PAKLINKS BANNER EXCHANGE
Makran is the remotest south west administrative division of the Province of Balochistan and Pakistan Its population, as per 1981 census, was 652,602 over an area of about 24.000 sq. miles. It is bounded on north and east by Kalat Division, on the west by Iran with a common border of about 320 kms and on the south by Arabian Sea. The coast line of Makran is about 400 Kms long, which has geostrategic significance due to its proximity with the straits of Hormuz.The Arabian Sea off the Makran coast abounds in fish, shrimps in particular. Fishing is the major occupation of the coastal people or "Makranis". The name Makran comes from the Farsi Mahi Khoran (fish eaters), Retreating through Makran in 325 BC the Greeks also called them Icthyophagi (the eaters of fish).
There are three main mountain ranges. Traversing from east to west is the Mekran Coast Range (upto 200 feet above sea level), proceeding northward, the next range, occupying the centre of the division is the central Mekran Range (500 feet to 10,000 feet high), while in the north separating Mekran from Kalat Division, is the Siahan Range (its elevation varies rom 3,000 feet on the east to 4,500 feet on the north east)