Nice small map titled Delta de d'Indus, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring. Overall size approx. 21.5 x 12.5 cm, image size approx. 14.5 x 7.5 cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, 19 vol. (1875-94), great work of Elisee Reclus. Cartographer is Charles Perron.

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Karachi

city and capital of Sindh province, southern Pakistan. It is the country's largest city and principal seaport and is a major commercial and industrial centre. Karāchi is located on the coast of the Arabian Sea immediately northwest of the Indus River Delta.

The city has been variously called Caranjee, Crochey, Krotchey, Currachee, and Kurrachee. All its names are believed to be derived from the Sindhi name of the original settlement that initially stood on the spot—Kalachi-Jo-goth (meaning the village of Kalachi—the headman of the tribe).

The impetus to Karāchi's development originally came from its role as the port serving the Indus River valley and the Punjab region of British India. The development of air travel subsequently increased Karāchi's importance. It is also the port serving the landlocked country of Afghanistan. Area city, 228 square miles (591 square km); Greater Karāchi, 560 square miles (1,450 square km). Pop. (1998) city, 9,269,265; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 12,130,000.

Indus River

Tibetan and Sanskrit Sindhu , Sindhi Sindhu , or Mehran

great trans-Himalayan river of South Asia. It is one of the longest rivers in the world, with a length of some 1,800 miles (2,900 km). Its total drainage area is about 450,000 square miles (1,165,000 square km), of which 175,000 square miles (453,000 square km) lie in the Himalayan ranges and foothills and the rest in the semiarid plains of Pakistan. The river's annual flow is about 272 billion cubic yards (207 billion cubic metres)—twice that of the Nile River and three times that of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers combined. The river's conventional name derives from the Tibetan and Sanskrit name Sindhu. The earliest chronicles and hymns of the Aryan peoples of ancient India, the Rigveda, composed about 1500 BCE, mention the river, which is the source of the country's name.

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