Portal:Pakistan
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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The history of Sindh refers to the history of the Pakistani province of Sindh, as well as neighboring regions that periodically came under its sway.
Sindh was the site of one of the Cradle of civilizations, the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilisation that flourished from about 3000 B.C. and declined rapidly 1,000 years later, following the Indo-Aryan migrations that overran the region in waves between 1500 and 500 B.C. The migrating Indo-Aryan tribes gave rise to the Iron Age vedic civilization, which lasted till 500 BC. During this era, the Vedas, the oldest and primary Hindu scriptures were composed. In 518 BC, the Achaemenid empire conquered Indus valley and established Hindush satrapy in Sindh. Following Alexander the Great's invasion, Sindh became part of the Mauryan Empire. After its decline, Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians and Indo-Parthians ruled in Sindh. (Full article...)Selected picture -
Lake Saiful Muluk is a lake located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley. It is in the north east of Mansehra District in the North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. At an altitude of 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above sea level it is amongst one of the highest lakes in Pakistan. Photo credit: Almazi |
General images
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 -
Armaghan Shahid PP (Urdu: ارمُغان شاہِد; born 27 April 1971), better known by his stage names Shaan Shahid (Urdu: شان شاہِد) or Shaan, is a Pakistani actor, producer, model, screewriter and director. Shaan has established himself as one of the most popular leading actors of Pakistan.
Shaan started his acting career in 1990 by making his film debut in Javed Fazil's film Bulandi opposite Reema Khan and as of 2014 he has acted in 576 movies, including 388 Punjabi films and 188 Urdu films. (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
- 9 June 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- An IED kills seven Pakistan Army personnel in Lakki Marwat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Reuters)
- 3 June 2024 – Arrest of Imran Khan
- The Islamabad High Court overturns former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan's charges of leaking national security secrets. (Reuters)
- 29 May 2024 –
- At least 28 people are killed when a bus falls into a ravine in Washuk District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera)
- 27 May 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Twenty-three gunmen and seven soldiers are killed during three shootouts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
- 24 May 2024 – 2024 Bishkek riots
- Hundreds of international students from Pakistan and other Asian countries leave Kyrgyzstan following attacks by Kyrgyz nationalist mobs on student hostels in Bishkek earlier this month. (Reuters)
- 18 May 2024 – 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods
- At least 68 people are killed by floods in Ghor and Faryab provinces, Afghanistan. (AP)
Quote of the Day -
“ | People who have no hold over their process of thinking are likely to be ruined by liberty of thought. If thought is immature, liberty of thought becomes a method of converting men into animals. | ” |
— Allama Iqbal (National Poet of Pakistan) |
Subcategories
Pakistan topics
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
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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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".