Editing Karachi (section)

===Population===

At the end of the 19th century, Karachi had an estimated population of 105,000.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} By the dawn of [[Independence Day (Pakistan)|Pakistan's independence]] in 1947, the city had an estimated population of 400,000.<ref name="Penguin Publishing Group" /> The city's population grew dramatically with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of [[Muhajir (Urdu-speaking people)|Muslim refugees]] from the newly independent [[Republic of India]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Port Qasim &#124; About Karachi |url=http://www.pqa.gov.pk/about_karachi.php |access-date=10 February 2014 |publisher=Port Qasim Authority |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204215/http://www.pqa.gov.pk/about_karachi.php |url-status=live }}</ref> Rapid economic growth following independence attracted further migrants from throughout Pakistan and South Asia.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield" /> The [[2017 Census of Pakistan|2017 census]] numerated Karachi's population to be 14,910,352, having grown 2.49% per year since the 1998 census, which had listed Karachi's population at approximately 9.3&nbsp;million.<ref name="ETT"/>

Lower than expected population figures from the census suggest that Karachi's poor infrastructure, law and order situation, and weakened economy relative to other parts of Pakistan made the city less attractive to in-migration than previously thought.<ref name="ETT"/> The figure is disputed by all the major political parties in [[Sindh]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.samaa.tv/social-buzz/2017/08/karachiites-lash-census-results-social-media/ |title=Karachiites lash out against census results on social media – Samaa TV |website=samaa.tv |access-date=24 January 2018 |archive-date=19 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119060653/https://www.samaa.tv/social-buzz/2017/08/karachiites-lash-census-results-social-media/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://nation.com.pk/03-Nov-2017/assembly-rejects-initial-census-results |title=Assembly rejects initial census results |work=The Nation |access-date=24 January 2018 |archive-date=5 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105073831/https://nation.com.pk/03-Nov-2017/assembly-rejects-initial-census-results |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newsone.tv/pakistan-news/ppp-psp-mqm-pakistan-rejects-census-2017-results-2 |title=After PPP and PSP, MQM-Pakistan rejects census 2017 results |date=29 August 2017 |work=NewsOne |access-date=24 January 2018 |archive-date=22 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122001204/https://www.newsone.tv/pakistan-news/ppp-psp-mqm-pakistan-rejects-census-2017-results-2 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Karachi's population grew by 59.8% since the 1998 census to 14.9&nbsp;million, while [[Lahore]] city grew 75.3%<ref name=stats/>{{snd}}though Karachi's census district had not been altered by the provincial government since 1998, while Lahore's had been expanded by Punjab's government,<ref name=stats/> leading to some of Karachi's growth to have occurred outside the city's census boundaries.<ref name="ETT"/> Karachi's population had grown at a rate of 3.49% between the 1981 and 1998 census, leading many analysts to estimate Karachi's 2017 population to be approximately 18&nbsp;million by extrapolating a continued annual growth rate of 3.49%. Some had expected that the city's population to be between 22 and 30&nbsp;million,<ref name="ETT">{{cite news |title=Karachi's population – fiction and reality |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1505657/karachis-population-fiction-reality/ |access-date=1 December 2017 |work=The Express Tribune |date=14 September 2017 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201134547/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1505657/karachis-population-fiction-reality/ |url-status=live }}</ref> which would require an annual growth rate accelerating to between 4.6% and 6.33%.<ref name="ETT"/>
{{Karachi Historical Population
|title=Historical Population
|1729=250
|1838=14000
|1842=15000
|1850=16773
|1856=22227
|1861=56859
|1881=73560
|1891=105199
|1901=136297
|1911=186771
|1921=244162
|1931=300779
|1941=435887
|1951=1137667
|1961=2044044
|1972=3606744
|1981=5437984
|1986=7443663
|1998=9802134
|2017=14910352
|2023=18843844
|align-fn=center
|footnote=Source:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/08/28/ten-major-cities-population-up-by-74pc/ |title=Ten major cities' population up by 74pc |access-date=21 October 2017 |archive-date=18 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218175027/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/08/28/ten-major-cities-population-up-by-74pc/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Laurent Gayer|2014|pp=26}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_major_cities/pop_major_cities.html |title=Population size and growth of major cities |publisher=Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan |access-date=24 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222175007/http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_major_cities/pop_major_cities.html |archive-date=22 December 2010}}<br />Note: The 1998 census showed a population of about nine million but this did not include workers living in Karachi but registered as living elsewhere in Pakistan by the [[National Database and Registration Authority]] as well as large numbers of [[Afghan refugees]], Bangladeshis, Indians, Nepalis and others (incl. Filipinos, Iranians, Iraqis, Burmese).</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91009748 |title=The Urban Frontier – Karachi |publisher=NPR |date=2 June 2008 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=7 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007221557/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91009748 |url-status=live }}</ref><br />† Large population rise between 1941 and 1951 due to<br />large-scale migration after independence in 1947.
}}

Political parties in the province have suggested the city's population has been underestimated in a deliberate attempt to undermine the political power of the city and province.<ref name=taj/> Senator [[Taj Haider]] from the [[Pakistan People's Party|PPP]] claimed he had official documents revealing the city's population to be 25.6&nbsp;million in 2013,<ref name=taj>{{cite news |title=Census commissioner rejects political parties' concerns |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1369642 |access-date=1 December 2017 |work=Dawn |date=10 November 2017 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201131256/https://www.dawn.com/news/1369642 |url-status=live }}</ref> while the Sindh Bureau of Statistics, part of by the PPP-led provincial administration, estimated Karachi's 2016 population to be 19.1&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sindh at a Glance – 2016 |url=http://sindhbos.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Sindh-at-Glance-2016.pdf |website=Sindh Bureau of Statistics |publisher=Government of Sindh |access-date=1 December 2017 |page=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201131518/http://sindhbos.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Sindh-at-Glance-2016.pdf |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>