![]() ![]() The Festival is now a well-established feature of the city life of Karachi that is awaited anxiously and attended by more than 3000 citizens of Karachi as well as people from other cities. The All Pakistan Music Conference, linked to the 45-year old similar institution in Lahore, has been holding its Annual Music Festival since its inception in 2004. The National Academy of Performing Arts, located in the newly renovated Hindu Gymkhana offers a two-year diploma course in performing arts that includes classical music and contemporary theatre. Karachi is home to some of Pakistan's important cultural institutions. Karachi also hosts the largest middle class stratum of the country. As a whole, there is considerable diversity in culture, and this diversity has produced a unique cultural amalgam of its own type. Karachi's culture is characterized by the blending of Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian and Western influences, as well as the city's status as a major international business centre. The everyday lifestyle of Karachi differs substantially from that of other cities and towns in Pakistan. The highest ever recorded temperature in Karachi is 47.8☌ while the lowest is 0☌. Karachi's weather is considered mild and can be compared to Florida's weather (except for the precipitation). Tourists and expatriates usually visit Karachi in these months. July, December and January have pleasing and cloudy weather when most of the social events, ranging from weddings to charity fund raisers, frequently take place. Due to the high temperatures during the summer (ranging from 30-44☌ from April to October), the winter months (November to February) are generally considered the best times to visit Karachi. The city's proximity to the sea keeps humidity levels at a near-constant high, and cool sea breezes relieve the heat of the summer months. Winters are mild, and the summers are hot. Located on the coast, Karachi has a relatively mild climate with low levels of rainfall of approximately 250 mm (10 inches) each year, the bulk of which occurs during the July-August monsoon season. As a result, the Pakistani army was deployed to restore peace in the city. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, ethnic and political violence broke out across the city between Muhajir followers of the Mohajir Quami Movement, ethnic Sindhis and Punjabis and state forces. Many countries sought to emulate Pakistan's economic planning strategy and one of them, South Korea, copied the city's second "Five-Year Plan" and world Financial Centre in Seoul is designed and modelled after Karachi. During the 1960s, Karachi was seen as an economic role model around the world. In 1960, the capital of Pakistan was moved from Karachi to the newly built Islamabad. Karachi was chosen as the capital of Pakistan. Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Karachi had become a bustling metropolis with beautiful classical and colonial European styled buildings, lining the city’s thoroughfares. In 1876, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was born in the city. Public building projects, such as Frere Hall and the Empress Market were undertaken. In 1878 under the British Raj, the city was connected to the rest of British India by rail. The modern day history of Karachi begins when it was made the capital of Sindh in the 1840s. Karachi was later known to the Arabs as Debal from where Muhammad bin Qasim led his conquering force into South Asia in 712 AD. The early history of Karachi dates back to 327-325 BC, when Alexander the Great used the city to camped and prepare a fleet for Babylonia. Karachi's inhabitants, locally known as Karachiites, are a cosmopolitan population composed of many ethno-linguistic groups from all parts of Pakistan, as well as migrants from several different countries and regions including India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Uganda, making the city's population a diverse melting pot. Large numbers of non-Muslim religious communities are settled in Karachi compared to other Pakistan cities: Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, Bahai, Jews, Buddhists as well as Zoroastrians. In many ways, it can be compared to New York where the pace of life is more hurried and the time is money. Karachi is the most diverse and cosmopolitan city in Pakistan and may offer a hint as to the future direction of modern life in Pakistan. :"You will yet be the glory of the East would that I could come again, Karachi, to see you in your grandeur" - Charles James Napier South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. ![]()
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