Introduction
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and financial centre. Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country by area. Bounded by the Arabian Sea on the south, the Gulf of Oman on the southwest, and the Sir Creek on the southeast, it shares land borders with India to the east; Afghanistan to the west; Iran to the southwest; and China to the northeast. It shares a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman, and is separated from Tajikistan in the northwest by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor.
Pakistan is the site of several ancient cultures, including the 8,500-year-old Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Balochistan, the Indus Valley Civilisation of the Bronze Age, and the ancient Gandhara civilisation. The regions that compose the modern state of Pakistan were the realm of multiple empires and dynasties, including the Gandhāra, the Achaemenid, the Maurya, the Kushan, the Parthian, the Paratarajas, the Gupta; the Umayyad Caliphate in its southern regions, the Hindu Shahis, the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate, the Samma, the Shah Miris, the Mughals, the Durranis, the Sikhs and most recently, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947. (Full article...)
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The Al-Khalid/VT-1A (Urdu: الخالد ٹینک—Al-Xālid Ṫaiŋk, pronounced [əlˈxaːlɪd̪ ʈɛːŋk], lit. 'The Eternal Tank') is a main battle tank family developed jointly by Norinco of China and Heavy Industries Taxila of Pakistan. The tank is based on the Type 90-II tank. Around 310 Al-Khalid MBTs had been produced by 2014. The tank has been exported to Bangladesh, Morocco and Myanmar by China. The VT-1A is also known as MBT-2000.
The Bangladesh Army ordered 44 MBT-2000s from China in 2011. The Norinco-made MBT-2000 is also used by the Royal Moroccan Army. It was trialled by the Peruvian Army for possible acquisition, but was not purchased due to financial problems. (Full article...)
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Malam Jabba Ski Resort in Swat, NWFP, Pakistan. Malam Jabba (Urdu: مالم جبہ) is located nearly 40km from Saidu Sharif in Swat Valley, Sarhad, Pakistan. Malam Jabba is 314 Kilometers from Islamabad and 51 Kilometers from Saidu Sharif Airport. It is a popular Hill Station and is home to the biggest and most popular ski resort in Pakistan. Photo credit: Waqas Usman | |
General images
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Lahore Fort (from Lahore)
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Lahore as seen from International Space Station. River Ravi flows from North to West. The city is rapidly growing towards the south. (from Lahore)
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University of the Punjab, Old Campus (from Lahore)
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Pakistan map of climate classification zones (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Allama Iqbal International Airport (from Lahore)
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Satellite image of the Sulaiman Range (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Sections of the Walled City of Lahore have been under restoration since 2012 in conjunction with the Agha Khan Trust for Culture. (from Lahore)
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Grave of Nur Jahan (from Lahore)
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Lahore Ring Road (from Lahore)
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A sitar workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan. (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore is considered to be the most ornately decorated Mughal-era mosque. (from Lahore)
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Constructed in the aftermath of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, the design of the Lahore Railway Station was highly militarised to defend the structure from further uprisings against British rule. (from Lahore)
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The iconic Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort was built in 1674 and faces Aurangzeb's Badshahi Mosque. (from Lahore)
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Map of the Old City and environs. (from Lahore)
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Topography of Pakistan (from Geography of Pakistan)
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The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan's Sufi heritage. (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture. (from Culture of Pakistan)
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The Sunehri Mosque was built in the walled city in the early 18th century, when the Mughal Empire was in decline. (from Lahore)
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The Neevin Mosque is one of Lahore's few remaining medieval era buildings. (from Lahore)
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Lahore's Hazuri Bagh is at the centre of an ensemble of Mughal and Sikh era monuments, including the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort, Roshnai Gate, and the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh. (from Lahore)
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Lahore Metrobus (from Lahore)
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Schoolgirls in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in shalwars with cuffed hems, and kameez with western-style collars. (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Kalma Underpass (from Lahore)
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Artistic depiction of Sindhi soldiers during medieval times (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Badshahi Mosque (from Lahore)
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First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and President Ayub Khan travelled by car in Lahore, 1962 (from Lahore)
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Built in 2012, Grand Jamia Mosque in southern Lahore is a blend of Mughal and modern architecture. (from Lahore)
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Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore is the third-largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a seating capacity of 27,000 spectators. (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Wazir Khan Mosque painting by William Carpenter (1866) (from Lahore)
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K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet), is the world's second highest peak (from Geography of Pakistan)
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The Lahore Fort, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Culture of Pakistan)
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The Tomb of Asif Khan was one of several monuments plundered for its precious building materials during the Sikh period. (from Lahore)
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The Orange Line is Pakistan's first metro rail line. (from Lahore)
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Tomb of Jahangir (from Lahore)
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The marble Hazuri Bagh Baradari was built in 1818 to celebrate Ranjit Singh's acquisition of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. (from Lahore)
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Cityscape of Lahore (from Lahore)
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University of Engineering and Technology, Main Block (from Lahore)
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The Shah Alami area of Lahore's Walled City in 1890 (from Lahore)
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Pakistan is the fifteenth most water stressed country in the world. (from Geography of Pakistan)
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The Data Darbar shrine, one of Pakistan's most important, was built to commemorate saint Ali Hujwiri, who lived in the city during 11th century. (from Lahore)
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Located on the bank of Arabian Sea in Karachi, Port Grand is one of the largest food streets of Asia. (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Shahi Hammam (from Lahore)
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A syncretic architectural style that blends Islamic, Hindu, and Western motifs took root during the colonial era, as shown at Aitchison College. (from Lahore)
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Much of old Lahore features colonial-era buildings, such as the Tollinton Market. (from Lahore)
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Dust storm over Pakistan and surrounding countries, 7 April 2005 (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Distribution of Pakistani diasporaPakistan+ 1,000,000+ 100,000+ 10,000+ 1,000(from Pakistanis)
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The Begum Shahi Mosque was completed in 1614 in honour of Jahangir's mother, Mariam-uz-Zamani. (from Lahore)
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Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan (from Culture of Pakistan)
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A traditional cup of black tea (from Culture of Pakistan)
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This week in history
- 8 October 2005: The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the South Asia earthquake or the Great Pakistan earthquake) of 2005, was a major earthquake, of which the epicentre was the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The earthquake occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC) on 8 October 2005. It registered 7.6 on the richter scale making it a major earthquake similar in intensity to the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Pakistani government's official death toll was 73,276, while officials say nearly 1,400 people died in Jammu and Kashmir and fourteen people in Afghanistan. Most of the affected people lived in mountainous regions with access impeded by landslides that blocked the roads, leaving an estimated 3.3 million homeless in Pakistan.
Provinces and Territories
Clickable map of the four provinces and three federal territories of Pakistan.
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Provinces: Territories: Pakistani-administered portions of the Kashmir: | |
Things you can do
Selected biography -
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu: میاں محمد نواز شریف; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan, having served a total of more than 9 years across three tenures. Each term has ended in his ousting.
Born into the upper-middle-class Sharif family in Lahore, Nawaz is the son of Muhammad Sharif, the founder of Ittefaq and Sharif groups. He is the elder brother of Shehbaz Sharif, who also served as prime minister of Pakistan from 2022 to 2023 and from 2024 to present. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Nawaz is one of the wealthiest men in Pakistan, with an estimated net worth of at least Rs. 1.75 billion (equivalent to Rs. 8.9 billion or US$31 million in 2021). Most of his wealth originates from his businesses in steel construction. (Full article...)
Did you know?
- ... that Rehri Goth, one of the poor neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Karachi, is one of the oldest settlements dating back to the 13th century? (31 March 2024)
- ... that Burushaski, a predominantly in northern Gilgit-Baltistan spoken rather than written language, has not more than 120,000 native speakers? (9 July 2023)
- ... that the MagnifiScience Centre in Karachi is the only science center in the country, and, unlike a museum, visitors are encouraged to touch and learn from the interaction with the exhibits? (11 June 2023)
- ... that Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau, the famous German–Pakistani Catholic nun who devoted more than 55 years of her life to fighting leprosy was the first Christian and first non-Muslim to have a state funeral in Pakistan? (2 September 2021)
- ... that Lahore Metrobus open in 2013, was modelled after the Istanbul Bus Rapid Transit System. Plans were developed in the last quarter of 2011 by both local and Turkish experts.[1] (31 August 2021)
- ... that Lahore Knowledge Park is an actualization of Triple Helix configuration; a framework to create synergies between government, academia and industry to operate into an interactive rather than linear model for the establishment of social formats and entities to promote commercial innovation and R&D. [2] (27 January 2017)
- ... that Karachi Kings is the most expensive franchise team of Pakistan Super League? (04 December 2015)
- ... that Sialkot is the world's largest producer of hand-sewed footballs, with local factories manufacturing 40~60 million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 60% of world production. (4 December 2017)
- ... that Hafiz Muhammad Fazal Azim Taha, the famous living Pakistani poet said about Iqbal's work that "He not only dreamed for Pakistan but also got the nation up for their rights". This famous saying is regarded as Iqbal's definition. (14 July 2014)
- ... that Tajammul Hussain Malik headed an unsuccessful coup attempt against Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq in 1980? (22 September 2009)
- ... that the Legal Framework Order, 1970, issued by Gen. Yahya Khan, set the rules for the first direct popular elections in the history of Pakistan? (14 September 2009)
- ... that in 1881 in the village of Bakhshali in northern Pakistan, the Bakhshali manuscript, the oldest surviving example of Indian mathematics, was discovered written on birch bark? (1 September 2008)
- ... that the original images of Lord Swaminarayan at the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Karachi, Pakistan were removed and taken to India during the turbulent times of its partition? (1 September 2008)
- ... that Saudi Arabia promised to supply 50,000 barrels of free oil per day to help Pakistan if economic sanctions were imposed after its 1998 nuclear tests? (1 September 2008)
- ... that in a major improvement in bilateral relations in 2008, Pakistan proposed sharing nuclear technology with Bangladesh? (31 August 2008)
- ... that Abdur Rashid Kardar, a pioneer of the Pakistani film industry in Lahore, was a calligraphist who prepared posters for foreign-made films? (11 July 2008)
- ... that the Nigar Awards are the oldest awards of merit in the Pakistani film industry? (10 July 2008)
- ... that Syed Wajid Ali was the longest serving President of the Pakistan Olympic Association with a tenure of 26 years? (7 July 2008)
- ... that the 1948 film Teri Yaad was the first feature film to be released in Pakistan after the partition of India? (6 July 2008)
- ... that The Edhi Foundation, founded by Edhi, runs the world's largest volunteer ambulance service operating 1,800 of them with upto 6,000 a day in Karachi alone. (4 December 2017)
Pakistan news
- 26 November 2024 – Arrest of Imran Khan
- Six people, including four paramilitary soldiers, are killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad. The protesters, led by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, are calling for Khan's immediate release from prison. (Reuters)
- 24 November 2024 – 2024 Pakistani general election, Arrest of Imran Khan
- Pakistani police arrest thousands of supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan ahead of a planned protest to demand for the release of Khan and other members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, along with the resignation of the current government. The capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad, is placed under a security lockdown before the protest takes place. (DW) (RNZ)
- 23 November 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Sectarian clashes between Sunni and Shia fighters in Kurram District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, kill 33 people and injure 25 others. (AP)
- 22 November 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sectarian violence in Pakistan
- 2024 Kurram massacre
- Large crowds of protesters gather in Parachinar, Pakistan, to protest the massacre of 50 Shiite Pakistanis as well as the ongoing sectarian violence in the region. (Reuters) (MENAFN)
- 21 November 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sectarian violence in Pakistan
- 2024 Kurram massacre
Quote of the Day -
| “ | Pakistan not only means freedom and independence but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved, which has come to us as a precious gift and treasure and which, we hope other will share with us. | ” |
| — Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) | ||
Subcategories
Pakistan topics
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Recognized content
Related portals
Religions in Pakistan
Indian Subcontinent
Other countries
WikiProjects
| You are cordially invited to join and contribute to WikiProject Pakistan, a WikiProject dedicated to the development and improvement of articles relating to Pakistan.
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Associated Wikimedia
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Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikipedias in Pakistani languages
Sources
- ^ Mahendra, Anjali. "The Metro Bus System comes to Lahore, Pakistan". TheCityFix. World Resources Institute. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ "Lahore Knowledge Park Company".