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 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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Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan has over 231.6 Million adherents of Islam (including the administrative territory of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan ). 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.
About 97% of Pakistanis are Muslims. The majority are Sunni (85-90%) while Shias make up between 10% and 15%. The Hanbali school has gained popularity recently due to Wahabbi influence from the Middle East. Smaller minority Muslim populations in Pakistan include Quranists, nondenominational Muslims. There are also two Mahdi'ist based creeds practised in Pakistan, namely Mahdavia and Ahmadiyya, the latter of whom are considered by the constitution of Pakistan to be non-Muslims; they jointly constitute around 1% of the Muslim population. Pakistan has the world's largest Muslim majority city (Karachi). (Full article...)
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An illuminated view of famous Empress Market in Karachi. Empress Market is located in Saddar Town of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It was built in 1889 and was named in honour of Queen Victoria, Empress of British Empire in South Asia. Empress Market is the central shopping centre of Karachi. Photo credit: Cyclops1789 | |
General images
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Pakistan map of climate classification zones (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Located on the bank of Arabian Sea in Karachi, Port Grand is one of the largest food streets of Asia. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore is the third-largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a seating capacity of 27,000 spectators. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet), is the world's second highest peak (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Satellite image of the Sulaiman Range (from Geography 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) -
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A traditional cup of black tea (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Artistic depiction of Sindhi soldiers during medieval times (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Dust storm over Pakistan and surrounding countries, 7 April 2005 (from Geography of Pakistan) -
The Lahore Fort, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Culture of Pakistan) -
The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan's Sufi heritage. (from Culture of Pakistan) -
Distribution of Pakistani diasporaPakistan+ 1,000,000+ 100,000+ 10,000+ 1,000(from Pakistanis) -
Pakistan is the fifteenth most water stressed country in the world. (from Geography of Pakistan) -
Topography of Pakistan (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)
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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 -
Malik Riaz Hussain (Urdu, Punjabi: ملک ریاض حسین; born February 8, 1954 in Sialkot) is a Pakistani real estate tycoon who is the founder of Bahria Town, the largest privately held real estate development company in Pakistan. His real estate projects are associated with the concept of gated communities, where the residents are provided with a wide variety of facilities. (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
- 12 October 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- At least eleven people are killed and eight others are injured in tribal clashes in Kurram District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
- 10 October 2024 – Insurgency in Balochistan
- At least twenty-one miners are killed and six others are injured in an attack by unknown armed militants on a private coal mine in Duki District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (Reuters)
- 9 October 2024 – Insurgency in Balochistan
- One Frontier Corps official and two terrorists are killed and thirteen others are injured by a suicide bombing and gun attack on a Frontier Corps post in Zhob, Balochistan, Pakistan. (Daily Ausaf)
- 7 October 2024 – Human rights in Pakistan
- The Pakistani government bans the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, a social movement for Pashtun human rights, calling the movement a "proscribed organization". (Al Jazeera)
- 6 October 2024 – Insurgency in Sindh
- At least two people, both Chinese nationals, are killed and ten others are injured when an oil tanker truck exploded near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan. The separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army claims responsibility for the explosion, stating they targeted a convoy of Chinese workers of the Port Qasim Electric Power Company. (Crisis24) (Reuters)
- 3 October 2024 –
- Seven people are killed and 19 others are injured when a bus falls into a ravine in Balochistan, Pakistan. (Dawn)
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
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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
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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".
