Sonmiani, also referred to as Windar, is an administrative subdivision (

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

) of

Hub District Hub District ( Balochi, Lasi, ), is a coastal administrative district and located at southern part of Balochistan Province of Pakistan. The district was created after bifurcation of Lasbela District in 2022. It is located south of the Balochi ...

in the province of

Balochistan, Pakistan Balochistan (; ; , ) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Khybe ...

. In 2023, the tehsil had a population of 67,991, more than half residing in urban areas, including its administrative centre of Windar or Winder town. The tehsil was part of

Lasbela District Lasbela District ( , , ) is a coastal district and part of the Kalat Division situated in the south-east of Balochistan, Pakistan. Located approximately northwest of Karachi, the district is geographically and economically significant. A ...

until 2022, when administrative reforms led to the creation of Hub District. The new district includes Sonmiani, along with Dureji,

Gadani Gadani () is a coastal town and administrative centre of Gadani Tehsil, Hub District in the province of Balochistan, Pakistan. It is located along the Arabian Sea, and lies 50 km west of Karachi. The population of Gadani was estimated to be aro ...

, Hub, and Sakran tehsils.

Geography

Sonmiani Tehsil spans approximately 2,616 square kilometres and features a combination of coastal plains and

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

, mountainous terrain. While the majority of the landscape is dry, limited pockets of arable land support agriculture. The tehsil experiences a hot desert climate, ( classified under the Köppen system) with sparse rainfall and high summer temperatures. Geographically, the tehsil borders the Arabian Sea, including the coastal waters of

Sonmiani Bay Sonmiani Bay marks the northernmost point of the Arabian Sea and is situated along the eastern endge of the Makran Coast, on the shores of Lasbela and Hub districts in Balochistan, Pakistan, northwest of Karachi. The bay is named after the vi ...

and the biologically significant Miani Hor lagoon, a designated wetland of ecological importance. To the north, near the boundary with Liari and Uthal tehsils of Lasbela District, lies the shallow seasonal Siranda Lake, located between Miani Hor and the

N-25 National Highway The N-25 or National Highway 25 () is a 813 km national highway in Pakistan is a single-landed highway which extends along from Karachi in Sindh province to Pakistan's Chaman border with Afghanistan via Quetta in Balochistan province of P ...

. The lake holds both ecological and archaeological relevance. Further inland, about east of Winder town, the Winder Dam is expected to be completed in 2025. It will contribute to local water storage and irrigation, with a capacity of and a small hydropower generation capacity of 3 megawatts.

Population

As per the 2023 national census, the tehsil has a total population of 67,991, comprising 32,746 rural and 35,245 urban residents. The town of Windar serves as the tehsil's headquarters and is the primary urban centre. The tehsil includes 14,186

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s, of which 6,861 are in rural and 7,325 in urban areas. The overall

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

is 35.80%, with a male literacy rate of 45.58% and a female literacy rate of 25.89%. These figures highlight ongoing challenges in access to education, particularly for women.

Languages

In Sonmiani Tehsil, Balochi is the predominant language, spoken by approximately 56,457 individuals (~83.1% of the population). Other languages include Sindhi (3,544 speakers, ~5.2%), and Brahui (423 speakers, ~0.6%), with the remaining population speaking various other languages. It is important to note that the Sindhi reported in this context largely refers to Lasi, a distinct local dialect of Sindhi also spoken in the costal region of Balochistan.

References and notes

Explanatory notes

References

{{Tehsils of Balochistan Hub District Tehsils of Balochistan, Pakistan Tehsils of Hub District