Ormara ( Balochi, ur, ), is a town in

Gwadar District Gwadar District ( bal, گوادر, ur, ) is a district in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The name Gwadar originates from Gwat and Dar ( bal, )، which means the door of air. Gwadar was notified as a separate district on 1 July 1977. The ...

in the

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is a port on the

Makran Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, ...

coastal region. It is located west of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

and east of

Gwadar Gwadar ( Balochi/ ur, ) is a port city with located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. Gwadar is the 100th largest city of Pakistan, according to the 2017 ...

on the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

. This port is also mentioned in ''

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Θαλάσσης, ', modern Greek '), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and ...

'' as

Oraea Oraea was the name of a sea port near the modern-day city of Ormara, Balochistan province of Pakistan, important in the Hellenistic era in Indian Ocean trade. It is mentioned briefly in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: :"Beyond the Ommanitic r ...

History

Going towards

through the

Makran Coastal Highway The N-10 or National Highway 10 (Urdu: ) is a 653 km national highway in Pakistan which extends along Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast from Karachi in Sindh province to Gwadar in Balochistan province. It passes the towns of Ormara and Pasni. ...

, Ormara comes in midway between

and Gwadar. Its historical routes are linked with

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

, who stayed there with his army for a few days on his way back from the

Indus region The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

after conquering the lands of

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

regions of modern-day

in 400 BC. One of his generals, Ormoz, died there, and the present-day city was named after him. For a few centuries, Ormara remained a battle field between the Baloch

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

(local feudal) and foreign aggressors. Before independence, it was part of the state of Las Bela and afterward in 1975, it became part of the

Makran Division Makran Division (Baloch: مکران) is an administrative division of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. It is the eastern component of the larger Makran region shared between Pakistan and Iran, located in southern Balochistan along the Gulf of O ...

. Being an isolated town, it remained undeveloped; however, after construction of the

and

Jinnah Naval Base Jinnah Naval Base ( ur, ) is a strategic naval base of the Pakistan Navy located at Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is named after Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It is Pakistan's second largest naval base. Location Jinnah Naval Base ...

, life has taken a positive change for the locals with many local industries and the resultant increase in jobs available for the locals. It has a population of about forty thousand people and still offers a traditional look at how the ancients lived. Most residents make their livelihood from fishing; a few of them also work in

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern countries. Ormara has witnessed considerable growth in recent years, especially with the foundation of the

, which integrated the area more with the mainstream Pakistani economy and major urban centres allowing for an easier transport of goods, commerce and people.

Transport

Ormara has a port and fish harbour. The

of the

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English language, English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Quran, Qur'an, Al Imran, 3:173' ...

is located at Ormara.

Ormara Airport Ormara Airport is a domestic airport, located at Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan. See also * List of airports in Pakistan This article lists the civil airports, some joint with military airbases and small airports in Pakistan. There are an e ...

(ORW) is domestic airport with connections to the rest of Pakistan. The

links Ormara with Karachi to the east and Gwadar to the west.

Military

Ormara Cantonment Ormara ( Balochi, ur, ), is a town in Gwadar District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is a port on the Makran coastal region. It is located west of Karachi and east of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. This port is also mentioned in ' ...

Cadet College Ormara Pakistan Navy Cadet College Ormara, commonly known as Cadet College Ormara, is a military boarding school in Gwadar District of the southern province of Balochistan in Pakistan; about 360 km from Karachi and 230 km from Gwadar Gwadar ( Balo ...

* PNS Darmaan Jah Hospital

Gallery

File:Zero point Ormara.jpg, Zero Point Ormara File:Jinnah Naval Base Road Ormara view.jpg, Jinnah Naval Base Ormara File:Jinnah Naval Base Zoo.jpg, Jinnah Naval Base Zoo File:Sunset view Ormara.jpg, Sunset view Ormara

References

External links

Ormara satellite image
{{Authority control , additional=Q105675065 * Coastal cities and towns in Pakistan Populated places in Gwadar District Port cities and towns in Pakistan