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Sindh is a
province
of Pakistan and a historic region of the Pak-Hind subcontinent. It is
essentially the Delta Country and has derived its name from its life
stream, the river Indus, known to the people by the name of "Sindhu" from
time immemorial.
Sindh is bounded on the west by the province of Balochistan, on the north
b the province of Punjab, on the east and southeast by
India,
and on the south and southwest by the
Arabian Sea.
In Sanskrit, the province was dubbed
Sindhu meaning "ocean". The Assyrians (as early as the
seventh century BCE) knew the region as Sinda, the Persians
Abisind, the Greeks Sinthus, the Romans Sindus, the Chinese
Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it Sindh.
Sindh was the first place where Islam spread
in South Asia. As a result, it is often referred to as
"Bab-al-Islam" (Gate of Islam).
Its chief cities are:
Karachi, the capital, and the largest city of
Pakistan,
Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Larkana, and Nawabshah. Sindh province has
an area of 58,471 square miles (151,440 sq. km) and its population in 1992
was estimated to be 29.991
The Land and
Economy:
In general Sindh corresponds to the lower Indus River valley, stretching
from north to south in the form of the letter 'S', physiographical, Sindh
can be divided into the western highlands of the Khirthar Range and the
Kohistan area, rising to more than 6000 feet (1,830 meters); the central
valley, with eastern and western valley regions; and western valley
regions; and the delta region; and the Thar desert in the east. The
climate is of the subtropical desert type, with scanty rainfall averaging
5 inches (125 mm) yearly.
As in the rest of
Pakistan,
the economy is predominantly agricultural and depends almost entirely on
irrigation. The principal source of water is the Indus River, on the which
there are three irrigation dams ('Barrages') in Sindh: the Guddu, on the
Punjab border; the Lloyed (Sukkur), and the Kotri, farthest south. The
Sukkur Barrage controls a canal system whose total length including
subsidiary water courses, extends 50,000 miles (80,000 km), or twice the
length of the earth's circumference. Sindh's principal crops are wheat,
rice, cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane, vegetables and fruits. Sheep, cattle,
camels, and poultry are raised, and there is fishing industry.
Manufacturing industries are concentrated in Karachi, Hyderabad, nooriabad
and Kotri. They produce textiles, cement, cardboard, chemicals, electric
power and supplies, rail-road equipment, machinery and other metal
products Karachi, Pakistan's chief port, has an oil refinery and also is
the center of printing and publishing.
The artistic and cultural heritage of Sindh is reflected in its superb,
examples lacquer ware, mirror embroidery, textile and exquisitely painted
tile work. |