The settlement is spread over an area of almost 4 square kilometers,[1] and is home to about 700,000 people.

Most people in the neighborhood are involved in the fishing industry and consequently the area is also known as Fisherman's Colony, with the word Machar derived from the Sindhi word for fisherman machera.

[4] Residents of Machar Colony are employed by the fishing industry as shrimp peelers, fishermen, fish cleaners, or labourers in the ship breaking industry.

[6] The few flourishing businessmen that the colony has produced are in the fishing business, which is almost exclusively dominated by the Bengalis.

A large majority of residents are Pakistani Bengalis,[3] although there are minorities of Afghans, Kutchis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Rohingya,[7] and Sindhis.