Introduction
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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 Achaemenid, the Maurya, the Kushan, the Gupta; the Umayyad Caliphate in its southern regions, the Hindu Shahis, the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate, the Samma, the Shah Miris, the Mughals, and finally, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947. (Full article...)
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Cotton production in Pakistan is integral to the economic development of the country. The nation is largely dependent on the cotton industry and its related textile sector, and the crop has been given a principal status in the country. Cotton is grown as an industrial crop in 15% of the nation's land during the monsoon months of April–May, known as the Kharif period, and is grown at a smaller scale between February and April. Pakistan occupied the fourth position among the cotton growers of the world, the first three being India, China and USA. (Full article...)
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The Tulip Lawn is a popular and well-known garden locale, situated adjacent to the magnificent Tulip Riverside Hotel located at the bank of Jhelum River in Jhelum. Photo credit: Talha | |
General images
Located on the bank of Arabian Sea in Karachi, Port Grand is one of the largest food streets of Asia. (from Culture of Pakistan)
The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan's Sufi heritage. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Islamabad Zones (from Islamabad)
Satellite image of the Sulaiman Range (from Geography of Pakistan)
Geological map of Pakistan. (This image is from 1964, and so includes East Pakistan, modern Bangladesh.) (from Geography of Pakistan)
The Lahore Fort, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Culture of Pakistan)
Daman-e-Koh Park (from Islamabad)
Islamabad Golf Club (from Islamabad)
The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus was built in 2015 to connect Islamabad with neighbouring Rawalpindi. (from Islamabad)
A traditional cup of black tea (from Culture of Pakistan)
Islamabad Metrobus (from Islamabad)
Jinnah Sports Stadium (from Islamabad)
Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture (from Culture of Pakistan)
A sitar workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan (from Culture of Pakistan)
The five zones and sectors of Islamabad (from Islamabad)
K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet), is the world's second highest peak (from Geography of Pakistan)
Dewan Masjid Islamabad (from Islamabad)
The caves at Shah Allah Ditta, on Islamabad's outskirts, were part of an ancient Buddhist monastic community (from Islamabad)
Dust storm over Pakistan and surrounding countries, 7 April 2005 (from Geography of Pakistan)
Pakistan map of climate classification zones (from Geography of Pakistan)
Trail 3 Islamabad (from Islamabad)
Faisal Mosque as seen from Margalla Hills (from Islamabad)
Monument in F-9 Park (from Islamabad)
Pakistan is the fifteenth most water stressed country in the world. (from Geography of Pakistan)
Schoolgirls in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in shalwars with cuffed hems, and kameez with western-style collars. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Islamabad skyline (from Islamabad)
Distribution of Pakistani diasporaPakistan+ 1,000,000+ 100,000+ 10,000+ 1,000(from Pakistanis)
Srinagar Highway, Islamabad (from Islamabad)
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore is the third-largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a seating capacity of 27,000 spectators. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Artistic depiction of Sindhi soldiers during medieval times (from Culture of Pakistan)
Islamabad's annual precipitation allows for the growth of lush forests in the city's hills. (from Islamabad)
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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 -
Alimuddin (Urdu: علیم الدین; 15 December 1930 – 12 July 2012) was a Pakistani cricketer who played 25 Tests for Pakistan between 1954 and 1962. His name is sometimes rendered Alim-ud-Din. A fast-scoring, right-handed opening batsman and occasional right-arm leg break bowler, he was the youngest player ever to appear in first-class cricket, aged 12 years and 73 days. In international cricket, he scored 1,091 runs at the average of 25.37, including two centuries and seven fifties. In 1954, he was a member of the Pakistani squad which toured England and recorded Pakistan's first Test match win. Former Pakistani captain Mushtaq Mohammad said about him that he was "a thorough gentleman as well as a great cricketer for Pakistan". (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
- 20 May 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- Pakistan in the 2026 Iran war
- Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says that Iran has received and is reviewing a new proposal from the United States regarding talks to end the war, while Pakistani interior minister Mohsin Naqvi visits Tehran to facilitate exchanges between the two sides. (AFP via Al-Ahram) (Arab News PK)
- 18 May 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- Pakistan reportedly shares a revised proposal with the United States from Iran aimed at ending the war. (Reuters)
- Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says that talks between Iran and the U.S. are still ongoing via Pakistani mediation. (AA)
- 18 May 2026 – Pakistan–Saudi Arabia relations
- Pakistan deploys 8,000 troops, HQ-9 air defense systems, and a full air force squadron, mostly of JF-17 fighter jets, to assist Saudi Arabia under their mutual defense agreement. (Reuters)
- 16 May 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- Pakistani interior minister Mohsin Naqvi arrives in Tehran for a meeting with Iranian officials in a effort to continue talks between Iran and the United States to end the war. (Arab News PK)
Quote of the Day -
| “ | There is no power on Earth that can undo Pakistan. | ” |
| — Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) | ||
Subcategories
Pakistan topics
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Recognized content
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Related portals
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Religions in Pakistan
Indian Subcontinent
Other countries
WikiProjects
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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
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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Commons
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Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
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Wikiversity
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Wikivoyage
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Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikipedias in Pakistani languages
Sources
- Notes
- References
- ↑ Mahendra, Anjali. "The Metro Bus System comes to Lahore, Pakistan". TheCityFix. World Resources Institute. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ↑ "Lahore Knowledge Park Company".
