Machar Colony or Machiara Colony (Urdu: مچھیرا کالونی ) is one of the neighbourhoods of Kiamari Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Many people in this neighborhood are involved Fishing industry and consequently this area is Machiara Colony or Fisherman's Colony.
There are several ethnic groups in Machar Colony. Bengalis from Bangladesh make up the majority of residents, but numerous other groups are represented,including: Muhajirs, Sindhis, Punjabis, Kashmiris, Seraikis, Pakhtuns, Balochis, Memons, Bohras, Ismailis, etc. Over 99% of the population is Muslim. The population of Kiamari Town is estimated to be nearly 1.5 million.
Machar Colony's total population is estimated to be over 700,000 people, majority of them being children between ages 5–15. This is an important figure, and has to be seen in conjunction with the fact that over 41 per cent of Karachi's population lives in unregulated neighborhoods (katchi abadis). Machar Colony is also amongst the biggest (maybe the biggest) of Karachi's over 550 unregulated neighborhoods (kachhi abadis).
Most people in the Colony are employed as Fishing industry as shrimp peelers, fishermen, fish cleaners, or labourers in the ship breaking industry. The few flourishing businessmen that the colony has produced are in the fishing business, which is almost exclusively dominated by the Bengalis, who are also the majority in the colony. The other ethnicity that has a significant presence in the Colony are Sindhis.
Famous quotes containing the word colony:
““Tall tales” were told of the sociability of the Texans, one even going so far as to picture a member of the Austin colony forcing a stranger at the point of a gun to visit him.”
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)