The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (meaning: the land of the pure) is a country strategically placed on the crossroads of South Asia. The country came into being on the world map on 14^th August 1947 as a result of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan. Currently, Pakistan is the 36^th largest country by area (796,095 sq km or 307,374 sq mi.) and 6^th most populous by size currently housing more than 212 million residents of diverse cultural and geographic backgrounds. Honour, pride, and shame are all common social values which influence people’s behavior. It is a diverse country full of wonders that make it one of the major tourist attractions in the world. Below are the details.

Agriculture

• Pakistan has the largest canal-based irrigation system in the world.
• Changa Manga forest (12,423 acres in area) is a manmade forest originally planted in 1866 by British foresters.
• Pakistan’s 25% of the land is under agricultural cultivation thereby Pakistan irrigates three times more land area than Russia.
• Pakistan’s 72 percent population is associated with agriculture as their main source of income.

Archaeology

• Mehr Garh, Moenjo Daro, Harappa, Taxila, Kot Diji, Takht Bhai, Buddhist heritage in Swat, Caves in Baluchistan, Rock carvings along the Karakoram Highway and Skardu, Karga Buddha, Henzal Stupa, and Manthal Buddha in Gilgit-Baltistan are major archaeological sites in Pakistan.

 Architecture

• The Arabian Bedouin tent shapes Shah Faisal Mosque in Pakistan can accommodate more than 100,000 worshippers at a time. It was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993.
• The 100 domed Shah Jahan Mosque in Thatta, with no minarets at all as in conventionally designed mosques, is the only mosque built so technically that the voice of the preacher can be heard clearly in all sections of the mosque without the help of an amplifier.
• Masjid e Tooba or the Gol Masjid in Karachi is the pillar-less 48 ft high domed mosque with 212 ft in diameter balanced on a low surrounding wall. It was built in 1969.

 Armed Forces

• Pakistan has the world’s thirteenth most powerful,7th largest in terms of active military personnel, the largest among Muslim countries, and most active UN peacekeeping force.
• Pakistan has some of the world’s best-trained air force pilots.
• The late Pakistani Air Commodore MM Alam is known to have downed nine Indian aircraft including five planes in less than a minute during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
• Pakistani intelligence is considered the best intelligence corps in the world.
• Pakistan is a proud manufacturer and exporter of one of the best jet fighters of the world: JF-17 Thunder fighter jet.

 Arts & Craft

• Pakistan is famous for truck art – trucks decorated with complex floral patterns and poetic calligraphy in lavish colors with appealing creativity.
• Pakistan is the largest producers of jewelry especially gold and silver jewelry made by Pakistani artists is loved around the world.
• Sylvester Stallone’s movie Rambo III was shot in Pakistan.
• Pakistani handicraft, especially the handmade carpets and rugs, is famous worldwide for its beautiful artwork,

Communication

• Pakistan’s national language is Urdu and its official language is English.
• More than 60 different languages are spoken in different parts of Pakistan.
• Punjabi is the most spoken language approximately by 48% of residents.
• Pakistan has one of the world’s largest broadband internet systems.

 Culture

• Pakistan has hosted one of the oldest civilizations in history – Mehrgarh – dating back to 6000 B.C., now seen as a precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization.
• Shalwar kameez is the traditional Pakistani dress, which is worn and liked roughly by 70% of Pakistanis.

Economy

• The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) is the official currency of Pakistan with the denominations of 1, 2 and 5 in coins and 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, and 5000 in paper money.
• State bank is the highest financial institution in Pakistan
• Pakistan is amongst the top 11 countries having the potential to be amongst the top economies of the world in the near future nominated by UNO.
• The leather exports of Pakistan are very high and they are loved worldwide by consumers for their quality.
• The GDP of Pakistan is $305 billion (2018).
• The nominal GDP per capita is $5,100.
• Pakistan is also one of the top producers and exporters of surgical instruments in the world and almost 99% of these instruments are produced in Sialkot.
• Pakistan is the world’s fourth-largest cotton producing country after China, India, and the USA.
• Major crops of Pakistan include cotton, wheat, rice, and sugarcane.
• Major industries of Pakistan include textile, cement, fertilizer, steel, sugar, electric goods, and shipbuilding.
• Major imports of Pakistan include machinery, electrical goods, petroleum products, transportation equipment, metals, and metal products, fertilizer and foodstuffs.
• Pakistan is the world’s 5 largest mango producer and Pakistani mangoes are very famous and exported worldwide.

Education, Science & Technology

• Pakistan is the world’s first Islamic country to attain nuclear power in 1998.
• The world’s seventh-largest collection of scientists and engineers is from Pakistan.
• Pakistan is also known for its missile technology, which is one of the best in the world.
• The world’s youngest Microsoft Expert (Arfa Karim late) was from Pakistan. She became certified at just five years old.
• Muhammad Ilyas is the youngest civil judge of Pakistan, passing his examination when he was just 20 years old.
• The two Nobel Prize winners from Pakistan are Malala Yousafzai for Peace in 2014 and Abdus Salam for Physics in 1979.
• Pakistan’s 188 higher education institutions produce about 445,000 university graduates and 10,000 computer science graduates annually
• Pakistan has the 7th largest pool of scientists and engineers of the world.
• The A levels and O levels Cambridge exams have been topped by Pakistani students – a record yet to be broken.

Energy

• Over 68% of Pakistan’s energy is generated from fossil fuels.

Food & Drinks

• Pakistan has a rich diversity of meals varying from region to region.
• The average Pakistani home-made meals include:

Breakfast: Milk tea, bread/paratha, eggs, and butter.
Lunch: meat-based , rice, , and etc
Dinner: Usually a big family meal includes meat kebab, with gravy, naan, , salad, etc.

• Sugarcane juice is the national drink of Pakistan. In Pakistan, it is also known as “roh.”
• Red meat, if the animal slaughtered according to Islam, is halal.

Flora & Fauna

• Markhor is the national animal and Chukar partridge is the national bird of Pakistan.
• Indus Blind Dolphin is the most endangered species in Pakistan.
• Mango is the national fruit of Pakistan and Jasmine is its national flower.
• Pakistan has 10 major national Parks rich in biodiversity.

Geography

• The subcontinent was divided into India and Pakistan; both countries got their independence at midnight of 14–15 August 1947.
• The borders of Pakistan were drawn two days after on 17th August 1947, after the separation of India and Pakistan.
• Pakistan is a country of a diverse landscape from the world’s highest mountains and longest glaciers outside the polar region to the longest coastal line at the Arabian Sea.
• Pakistan is made up of four provinces (Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab), three territories (Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and FATA) and the Capital City of Islamabad.
• Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, officially became the capital of Pakistan on 14 August 1967, is located in the heart of the country with easy access to all provinces and territories.
• Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, and the Arabian Sea share a border with Pakistan.
• Pakistan has one of the largest irrigation systems in the world covering 14.4 million hectares of land.
• The Indus River flows for 2880km across the length of the country from the northern Himalayan mountains to the Arabian Sea

Historic Events

• March 23^rdis Pakistan’s Republic Day or “Pakistan Day.”
• In 1965, Pakistan had a second war with India over Kashmir. The seventeen-day war caused thousands of casualties on both sides, and also witnessed the largest tank battle since World War II.
• Pakistan and India both claimed victory in the war of 1965, which ended after a ceasefire declaration by the intervention of the Soviet Union and the United States.
• An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the Kashmir region and Balakot in Pakistan on October 8, 2005, killed almost 76,000 and caused displacement of approximately 3 million people.
• In July 2010, the country was hit by three floods, which left about one-fifth of the country under water.

Industry

• Gaddani, Pakistan is also home to the world’s third-largest ship breaking yard.

Infrastructure

• The total length covered by railways in Pakistan is 11,881 km out of which 11,492 km is the broad gauge, while 389 km is the narrow gauge.
• Pakistan boasts the world’s highest ATM operated by the National Bank of Pakistan installed at a height of 16,007 feet above sea level, at the Pak-China border, Khunjerab Pass.
• Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was founded on 23 October 1946 as Orient Airways. The airline was nationalized on January 10^th, 1955.
• Pakistan has the 21^st biggest road network in the world with 263,942 km of roadway infrastructure, out of which 708 km is the expressway.
• Pakistan has 11 international airports, 30 domestic airports, 14 military airbases, and 03 seaports.
• Gwadar in Baluchistan province of Pakistan is the largest deep-sea warm water port with an area of 64,000 square meters and a depth of more than 14 meters is the economic corridor of South Asia.
• The Karakoram Highway is considered as the highest paved highway of the world, unofficially called as the 8th wonder of the world.

Law & Order

• The Supreme Court is the highest court in Pakistan.
• A person at the age of 18is qualified to vote in Pakistan.
• Islamic law was made the law of the land in 1991.
• In 1973, Pakistan adopted a constitution for the parliamentary system of government.

Landscape and landmarks

• The 887 km Karakoram Highway (KKH) in Pakistan is the longest highway considered the eighth wonder of the world connecting Pakistan and China at the Khunjerab Border.
• Pakistan has the world’s second largest salt deposit called ‘Khewra Salt Mine’ or the Mayo Salt Mines.
• Tarbela Dam is the largest earth-filled dam in the world (and fifth largest by structural volume) on the Indus River in Pakistan. The dam was built in 1968 and 1976. The dam is 143.26 meters high and 2,743.2 meters long.
• Shandur Pass located in the Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan is home to the world’s highest Polo ground at 3,700 meters.
• The Tharparkar desert is the only fertile desert in the world located in Sindh province of Pakistan.

People, Politics, Population

• Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) was the founder of Pakistan and regarded as Father of the Nation.
• Allama Iqbal was the poet and philosopher, who gave the idea of a separate Muslim country resulted in the creation of Pakistan.
• Benazir Bhutto became the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan as well as of any Muslim nation.
• Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen of Pakistan until 1956.
• Pakistan is home to the world’s second largest Muslim population, behind Indonesia.
• The majority of Pakistan’s population is Muslim, amounting to 96.4%, while the rest includes Hindus and Christians.
• Pakistanis are the fourth-most intelligent people in the world as per poll results gathered from 125 countries by the Institute of European Business Administration.
• On August 31^st, 2007, General Parvez Musharraf amended the constitution of Pakistan to allow himself a third term as president.
• When Pakistan became independent, it received between 10 and 12 million refugees from different parts of India.
• Pakistan is a country with a diverse population housing several ethnic groups in society. Here are the main ones:
• – North: Wakhi, Shinaki, Dards, Burusho, Khuwar, Dome, and Baltis;
  – South: Muhajirs and Makrani;
  – East: Kashmiris, Punjabis, Sindhis, and Potwaris;
  – West: Pashtuns, Hazaras, and Baloch.
• Women can work combat jobs in Pakistan, which is just one of two Muslim countries to allow this.

Sports

• Pakistan (Sialkot) is the world’s largest producer of hand-sewn footballs producing about 50 million footballs making about 60% of the world’s total production.
• Jahangir Khan, the former World No. 1 professional squash player between 1981 and 1986, won 555 matches consecutively (the longest winning streak by any athlete in top-level professional sports as recorded by Guinness World Records) including the British Open title, the most prestigious event in the game record 10 times which is an unbelievable record. Another great achievement is that in one of his British Open title won, he didn’t lose any single point.
• In 1994, Pakistan became the first country of the world to hold 4 World Cups titles in different mainstream sports simultaneously. The sports include Cricket, Hockey, Squash, and Snooker.
• Since 1936, traditional polo festival is being held at Shandur Top which was originated by Maj Cobb as a game played on moonlight and called moony ground then.
• Sohail Abbas, a Pakistani field hockey defender, is the highest goal scorer in the history of field hockey, with his current goal tally at 348.

Social

• Pakistan has the world’s largest ambulance network listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
• The Edhi foundation lead by a noble philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi is accredited to have the largest private ambulance service having 300 centers and a fleet of over 1800 ambulances and still growing which serves people all around the country.
• Pakistani national anthem tune is listed amongst the world’s top three tunes. The duration of Pakistan’s National Anthem is 80 seconds.
• The national flag of Pakistan has a green ground with a vertical white band (symbolizing the role of religious minorities) on the hoist side while a large white crescent and star are centered in the green field representing traditional symbols of Islam.
• One in three Pakistanis lives below the federal poverty line.

 Taboo

• Taboo subjects are sex, dating, homosexuality, alcohol, and questioning Islamic beliefs.
• Pork is forbidden and virtually impossible to find.

Travel & Tourism

• Pakistan is one of the top places for tourists rich in history, archaeology, manmade landmarks, and natural beauty.
• The Lonely Planet, World’s most famous tourist guidebook, has stated Pakistan as being the Next Big Thing of the world tourist industry.
• Pakistan hosts 6 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 24 tentative heritage sites
• Five of the world’s eight highest (above 8000m) mountains are in Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan)
• K-2 (Chagori) is the highest mountain peak in Pakistan and the second highest in the world.
• The world’s longest glacial system outside the Polar Regions – the Biafo Glacier – is in Pakistan.
• Karakoram Highway, connecting Pakistan and China at the Khunjerab Pass, is considered the 8^th wonder of the world and the highway displaying most tourist attractions.
• Pakistan is a country with four distinct seasons which is not easily witnessed in most of the other parts of the world.
• The mighty Thar Desert is the 9th largest sub-tropical dessert of the world located near the Indian border and is one of the oldest deserts of the world.
• Shandur Polo ground is the highest polo ground of the world which is situated at an elevation of 12, 200 feet. It also is a picturesque location with beautiful lakes and sky-high mountains on all sides of the valley.