Country Pakistan Time zone PST (UTC+5) Population 110,868 (2009) Local time Monday 3:03 PM | District Khushab Postal code 41000 Province Punjab, Pakistan Area code 0454 | |
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Weather 23°C, Wind W at 11 km/h, 29% Humidity Neighborhoods Mohalla Aheeran Wala, Sarfraz Town | ||
Khushab (Urdu: خُوشاب) is a city as well as a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The word Khushab means "sweet water." Khushab city also serves as the headquarters of Khushab Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district Khushab.
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Map of Khush%C4%81b, Pakistan
The city of Khushab is home to the Khushab Nuclear Complex, a critical part of the Pakistan's Special Weapons Program, which has come under much heated scrutiny.
Demographics
The population according to the 1901 census was 11,403.
Khushab Nuclear Complex
On March 21, 2000, The Christian Science Monitor published an article written by Alexander Colhoun, in which a high-resolution aerial satellite photo revealed a nuclear reactor, Khushab Nuclear Complex, and a missile base in the city of Khushab. These pictures had mixed views, one of the expression of power that could shackle or reshape diplomatic landscapes of a region and another of the ethical question about the usage of satellite imagery in terms of privacy and national sovereignty of a nuclear-capable nation. The report was published at a time when American President Bill Clinton was due to visit India, and it sparked concerns worldwide. According to a more recent ISIS analysis of imaging the Khushab Nuclear Complex has totally 4 heavy water reactors and a heavy water production plant. Moreover, the plutonium produced in this site as reported by a Pakistani official is prepared to build small, short range nuclear weapons such as tactical nuclear-tipped missiles.
Etymology
"Khushab" is a combination of two Persian words: khush (Persian: خوش), meaning "sweet or tasty," and aab (Persian: آب), meaning "water." A common belief is that the Persians from the west first used the word khush-aab in admiration of the sweet and tasty water found in the historical city situated on the bank of Jhelum River. In time the city was known as Khushab.