Sindh

Sindh (population 55.7 million per the 2023 census) is Pakistan's second-largest province by population and GDP, contributing 23.7% to the national economy through a concentration around Karachi—the country's largest city (14.9 million) and primary financial, industrial, and port hub. The province's economy depends heavily on this single megacity: Karachi handles most Pakistani imports and exports, hosts the Karachi Stock Exchange, and generates the tax revenue that supports federal operations. Beyond Karachi, Sindh encompasses the lower Indus valley's agricultural lands, the historic cities of Hyderabad and Sukkur, and the Thar Desert bordering India. Sindh maintains the second-highest Human Development Index among Pakistani provinces at 0.628, though this average obscures stark Karachi-rural disparities. The province's Sindhi-speaking population faces tension with Muhajir (Urdu-speaking migrants from India) communities concentrated in Karachi—a divide that has generated periodic ethnic violence since the 1980s. Sindh's pre-partition history as a separate province (unlike Punjab and Bengal, which were partitioned) gives it distinct administrative traditions. The Indus civilization's Mohenjo-daro ruins in Sindh represent humanity's oldest urban settlements.