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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Bangladesh Army MBT-2000

The Al-Khalid/VT-1A (Urdu: الخالد ٹینک—Al-Xālid Ṫaiŋk, pronounced [əlˈxaːlɪd̪ ʈɛːŋk] literally "The Eternal Tank") is a main battle tank family developed jointly by Norinco of China and Heavy Industries Taxila of Pakistan. The tank is based on the Type 90-II tank. Around 310 Al-Khalid MBTs had been produced by 2014. The tank has been exported to Bangladesh, Morocco and Myanmar by China. The VT-1A is also known as MBT-2000.

The Bangladesh Army ordered 44 MBT-2000s from China in 2011. The Norinco-made MBT-2000 is also used by the Royal Moroccan Army. It was trialled by the Peruvian Army for possible acquisition, but was not purchased due to financial problems. (Full article...)

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Nanga Parbat from Fairy Meadows in Pakistan. Nanga Parbat is the western anchor of the Himalayas and is the westernmost eight-thousander. It lies just south of the Indus River in the Astore District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Not far to the north is the western end of the Karakoram range.

Photo credit: Petrusbarbygere

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General images

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

Image 1Satellite image of the Sulaiman Range (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 2Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore is the third-largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a seating capacity of 27,000 spectators. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 3Dust storm over Pakistan and surrounding countries, 7 April 2005 (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 4Distribution of Pakistani diaspora
  Pakistan
  + 1,000,000
  + 100,000
  + 10,000
  + 1,000
(from Pakistanis)
Image 5Greenline Metrobus Karachi (from Karachi)
Image 6Men dressed in shalwar kameez in a general store on the road to Kalash, Pakistan (from Pakistanis)
Image 7The Swaminarayan Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Karachi. (from Karachi)
Image 8Schoolgirls in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in shalwars with cuffed hems, and kameez with western-style collars. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 9Located on the bank of Arabian Sea in Karachi, Port Grand is one of the largest food streets of Asia. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 10Aga Khan University's hospital (from Karachi)
Image 11Under construction high rises in DHA Karachi (from Karachi)
Image 12A postcard from 1930 of Elphinstone Street, Karachi. (from Karachi)
Image 13A Green line Station (from Karachi)
Image 14Pakistan map of climate classification zones (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 15Peoples Bus Service (Pink) (from Karachi)
Image 16Bahadurabad Area has a high population density. (from Karachi)
Image 17Topography of Pakistan (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 18The Arabian Sea influences Karachi's climate, providing the city with more moderate temperatures compared to other areas of Sindh province. (from Karachi)
Image 19Peoples Bus Service (Red) (from Karachi)
Image 20Mules Mansion (from Karachi)
Image 21Some of Karachi's most recognized structures, such as Frere Hall, date from the British Raj. (from Karachi)
Image 22St. Patrick's Cathedral, built-in 1881, serves as the seat of the Archdiocese of Karachi. (from Karachi)
Image 23K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft), is the world's second highest peak (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 24Artistic depiction of Sindhi soldiers during medieval times (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 25Pakistan is the fifteenth most water stressed country in the world. (from Geography of Pakistan)
Image 26The National Stadium in Karachi (from Karachi)
Image 27The former State Bank of Pakistan building was built during the colonial era. (from Karachi)
Image 28With a capacity of 800,000 worshippers, Grand Jamia Mosque is the largest mosque in Pakistan and 3rd largest in the world. (from Karachi)
Image 29Karachi from above (from Karachi)
Image 30Shri Laxmi Narayan Mandir (from Karachi)
Image 31Bai Virbaijee Soparivala (B.V.S.) Parsi High School (from Karachi)
Image 32The D. J. Sindh Government Science College is one of Karachi's oldest universities and dates from 1887. (from Karachi)
Image 33Given the honorary title "Father of Service", Naimatullah Khan Advocate (2001–2005) was one of the most successful and respected mayors Karachi ever had. (from Karachi)
Image 34I. I. Chundrigar Road is considered to be the "downtown" of karachi (from Karachi)
Image 35The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan's Sufi heritage. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 36Lady Dufferin Hospital (from Karachi)
Image 37An 1897 image of Karachi's Rampart Row street in Mithadar (from Karachi)
Image 38The Lahore Fort, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 39Clifton is considered as one of the richest neighbourhoods in Pakistan. (from Karachi)
Image 40A traditional cup of black tea (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 41Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina in Karachi 14 August 1947 (from Karachi)
Image 42Pakistan football team in a friendly against a team from the Soviet Union at the KMC Stadium in 1968. (from Karachi)
Image 43A sitar workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan. (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 44Shri Swami Narayan Mandir (from Karachi)
Image 45Karachi features several examples of colonial-era Indo-Saracenic architecture, such as the KMC Building. (from Karachi)
Image 46The 15th–18th century Chaukhandi tombs are a Tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site. (from Karachi)
Image 47Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan (from Culture of Pakistan)
Image 48Karachi is home to large numbers of descendants of refugees and migrants from Hyderabad, in southern India, who built a small replica of Hyderabad's famous Charminar monument in Karachi's Bahadurabad area. (from Karachi)
Image 49The Manora Fort, built-in 1797 to defend Karachi, was captured by the British on 3 February 1839 and upgraded 1888–1889. (from Karachi)
Image 50Karachi University is the city's largest by number of students, number of departments & occupied land area. (from Karachi)
Image 51FAST NUCES Karachi campus (from Karachi)
Image 52Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture. (from Culture of Pakistan)

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.

Archive

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:

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Pakistan noticeboard

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Cleanup: Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad District, Pakistan

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Photo from The Manchester Guardian of a group of Muslim migrants boarding a Pakistan-bound train in Delhi amidst the partition of India, c. 1947–1953

The Muhajir people (also spelled Mahajir and Mohajir) (Urdu: مہاجر, lit. 'Immigrant') are Muslim immigrants of various ethnic groups and regional origins, and their descendants, who migrated from various regions of India after the Partition of India to settle in the newly independent state of Pakistan. The community includes those immigrants' descendants, most of whom are settled in Karachi and other parts of urban Sindh. The Muhajir community also includes stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who migrated to Pakistan after 1971 following the secession of East Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

The total population of the Muhajir people worldwide is estimated to be around 15 million, and the overwhelming majority of this figure (14.7 million) is located in Pakistan, according to the 2017 Pakistani census. The official census of Karachi, which has historically hosted the country's largest Muhajir population, has been challenged by most of Sindh's political parties. Some independent organizations^[which?] have estimated that the Muhajirs number around 30 million people. (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 15, 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

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)
15 April 2024 –: Lightning and heavy rains have killed at least 49 people across Pakistan in the past three days, mainly farmers in the eastern Punjab province. (AP)
13 April 2024 – Insurgency in Balochistan: Gunmen abduct and kill nine people from a bus in Nushki District, Balochistan, Pakistan. All victims, whose bodies were found under a bridge, appear to have been shot at close range. (Reuters)

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“

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)

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