Balochistan is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the north-east, Punjab to the east and Sindh to the south-east; shares international borders with Iran to the west and Afghanistan to the north; and is bound by the Arabian Sea to the south. Balochistan is an extensive plateau of rough terrain divided into basins by ranges of sufficient heights and ruggedness. It has the world's largest deep sea port, the Port of Gwadar lying in the Arabian Sea.
Gwadar is a port city on the southwestern coast of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a population of over 90,000, according to the 2017 census. It was an overseas possession of the Oman from 1783 to 1958. It is about 120 km (75 mi) southwest of Turbat. The sister port city of Chabahar in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan provinces is about 170 km (110 mi) to the west of Gwadar. On 2 April 2021, it was declared the capital of the south Balochistan region.
Jiwani is a town and commercial port that is located along the Gulf of Oman in the Gwadar District of the Balochistan province in Pakistan. It is the favourite place of Shebly. The town is also next to the Iran-Pakistan border. The town has a total population of 25,000 and is expected to become a major commercial centre in concert with the development of the port city of Gwadar. Gwadar is located nearly 60 kilometres (37 mi) to the east. They also are working with the port city of Chabahar in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province which is about 115 kilometres (71 mi) to the west of Jiwani.
Hub Dam is a reservoir on the Hub River. It is situated 56 km from Karachi city in Karachi and Hub District on Sindh and Balochistan provinces border. The dam is extended to 24300 acres with gross storage capacity of 857000 acre feet. It is Pakistan's fifth-largest dam. It is an important source that provides the drinking water to the metropolitan city Karachi.
Pasni, is a city and a fishing port in Gwadar District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is located on the Makran coast on Arabian Sea about 450 km (280 mi) from Karachi. Administratively, Pasni is the headquarters of Pasni Tehsil, the sub-division of Gwadar District. Astola Island lies 40 km (25 mi) ESE of Pasni, in the Arabian Sea. The city of Pasni is itself administratively subdivided into two Union Councils.
Turbat is a city in southern Balochistan, Pakistan. It is the administrative centre of Kech District. Situated on the bank of the Kech River, Turbat was the historical capital of the State of Makran. Turbat is the second-largest city in Balochistan after Quetta and the 38th largest city of Pakistan. It is the largest city in the southern part of the province. The Gwadar Port lies 180 kilometres (110 mi) to the southwest of Turbat.
The Dasht River is located in the Makran region and Gwadar District, in the southwestern section of Balochistan Province, Pakistan which drains near Jiwani.
Miraani Dam. Dasht River south of the Central Makran Range in Kech District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Its 302,000 acre-feet (373,000,000 m3) reservoir is fed by the Kech River and the Nihing River. Mirani Dam was completed in July 2006 and began impounding the Dasht River in August 2006.
Diamer-Bhasha Dam is a concreted-filled gravity dam, in the preliminary stages of construction, on the River Indus between Kohistan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Diamer district in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan administered Kashmir. Its foundation stone was laid by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1998. The dam site is situated near a place called "Bhasha", hence the name which is 40 km downstream of Chilas town and 315 km from Tarbela Dam. The eight million acre feet (MAF) reservoir with 272-metre height will be the tallest roller compact concrete (RCC) dam in the world.
The Balochistan Liberation Army, is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in Afghanistan. BLA's first recorded activity was during the summer of 2000, after it claimed credit for a series of bombing attacks on Pakistani authorities. BLA is listed as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Kech River flows in the Makran region, of southeastern Iran and the southwestern area of Balochistan Province in southwestern Pakistan.
Electricity in Pakistan is generated, transmitted, distributed, and retail supplied by two vertically integrated public sector companies, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) responsible for the production of hydroelectricity and supplied to the consumers by the power distribution companies (DISCOS) under the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO). Currently, there are 11 distribution companies and one National Transmission And Dispatch Company (NTDC) all in the public sector, and the Karachi Electric (K-Electric) for the city of Karachi and its surrounding areas. There are around 42 independent power producers (IPPs) that contribute significantly in electricity generation in Pakistan.
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phet was a powerful tropical cyclone that made landfall on Oman, Western India, and Pakistan. The third named cyclone of the 2010 cyclone season, Phet developed in the Arabian Sea on May 31 to the west of India. With conducive environmental conditions, the storm intensified to reach peak sustained winds of 155 km/h (95 mph) on June 2, based on analysis by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). On the next day, Phet dropped heavy rainfall while moving across eastern Oman, with a peak of 603 mm (23.7 in) in Qurayyat. The rains flooded arid areas and collected into wadis – normally dry river beds. Thousands of homes were wrecked across Oman. There were 24 fatalities in the country, and damage was estimated at US$780 million.
The economy of Balochistan, one of the four provinces of Pakistan, is largely based upon the production of natural gas, coal, and minerals. Agriculture and livestock also dominate the Baloch economy. Horticultural development is a fairly recent, yet growing phenomenon. Other important economic sectors include fisheries, mining, manufacturing industries, trade and other services being rendered by public and private sector organizations in the province.
Tourism in Balochistan is a developing industry, and is overseen by the Tourism Directorate under the Government of Balochistan. Balochistan is known for its long coastal belt which extends from Karachi through Sonmiani, Ormara, Kalmat, Pasni, Gwadar, Jiwani and all the way up to Iran. It is also popular for its hill tops and rugged mountainous terrain.
Hingol Dam is a proposed small, low-head, Central Core Zone, hydroelectric power generation dam of 3.5 megawatt (MW) generation capacity, located in the Lasbela District across the Hingol River in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is located at a distance of 260 km (162 mi) northwest of Karachi and about 16 km (10 mi) north of bridge across the Hingol River on the Makran Coastal Highway and about 8 km (5 mi) north of Kund Malir where the river falls into the sea.
Mangi Dam is located near Ziarat in Balochistan, Pakistan. The dam was constructed in 1982 and has a height of 18 m (59 ft) and storage capacity of 130,000 m3 (105 acre⋅ft). It was constructed at a cost of US$36.88 million. It was made to stop the fish from leaving the fishing area. In 2015 it is announced that the dam will also produce electricity and the shortage of load shedding will also reduce.
Zalzala Koh or Zalzala Jazeera was a small island off the coast of the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan which appeared on 24 September 2013 following an earthquake. As predicted by many geologists, the island soon started to submerge, with satellite images indicating the island had sunk 3 m (10 ft) into the sea one month after its initial appearance. By the end of 2016, the island had disappeared.
China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a 3,000 km Chinese infrastructure network project in construction in Pakistan. This sea-and-land-based corridor is aimed to secure and reduce the passage for China's energy imports from the Middle East, by avoiding the existing route from the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, which, in case of war could be blockaded, and thus hamper the Chinese energy-dependent economic avenues. Developing a deep water port at Gwadar in the Arabian Sea and a well built road and rail line from this port to Xinjiang region in western China would be a shortcut for boosting the trade between Europe and China. In Pakistan, it aims to overcome an electricity shortfall, infrastructural development and modernize transportation networks. Along with shifting it from an agricultural based economic structure to industrial based.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs, previously known as the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, is a Federal Ministry of the Government of Pakistan. The current Minister for Maritime Affairs is Shahid Ashraf Tarar and the current Federal Secretary for Maritime Affairs is Iram Anjum Khan. The longest-serving Federal Secretary for Ports and Shipping are Muhammad Saleem Khan and Rizwan Ahmed. The Ministry is headquartered in Islamabad and its main attached departments are in the port city of Karachi.
