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 compose 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...)
Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan has over 240 Million adherents of Islam. 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.
According to some estimates, more Sunni Muslims adhere to Barelvi doctrine than that of the Deobandi. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who was also a follower of the Deobandi school of thought, prioritized the implementation of Sunni policies and laws that were in line with Deobandi beliefs during his attempts at the Islamization of Pakistan. (Full article...)
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 |
Clickable map of the four provinces and three federal territories of Pakistan.
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Provinces:
Territories: Pakistani-administered portions of the Kashmir: |
Muhammad Ishaq Dar (Urdu: محمد اسحاق ڈار; born 13 May 1950), is a Pakistani politician who currently serves as Foreign Minister of Pakistan and the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan since 2024. He previously served as Finance Minister of Pakistan from 2022 to 2023, as Leader of the House for the Senate since 2022, and as Leader of the Opposition for the Senate of Pakistan from 2012 to 2013. Dar, affiliated with the PMLN, was reelected as a senator on a technocrat seat from Islamabad in the 2024 Pakistani Senate elections. He identifies as a free-market conservative and has been associated with both economically liberal and fiscally conservative policies.
Dar was born in 1950 in Lahore. He attended the Hailey College of Commerce, Government College University, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He began his career as a chartered accountant in the public and private sector. He entered politics in the 1980s. He was elected to the senate in 2003 and was Leader of the Opposition from 2012 to 2013. He has served as federal minister for commerce; industries and investment; and finance and revenue. (Full article...)
“ | There is no power on Earth that can undo Pakistan. | ” |
— Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) |
Religions in Pakistan
Indian Subcontinent
Other countries
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