Portal:Pakistan

The Pakistan Portal

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Introduction

Flag of Pakistan	State emblem of Pakistan

"The National Anthem"
Qaumī Tarānah
قَومی ترانہ

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 comprise 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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Cotton production in Pakistan is integral to the economic development of the country. The nation is largely dependent on the cotton industry and its related textile sector, and the crop has been given a principal status in the country. Cotton is grown as an industrial crop in 15% of the nation's land during the monsoon months of April-May, known as the Kharif period, and is grown at a smaller scale between February and April. Pakistan occupied the fourth position among the cotton growers of the world, the first three being India, China and USA. (Full article...)

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The National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi, Pakistan. At present there are a total of 11 Galleries in the Museum including an exquisite “Quran Gallery”, Indus Civilization artifacts, Gandhara Civilization Sculptures, Islamic Art, Miniature Paintings, Ancient Coins and Manuscripts documenting Pakistan's Political History.

Photo credit: Shahid1024

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General images

The following are images from various Pakistan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Badshahi Mosque (from Lahore)
Image 2The Sunehri Mosque was built in the walled city in the early 18th century, when the Mughal Empire was in decline. (from Lahore)
Image 3Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore is considered to be the most ornately decorated Mughal-era mosque. (from Lahore)
Image 4Shahi Hammam (from Lahore)
Image 5The marble Hazuri Bagh Baradari was built in 1818 to celebrate Ranjit Singh's acquisition of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. (from Lahore)
Image 6The Tomb of Asif Khan was one of several monuments plundered for its precious building materials during the Sikh period. (from Lahore)
Image 7Wazir Khan Mosque painting by William Carpenter (1866) (from Lahore)
Image 8Lahore Canal during the spring Basant festival (from Lahore)
Image 9The Lahore Fort, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 10Sections of the Walled City of Lahore have been under restoration since 2012 in conjunction with the Agha Khan Trust for Culture. (from Lahore)
Image 11Tomb of Jahangir (from Lahore)
Image 12The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan's Sufi heritage. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 13Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 14Allama Iqbal International Airport (from Lahore)
Image 15Built in 2012, Grand Jamia Mosque in southern Lahore is a blend of Mughal and modern architecture. (from Lahore)
Image 16Lahore's Bagh-e-Jinnah was laid in 1862. (from Lahore)
Image 17Grave of Nur Jahan (from Lahore)
Image 18The Azadi Chowk is located near the Badshahi Mosque. (from Lahore)
Image 19The Shah Alami area of Lahore's Walled City in 1890 (from Lahore)
Image 20University of Engineering and Technology, Main Block (from Lahore)
Image 21Topography of Pakistan (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 22The Data Darbar shrine, one of Pakistan's most important, was built to commemorate saint Ali Hujwiri, who lived in the city during 11th century. (from Lahore)
Image 23Constructed in the aftermath of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, the design of the Lahore Railway Station was highly militarised to defend the structure from further uprisings against British rule. (from Lahore)
Image 24Much of old Lahore features colonial-era buildings, such as the Tollinton Market. (from Lahore)
Image 25The Orange Line is Pakistan's first metro rail line. (from Lahore)
Image 26A syncretic architectural style that blends Islamic, Hindu, and Western motifs took root during the colonial era, as shown at Aitchison College. (from Lahore)
Image 27Lahore Metrobus (from Lahore)
Image 28Lahore as seen from International Space Station. River Ravi flows from North to West. The city is rapidly growing towards the south. (from Lahore)
Image 29Distribution of Pakistani diaspora
  Pakistan
  + 1,000,000
  + 100,000
  + 10,000
  + 1,000
(from Pakistanis)
Image 30Artistic depiction of Sindhi soldiers during medieval times (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 31King Edward Medical University (from Lahore)
Image 32Lahore Fort (from Lahore)
Image 33A traditional cup of black tea (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 34The Mall, Lahore's pre-independence commercial core, features many examples of colonial architecture. (from Lahore)
Image 35Pakistan is the fifteenth most water stressed country in the world. (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 36The Neevin Mosque is one of Lahore's few remaining medieval era buildings. (from Lahore)
Image 37Satellite image of the Sulaiman Range (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 38Government College University (from Lahore)
Image 39K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft), is the world's second highest peak (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 40Schoolgirls in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in shalwars with cuffed hems, and kameez with western-style collars. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 41Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore is the third-largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a seating capacity of 27,000 spectators. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 42Pakistan map of climate classification zones (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 43The iconic Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort was built in 1674 and faces Aurangzeb's Badshahi Mosque. (from Lahore)
Image 44Cityscape of Lahore (from Lahore)
Image 45A sitar workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 46Map of the Old City and environs. (from Lahore)
Image 47Dust storm over Pakistan and surrounding countries, 7 April 2005 (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 48First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and President Ayub Khan travelled by car in Lahore, 1962 (from Lahore)
Image 49Located on the bank of Arabian Sea in Karachi, Port Grand is one of the largest food streets of Asia. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 50Lahore Ring Road (from Lahore)
Image 51Kalma Underpass (from Lahore)
Image 52Lahore's Hazuri Bagh is at the centre of an ensemble of Mughal and Sikh era monuments, including the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort, Roshnai Gate, and the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh. (from Lahore)
Image 53The area around the Wazir Khan Mosque exemplifies the Walled City's urban form (from Lahore)
Image 54The Begum Shahi Mosque was completed in 1614 in honour of Jahangir's mother, Mariam-uz-Zamani. (from Lahore)
Image 55Men dressed in shalwar kameez in a general store on the road to Kalash, Pakistan (from Pakistanis)
Image 56Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 57University of the Punjab, Old Campus (from Lahore)

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.

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Provinces and Territories

Clickable map of the four provinces and three federal territories of Pakistan.

Provinces:

Balochistan and KPK also have Provincially Administered Tribal Areas(PATA) which are being developed into regular districts.

Territories:

Pakistani-administered portions of the Kashmir:

Things you can do

Pakistan noticeboard

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Wikify: Etiquette in Pakistan
Cleanup: Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad District, Pakistan

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Shaan speaking at a conference

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...)

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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.^[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)

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Pakistan news

Today is May 23, 2024

For up to date, in depth news coverage on Pakistan, see Wikinews:Portal:Pakistan. Wikinews is a sister project of Wikipedia, which deals with journalism of current events. They are both operated by the Wikimedia Foundation.

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Current events on Wikinews

18 May 2024 – 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods: At least 68 people are killed by floods in Ghor and Faryab provinces, Afghanistan. (AP)
18 May 2024 – 2024 Bishkek riots: The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan asks that Pakistani nationals in Kyrgyzstan stay indoors after mob attacks on Pakistanis and other foreign nationals are reported. (AP)
12 May 2024 – 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods: The death toll from the ongoing flooding in northern Afghanistan increases to 315, with more than 1,600 people injured, and more than 1,000 houses destroyed. (Reuters)
11 May 2024 – 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods: The death toll from the ongoing flooding in northern Afghanistan increases to 300, with more than 1,000 houses destroyed. (AP)
10 May 2024 – 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods: Over 200 people are killed by floods in Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. (NDTV)
3 May 2024 –: A bus plunges into a ravine in Diamer District, Pakistan, killing 15 people and seriously injuring more than 20 others. (AP)

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“

There is no power on Earth that can undo Pakistan.

”

— Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan)

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