in an Alko shop. Its beer selection is concentrated on stronger versions of the domestic bulk lagers and some high-quality strong beers from major beer-producing countries as well as traditional Sahti at some locations. Hard spirits include several Finnish brands of vodka and all major types of hard liquor. Alko also sells brands of drinks produced by the Finnish state-owned company Altia, which are traditional products and not sold abroad. Many of these date back to the first products launched after the end of the Prohibition. These are usually for mixing drinks.

Sindh

Sindh /sɪnd/ (Urdu: سندھ‎ ; Sindhi: سنڌ‎) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, in the southeast of the country. Historically home to the Sindhi people, it is also locally known as the Mehran. It was formerly known as Sind until the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan. Spelling of its official name as Sind was discontinued in 2013 by an amendment passed in Sindh Assembly. The name "Sindh" is derived from the Sanskrit Sindhu, a reference to the Indus River that passes almost through the middle of the state.

Sindh is the third largest province by size, and second largest province by population. It is bordered by Balochistan province to the west, Punjab province to the north, the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east, and Arabian Sea to the south. The provincial capital and largest city of the province is Karachi, which is Pakistan's largest city and the country's only financial hub.

The province has a diverse industrialized economy which emphasizes on manufacturing, education and agriculture development. It is a major exporter of fruit and vegetables to other parts of the country.

Sind Province (1936–55)

Sindh was a province of British India from 1936 to 1947 and Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. Under the British, it encompassed the current territorial limits excluding the princely state of Khairpur with the capital at Karachi. After Pakistan's creation, the province lost the city of Karachi, as it became the capital of the newly created country.

Location

The province was bordered by Karachi (within The Federal Capital Territory after 1948) and the princely states of Las Bela and Kalat on the west. To the north were the provinces of Baluchistan and West Punjab. The province bordered the princely state of Bahawalpur on the northeast and it enclosed on three sides the princely state of Khairpur. The nation of India's states of Rajasthan and Gujarat bordered to the east and south. On the southwest lay the Arabian Sea, with the Sind's coastline consisting entirely of river deltas, including the Indus River Delta up to Sind's border with the city of Karachi, now the capital of modern Sindh.

Sindh (disambiguation)

Sind or Sindh (Sindhi: سنڌ‎, Urdu: سندھ‎, Hindi: सिन्ध) can refer to:

See also