Gwadar

Gwadar is a port city on the southwestern coast of Balochistan province in Pakistan, on the shore of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. It lies about 120 km southwest of Turbat, and the Iranian port of Chabahar is about 170 km to the west. The city was founded in the late 17th century as a fishing settlement and was an overseas possession of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman from 1783 to 1958, when Pakistan bought it; Oman handed it over on 8 September 1958. For most of its history Gwadar was a small settlement living largely from artisanal fishing. Its deep-water port site was first identified in 1954, the Coastal Highway from Karachi was built after the 1999 Kargil War, and Chinese investment accelerated development from 2013. In October 2011 it was declared the winter capital of Balochistan. The 2017 census counted 90,762 people in the city and the 2023 census 70,852.