Portal:Pakistan
About Pakistan
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Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the world’s fifth-most populous country with a population exceeding 212.7 million people. In area, it is the 33rd-largest country, spanning 881,913 square kilometres (340,509 square miles). Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China in the northeast. It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the northwest, and also shares a maritime border with Oman.
The territory that now constitutes Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures and intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent. The ancient history involves the Neolithic site of Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including Hindus, Indo-Greeks, Muslims, Turco-Mongols, Afghans and Sikhs. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Alexander III of Macedon, the Seleucid Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, the Gupta Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Afghan Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire (partially) and, most recently, the British Indian Empire. Pakistan is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. An ethnic civil war and Indian military intervention in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. In 1973, Pakistan adopted a new constitution which stipulated that all laws are to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah.
A middle power, Pakistan has the sixth-largest standing armed forces in the world and is also a nuclear power as well as a declared nuclear-weapons state, the second in South Asia and the only nation in the Muslim world to have that status. Pakistan has a semi-industrialised economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector and a growing services sector. It is ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the world's largest and fastest-growing middle class. Pakistan's political history since independence has been characterized by periods of military rule, political instability and conflicts with India. The country continues to face challenging problems, including overpopulation, terrorism, poverty, illiteracy, and corruption. Pakistan is a member of the UN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the OIC, the Commonwealth of Nations, the SAARC, the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition and the Major non-NATO ally.
"The National Anthem"
Qaumī Tarānah
قَومی ترانہ
Selected article
Ghauri (Urdu: غوری) is a medium-range ballistic missile developed by Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) of Pakistan. The designation of Hatf-V is also used for Ghauri. The Ghauri-I has an optimum range of 1,500 km and can carry both a conventional and non-conventional payload. It is powered by a liquid propellant engine. Pakistan successfully carried out the test of the surface-to-surface Ghauri-I Missile with a range of 1500 km and a payload of 700 kg on April 6, 1998. This test represented a step forward in Pakistan's indigenous missile and satellite launch programme. Ghauri-II is a longer ranged variant of the Ghauri-I missile. It was developed by increasing the length of the motor assembly and using improved propellants. The Ghauri-II missile has a range of 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi). Ghauri-III with a range of 3500–4000 km is under development. Ghauri-I was test launched on April 6, 1998 from Malute, near the city of Jhelum, about 76 miles south of the Capital Islamabad. It climbed to a height of 350 km before hitting its designated target in the desert of Balochistan. The reports state that the missile was flight tested to a distance of 1,100 kilometres (680 mi). The test flight was carried out completely overland. No advance notice of the actual flight test was given by Pakistani authorities. Pakistani sources also report that the flight test lasted 9 minutes and 58 seconds. Ghauri-I missile weighes 16 tons and consists of 13 tons of fuel, 700 kg warhead and the remaining weight is of the casing and equipment. The missile can carry a nuclear, chemical, or anti-tank warhead. The Ghauri missile was test fired from a mobile launcher. (More...)
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The Noor Mahal is located in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. It was built in 1872 like an Italian chateau on neoclassical lines, at a time when modernism had set in. There are various stories regarding its construction. According to one belief, Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV had the palace made for his wife. However, she was there for one night, only as she happened to see the adjoining graveyard from her balcony, and refused to spend another night there and so it remained unused during his reign. Photo credit: Asdaqamin | |
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
Quote of the Day
| “ | There is no power on Earth that can undo Pakistan. | ” |
| — Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) | ||
Selected biography
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (KB)(/ˈɪkbɑːl/; Urdu: محمد اِقبال; 9 November 1877 – 21 April 1938), widely known as Allama Iqbal, was a poet, philosopher and politician, as well as an academic, barrister and scholar in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is called the "Spiritual Father of Pakistan." He is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both Urdu and Persian.
Iqbal is admired as a prominent poet by Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians, Bangladeshis and other international scholars of literature. Though Iqbal is best known as an eminent poet, he is also a highly acclaimed "Muslim philosophical thinker of modern times". His first poetry book, The Secrets of the Self, appeared in the Persian language in 1915, and other books of poetry include The Secrets of Selflessness, Message from the East and Persian Psalms. Amongst these, his best known Urdu works are The Call of the Marching Bell, Gabriel's Wing, The Rod of Moses and a part of Gift from Hijaz. Along with his Urdu and Persian poetry, his Urdu and English lectures and letters have been very influential in cultural, social, religious and political discourses. Read more...
Did you know
- ... 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. [1] (27 January, 2017)
- ... that Multan Sultans is the most expensive franchise team of Pakistan Super League? (04 December, 2017)
- ... 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
- 14 January 2020 –
- At least 57 people are killed and others are missing after avalanches in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir over the last 24 hours, senior government officials say. In Indian-administered Kashmir, at least 10 are killed. (Reuters)
- 13 January 2020 –
- The Lahore High Court, in Punjab, Pakistan, says the death sentence verdict against former ruler Pervez Musharraf last month is unconstitutional, casting into doubt the legitimacy of the verdict. (Reuters)
- 10 January 2020 – 2020 Quetta bombing
- A bombing claimed by the Islamic State at a mosque in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, kills at least 15 people and wounds 18 others, three days after a motorcycle bombing in the city killed two. (The New York Times)
- 5 January 2020 –
- People in Pakistan protest in Karachi over the U.S. killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qasem Soleimani. (Reuters)
- 27 December 2019 – Terrorism in Pakistan
- Pakistani authorities announce they have arrested five suspected members of al-Qaeda in the eastern province of Punjab, as they are reported to have been planning an attack on security personnel. (Reuters)
- 21 December 2019 – Censorship in Pakistan, Blasphemy in Pakistan, Capital punishment in Pakistan
- A court in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, sentences university professor Junaid Hafeez to death for blasphemy – verbal and on Facebook. (Al Jazeera)
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