Portal:Pakistan
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 most recently, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947. (Full article...)
Selected article -
Lahore (/ləˈhɔːr/ lə-HOR; Punjabi: لہور [lɔː˥˩ɾᵊ]; Urdu: لاہور [laːˈɦɔːɾ] ⓘ) is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and 27th largest in the world, with a population of over 14 million. Lahore is one of Pakistan's major industrial, educational and economic hubs. It has been the historic capital and cultural center of the wider Punjab region, and is one of Pakistan's most socially liberal, progressive, and cosmopolitan cities.
Lahore's origin dates back to antiquity. The city has been inhabited for around two millennia, although it rose to prominence in the late 10th century with the establishment of the Walled City, its fortified interior. Lahore served as the capital of several empires during the medieval era, including the Hindu Shahis, Ghaznavid Empire and Delhi Sultanate. It reached the height of its splendor under the Mughal Empire between the late 16th and early 18th centuries, being its capital city for many years. During this period, it was one of the largest cities in the world. The city was captured by the forces of the Afsharid ruler Nader Shah in 1739. Although the Mughal authority was re-established, it fell into a period of decay while being contested among the Afghans and the Sikhs between 1748 and 1798. Lahore eventually became the capital of the Sikh Empire in the early 19th century, regaining some of its lost grandeur. Lahore was annexed to the British Raj in 1849 and became the capital of British Punjab. Lahore was central to the independence movements of British India, with the city being the site of both the Declaration of Indian Independence and the resolution calling for the establishment of Pakistan. It experienced some of the worst rioting during the Partition period preceding Pakistan's establishment. Following the success of the Pakistan Movement and the subsequent partition of British India in 1947, Lahore was declared the capital of Pakistan's Punjab province. (Full article...)
Selected picture -
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Jehangir's Tomb at Shahdara near Lahore. It is the mausoleum built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir who ruled from 1605 to 1627. The mausoleum is located near the town of Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan. His son Shah Jahan built the mausoleum 10 years after his father's death. It is sited in an attractive walled garden. Photo credit: Waqas Usman | |
General images
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The caves at Shah Allah Ditta, on Islamabad's outskirts, were part of an ancient Buddhist monastic community (from Islamabad) -
Located on the bank of Arabian Sea in Karachi, Port Grand is one of the largest food streets of Asia. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Monument in F-9 Park (from Islamabad) -
A traditional cup of black tea (from Culture of Pakistan) -
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K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet), is the world's second highest peak (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Dust storm over Pakistan and surrounding countries, 7 April 2005 (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Pakistan is the fifteenth most water stressed country in the world. (from Geography of Pakistan) -
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Jinnah Sports Stadium, the largest stadium in Pakistan (from Islamabad) -
The five zones and sectors of Islamabad (from Islamabad) -
The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan's Sufi heritage. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Islamabad Golf Club (from Islamabad) -
Schoolgirls in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in shalwars with cuffed hems, and kameez with western-style collars. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Islamabad's annual precipitation allows for the growth of lush forests in the city's hills. (from Islamabad) -
Quaid-i-Azam University (from Islamabad) -
Artistic depiction of Sindhi soldiers during medieval times (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Distribution of Pakistani diasporaPakistan+ 1,000,000+ 100,000+ 10,000+ 1,000(from Pakistanis) -
The Pakistan Monument (from Islamabad) -
Islamabad skyline (from Islamabad) -
The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus was built in 2015 to connect Islamabad with neighbouring Rawalpindi. (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) -
Pakistan map of climate classification zones (from Geography of Pakistan) -
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Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Akhand Bharat, a nationalist concept which seeks to incorporate Pakistan, Afghanistan and the rest of South Asia (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Topography of Pakistan (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Faisal Mosque (from Islamabad) -
Faisal Mosque (from Islamabad) -
Islamabad Zones (from Islamabad) -
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The Shrine of Meher Ali Shah was completed immediately before construction began on the future capital city just east of the shrine (from Islamabad) -
Satellite image of the Sulaiman Range (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Dewan Masjid Islamabad (from Islamabad) -
F-9 Fatima Jinnah Park (from Islamabad) -
A sitar workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Pakistan Monument Islamabad (from Islamabad) -
Srinagar Highway, Islamabad (from Islamabad) -
Trail 3 Islamabad (from Islamabad) -
The Lahore Fort, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Islamabad Metro Bus (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 -
Mohammad Abdus Salam (/sæˈlæm/; pronounced [əbd̪ʊs səlaːm]; 29 January 1926 – 21 November 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist. He shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg for his contribution to the electroweak unification theory. He was the first Pakistani and the first scientist from an Islamic country to receive a Nobel Prize and the second from an Islamic country to receive any Nobel Prize, after Anwar Sadat of Egypt.
Salam was scientific advisor to the Ministry of Science and Technology in Pakistan from 1960 to 1974, a position from which he played a major and influential role in the development of the country's science infrastructure. Salam contributed to numerous developments in theoretical and particle physics in Pakistan. He was the founding director of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), and responsible for the establishment of the Theoretical Physics Group (TPG). For this, he is viewed as the "scientific father" of this program. In 1974, Abdus Salam departed from his country in protest after the Parliament of Pakistan unanimously passed a parliamentary bill declaring members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, to which Salam belonged, non-Muslim. In 1998, following the country's Chagai-I nuclear tests, the Government of Pakistan issued a commemorative stamp, as a part of "Scientists of Pakistan", to honour the services of Salam. (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
- 28 February 2025 – 2025 Darul Uloom Haqqania bombing
- Five people, including Hamid Ul Haq Haqqani, the head of a faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) party and son of Sami-ul-Haq, are killed and twenty others are injured in a suicide bombing inside of a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (The Indian Express)
- 14 February 2025 – Insurgency in Balochistan
- Eleven coal miners are killed and five others are wounded when a bomb hits a truck in Harnai, Balochistan, Pakistan. (AP)
- 6 February 2025 –
- FIFA suspends the Republic of the Congo and Pakistan from official international competitions for violations of its statutes, citing third-party interference in the Congolese Football Federation and the Pakistan Football Federation's failure to implement constitutional reforms ensuring fair elections. (Reuters)
- 1 February 2025 – Insurgency in Balochistan
- Eighteen Pakistani paramilitary troops and 24 Baloch separatists are killed in clashes in Balochistan, Pakistan. (Reuters)
- 30 January 2025 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- A shootout between the Pakistan Army and Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, leaves two soldiers and six militants dead. (AP)
- 28 January 2025 – Insurgency in Balochistan
- Two Pakistan Army soldiers and five insurgents are killed in a shootout in Killa Abdullah District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (AP)
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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Wikibooks
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Wikidata
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Wikinews
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Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
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Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
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".
