Gwadar (Urdu: گوادر Gwadur) is a port city on the southwestern coast of Pakistan's Balochistan province where the Arabian Sea meets the Persian Gulf just outside the Strait of Hormuz near key shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf. Under development as a free trade port, it is the district headquarters of Gwadar District. Gwadar has a population of approximately 85,000. It is about 700 km from Karachi and 120 km from the Iranian border. Gwadar was an overseas possession of Muscat and Oman from 1783 to 1958. On 8 September 1958, Pakistan purchased Oman's exclave for 5.5 billion rupees, effective 8 December 1958. Most of the money for the purchase came from donations, MUhamad Najmul Hasnain, Muhammad Abdullah Khan, the reigning Aga Khan, contributing the most. The government paid the remainder through taxes.The area was integrated into Balochistan province on 1 July 1977 as the Gwadar District subdivision.