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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 and the ninth-largest in Asia. 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 Samma, the Hindu Shahis, the Shah Miris, the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, and most recently, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947. (Full article...)
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Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan has over 240 Million adherents of Islam. As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions.
According to some estimates, "more Sunni Muslims adhere to Barelvi doctrine than that of the Deobandi." Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who was also a follower of the Deobandi school of thought, prioritized the implementation of Sunni policies and laws that were in line with Deobandi beliefs during his attempts at the Islamization of Pakistan. (Full article...)Selected picture - show another
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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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Image 2Dust storm over Pakistan and surrounding countries, 7 April 2005 (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Image 3A traditional cup of black tea (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Image 4Quetta Fort Mirri (from Quetta)
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Image 5Schoolgirls in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in shalwars with cuffed hems, and kameez with western-style collars. (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Image 8Satellite image of the Sulaiman Range (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Image 10Fort Mirri in 1880 (from Quetta)
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Image 11Passengers boarding a Chaman bound train at Baleli, Quetta (from Quetta)
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Image 12Map of Quetta in 1935 (from Quetta)
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Image 13K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet), is the world's second highest peak (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Image 14The Lahore Fort, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Image 16Gaddafi 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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Image 17Located 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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Image 18Pakistan map of climate classification zones (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Image 19The Qayyum Papa Stadium is named after Pakistan national football team captain Qayyum Changezi, hailing from Quetta (from Quetta)
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Image 20Musa Sports Complex (from Quetta)
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Image 21Pakistan is the fifteenth most water stressed country in the world. (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Image 22Quetta Cantonment, 1889 (from Quetta)
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Image 24Distribution of Pakistani diasporaPakistan+ 1,000,000+ 100,000+ 10,000+ 1,000(from Pakistanis)
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Image 25Topography of Pakistan (from Geography of Pakistan)
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Image 26Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan (from Culture of Pakistan)
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Image 27Men dressed in shalwar kameez in a general store on the road to Kalash, Pakistan (from Pakistanis)
This week in history
- 8 October 2005: The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the South Asia earthquake/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
- Layout: Pakistan noticeboard, Geography,
- Peer review:
- NPOV:
- Wikify: Etiquette in Pakistan
- Cleanup: Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad District, Pakistan
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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. (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. (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
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/WikiNews-Logo-en.svg/122px-WikiNews-Logo-en.svg.png)
- 3 July 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Three people, including former senator Hidayat Ullah, are killed and two others are injured when their vehicle strikes a roadside bomb in Bajaur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Al Arabiya)
- 1 July 2024 – Blasphemy in Pakistan; Jaranwala church arsons
- A court in Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan sentences a Christian man to death for blasphemy against Muslims on social media after anti-Christian mobs burned down dozens of homes and churches in Jaranwala, Punjab, in August. (AP)
- 27 June 2024 – 2024 Pakistan heat wave
- At least 568 people have died from heat-related illnesses due to extreme temperatures and humidity in southern Pakistan. (The Independent) (BBC News)
- 21 June 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- An IED kills five Pakistan Army personnel in Kurram District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. (Arab News)
- 20 June 2024 –
- A tourist accused of desecrating the Quran is removed from a police station in Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, by a mob who beat him to death before setting his corpse on fire. (Al Arabiya)
- 11 June 2024 –
- The World Bank approves $1 billion for the construction of the Dasu Dam in northwest Pakistan. (Al-Arabiya)
Quote of the Day - show another
“ | There is no power on Earth that can undo Pakistan. | ” |
— Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) |
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Subcategories
![Category puzzle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/C_Puzzle.png/42px-C_Puzzle.png)
Pakistan topics
Recognized content
Related portals
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. |
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
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Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikipedias in Pakistani languages
كشميري (Kashmiri) • پښتو (Pashto) • فارسی (Persian) • پنجابی (Punjabi) • سنڌي (Sindhi) • اردو (Urdu)
Sources
- ^ Mahendra, Anjali. "The Metro Bus System comes to Lahore, Pakistan". TheCityFix. World Resources Institute. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ "Lahore Knowledge Park Company".
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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