Mohenjo-Daro is an archaeological site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan, which is one of the largest area of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation. Built around 2500 BCE, it is one of the world’s earliest major cities, along with the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoan Crete, and Norte Chico. Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BC, as the Indus Valley Civilization eneded, and the site was rediscovered in the 1920s. Significant excavation has since been conducted at the site of the city, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. The site is currently threatened by erosion and improper restoration.
Mohenjo-daro has a planned architect and layout with rectilinear buildings arranged on a grid plan. Most were built of fired and mortared brick; some incorporated sun-dried mud-brick and wooden superstructures. Mohenjo-daro covers almost 300 hectares of the total area. The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History offers a “weak” estimate of a peak population of around 40,000.