The current city government format was introduced in the year 2000

Economy

Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan. It accounts for the lion's share of Pakistan's GDP. The city is said to contribute about 60 percent of the national revenues. It is also home to the largest stock exchange of Pakistan: the Karachi Stock Exchange. Karachi Stock Exchange was the best performing stock market in the world in early 2005. This boost helped Pakistan achieve its ambitious goal of over 8% GDP growth which is highest in Asia after China. Most Pakistani banks have their headquarters in Karachi. Most of these are located on the I.I.Chundrigar Road. The headquarters of nearly all the MNCs (multi-national companies) based in Pakistan are in Karachi. Most Pakistani corporations are headquartered in Karachi as well.
The recent trend of outsourcing and call centers setup is also visible in Karachi as well. Call Centers for foreign companies are created everyday. Pakistan is also betting on the Software Export market. The government has reduced tax by as much as 80% (compared to India and China) to lure foreign investments in the IT sector. Each year atleast 2000 IT students graduate from the NED University of Engineering and Technology, NUST FAST, and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, the best IT institutions in Karachi among many other small ones.
A large expo center has also been set up in Karachi and is now available to host many regional industrial and trade exhibitions.
Karachi also has a huge industrial base. There are large industrial estates on most of the fringes of the main city. The main industries are textiles, pharmaceuticals, steel, and automobiles. Apart from this there are many cottage industries in the city as well. Karachi is also known as software outsourcing hub of Pakistan. A cottage industry is an industry – primarily manufacturing – which includes many producers, working from their homes, typically part time. ...
Currently, the Karachi Port is the only large port in Pakistan, and is central to all shipping in Pakistan. Plans are underway to build a motorway linking Karachi to the rest of the nation but it will be some time before it gets to Karachi. Nevertheless, the city is well connected to the country with major highways and railroad. The airport of Karachi, Quaid-e-Azam International Airport is also the largest airport in Pakistan and the hub of most local airlines. For years it served as the gateway to Asia with all major airlines operating from the Airport. The airport serves a potential to act as the major logistic hub for the sub-continent but bureaucracy and internal and geo-political compulsions undermine the efforts. A motorway (in United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand and some other Commonwealth nations) is both a type of road and a classification. ... Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, also commonly known as Karachi International Airport, is Pakistans largest international and domestic airport. ...
Karachi is the nerve centre of Pakistan's economy. The economic stagnation due to ethnic strife in the 80s & 90s led to mass efflux of industry from Karachi but led to the economic stagnation of the country despite a revival and economic boom in the up country. Has a well developed Free Zone with growth rate of nearly 15% year on year.
In the early 1960s, Karachi was seen as a model of economic development around the world, and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing. Many countries sought to emulate Pakistan's economic planning strategy and one of them, South Korea, copied its Second Five Year Plan, 1960-65, not just that, World financial center in Seoul was designed and modelled after Karachi. And while in the early 1960s the per capita income of Pakistan was more or equal to Korea, the latter ended up among the more developed of the developing countries, with a GDP per capita greater than $8,000 today.
After all, Pakistan was well ahead in South Asia, and is the most developed of the three most populous countries in the region. These Pakistani patriots have been particularly pleased that our growth rate and per capita incomes were way ahead of India's. In the decade 1980-90, Pakistan's economic performance measured in terms of growth rate in agriculture, industry, merchandise exports, and even of GDP, was better than that of India and China

Transport

The city has a modern international airport called the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, the premier portal and Pakistan's busiest airport. The city's old airport terminals are now used for Hajj flights, cargo facilities, and ceremonial visits from heads of state. U.S. Coalition forces used the old terminals for their logistic supply operations as well. Apart from this, the city also has two other airstrips used primarily by the armed forces

Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, also commonly known as Karachi International Airport, is Pakistan's largest international and domestic airport.
Karachi also has the current largest shipping port in Pakistan. This sea-port has modern facilities and not only handles trade for Pakistan, but also serves as a port for Afghanistan and the land-locked Central Asian countries. Karachi port is not used for passenger traffic as a regular service.
Karachi is linked via railway to the rest of the country. The Karachi City Station and Karachi Cantt Station are the city's two major railway stations. This railway system handles a large amount of freight to and from the Karachi port apart from providing passenger services to people traveling up country. Karachi also has a circular railway system that is planned to be extended to play a part in the city's mass transit.
Currently, commuter traffic is handled primarily by motorists and minibuses, but there are plans to construct a light-rail based mass transit system in the city to decongest the roads and provide quick service to commuters.

Education

Karachi has the highest literacy rate, and the highest number of universities and colleges, of any of Pakistan's other cities. The city is well-known for its young student population, who flock from all parts of Pakistan and different parts of the world. Most universities of Karachi are considered to be the premier educational institutions of Pakistan, and hence the admission process is intensely competitive with only the brightest and talented making their way into Aga Khan University, University of Karachi, Institude of Business Administration (IBA), Textile Institute Of Pakistan (TIP), Mohammad Ali Jinnah University (MAJU), IoBM, Dow University of Health Sciences, N.E.D. University and Dawood College of Engineering. The University of Karachi is the largest university in Pakistan. Sir Syed University has 700 engineering graduates per year
 

Markets
Karachi is scattered with a lot of big and small markets. Karachities are avid shoppers which can be seen from the crowds of people these markets attract every evening. Tariq Road is one the most famous market areas in the city. You can find all sorts of clothing, garments, and beautiful fabrics over here apart from a number of other items. The Saddar area in downtown Karachi is also home to countless big and small markets dealing from everyday household items to clothing and fabrics to electronics. The Empress Market is a large victorian era market, which is home to wholesalers of spices and other items. Karachi also has a number of large modern malls, of which the Park Towers, The Forum, Millennium mall and Dolmen Mall are notables.

Religion

Over 97% of the people in Karachi are Muslims, predominantly belonging to the Sunni sect. A small percentage of Muslims in this city belong to the Shia sect. There are also small Hindu, Parsee and Christian communities.

Problems
In 1960s Karachi was seen as a model of economic development around the world, and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing, But now Being one of the most rapidly growing cities in the world, Karachi faces problems that are central to many developing metropolises including overpopulation, overcrowding, traffic, terrorism and crime.
Karachi faces a very severe problem of excessive traffic. According to official statistics, on an average annually 550 people are killed in road traffic accidents. The number of cars far outstrips the roads that they need to ply on. This makes driving considerably dangerous and causes loss of time due to traffic congestion. Currently, President Musharraf has launched the Tameer-e-Karachi (Build Karachi) program that included construction of a lot of bridges, flyovers, and bypasses, as well as other major projects to correct the city's infrastructure problems. The outgoing City government had signed a memorandum in the year 2005 with a foreign company to construct a 14 kilometers long track of magnetic train.
Karachi is a city with a cool breeze because of its location close to the Arabian Sea, which is why the pollution levels in the city are not very high. Map of the Arabian Sea.