Pakistan

The name Pakistan was coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist, who in January 1933 first published it (originally as "Pakstan") in a pamphlet Now or Never, using it as an acronym.{{sfn|Aziz|1987}}{{sfn|Saqib|Malik|2018}}{{sfn|Lahiri|2023}} Rahmat Ali explained: "It is composed of letters taken from the names of all our homelands, Indian and Asian, Panjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan." He added, "Pakistan is both a Persian and Urdu word... It means the land of the Paks, the spiritually pure and clean."{{sfn|Tummala|1996}} Etymologists note that {{wikt-lang|fa|پاک}} {{transliteration|fa|pāk}}, is 'pure' in Persian and Pashto and the Persian suffix {{wikt-lang|fa|ـستان}} {{transliteration|fa|-stan}} means 'land' or 'place of'.{{sfn|Saqib|Malik|2018}}

Rahmat Ali's concept of Pakistan only related to the northwestern area of the Indian subcontinent. He also proposed the name "Banglastan" for the Muslim areas of Bengal and "Osmanistan" for Hyderabad State, as well as a political federation between the three.{{sfn|Anand|1991}}

{{main|History of Pakistan}}

{{See also|Timeline of Pakistani history}}

File:Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig.jpeg from Mohenjo-daro ({{circa|2500 BCE}}){{sfn|Parker|2017}}]]

Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan.{{sfn|Allchin|Petraglia|2007}} The earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom artefacts have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab.{{sfn|Ahmed|2014}} The Indus region, which covers most of the present-day Pakistan, was the site of several successive ancient cultures including the Neolithic (7000–4300 BCE) site of Mehrgarh,{{R|Coningham-Young-2015|Fisher-2018|Dyson-2018}} and the 5,000-year history of urban life in South Asia to the various sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation, including Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.{{R|Allchin-1982}}{{sfn|Dales|Kenoyer|Alcock|1986}}

File:Cremation Urn with Lid LACMA AC1994.234.8a-b.jpg, Swat Valley, {{circa|1200 BCE}}{{sfn|Burrison|2017}}|left]]

Following the decline of the Indus valley civilization, Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration in the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE),{{sfn|Oursel|2015}} bringing with them their distinctive religious traditions and practices which fused with local culture.{{refn|name="Vedic period"}} The Indo-Aryans religious beliefs and practices from the Bactria–Margiana culture and the native Harappan Indus beliefs of the former Indus Valley civilization eventually gave rise to Vedic culture and tribes.{{refn|name="Vedic period"}} Most notable among them was Gandhara civilization, which flourished at the crossroads of India, Central Asia, and the Middle East, connecting trade routes and absorbing cultural influences from diverse civilizations.{{sfn|Behrendt|2007}} The initial early Vedic culture was a tribal, pastoral society centered in the Indus Valley, of what is today Pakistan.{{sfn|Rahmaan|2017}} During this period, the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed.{{sfn|Oberlies|2023}}{{efn|name="Rigveda"}}

File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg from Gandhara (1st–2nd century CE){{sfn|Stonard|2017}}]]

The western regions of Pakistan became part of Achaemenid Empire around 517 BCE.{{sfn|Dandamaev|2023}} In 326 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the region by defeating various local rulers, most notably, the King Porus, at Jhelum.{{sfn|Sadasivan|2011}} It was followed by the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great, until 185 BCE.{{sfn|James|1980}}{{sfn|Khan|2022|page=114}}{{sfn|Cooke|2017}} The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria (180–165 BCE) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165–150 BCE), prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region.{{sfn|Pollitt|1986}}{{sfn|Quintanilla|2007}}{{sfn|Kubica|2023}} Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world, which was established during the late Vedic period in the 6th century BCE.{{sfn|Westmoreland|2019}} The ancient university was documented by the invading forces of Alexander the Great and was also recorded by Chinese pilgrims in the 4th or 5th century CE.{{refn|name="Needham-1994"}}{{refn|name="Kulke-Rothermund-2016"}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1989}} At its zenith, the Rai dynasty (489–632 CE) ruled Sindh and the surrounding territories.{{sfn|Banerjee|2022}}

The Arab conqueror Muhammad ibn Qasim conquered Sindh and some regions of Punjab in 711 CE.{{sfn|James|1980}}{{sfn|Mufti|2013}} The Pakistan government's official chronology claims this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid.{{sfn|Hoodbhoy|2023}} The early medieval period (642–1219 CE) witnessed the spread of Islam in the region.{{sfn|Cavendish|2006|page=318}} Before the arrival of Islam beginning in the 8th century, the region of Pakistan was home to a diverse plethora of faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism.{{R|Stubbs-Thomson-2016}}{{sfn|Malik|2006|page=47}} During this period, Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of the regional population to Islam.{{sfn|Lapidus|2014}} Upon the defeat of the Turk and Hindu Shahi dynasties which governed the Kabul Valley, Gandhara (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and western Punjab in the 7th to 11th centuries CE, several successive Muslim empires ruled over the region, including the Ghaznavid Empire (975–1187 CE), the Ghorid Kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 CE).{{sfn|Samad|2011}} The Lodi dynasty, the last of the Delhi Sultanate, was replaced by the Mughal Empire (1526–1857 CE).{{sfn|Faroqhi|2019}}

File:Royal mosque Lahore.jpg, Lahore]]

The Mughals introduced Persian literature and high culture, establishing the roots of Indo-Persian culture in the region.{{sfn|Canfield|2002}} In the region of modern-day Pakistan, key cities during the Mughal period were Multan, Lahore, Peshawar and Thatta,{{sfn|Chandra|2005}} which were chosen as the site of impressive Mughal buildings.{{sfn|Malik|2006|page=79}} In the early 16th century, the region remained under the Mughal Empire.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006}} In the 18th century, the slow disintegration of the Mughal Empire was hastened by the emergence of the rival powers of the Maratha Confederacy and later the Sikh Empire, as well as invasions by Nader Shah from Iran in 1739 and the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan in 1759.{{sfn|Haleem|2013}}{{sfn|MacDonald|2017}} The growing political power of the British in Bengal had not yet reached the territories of modern Pakistan.{{sfn|Simpson|2007}}

{{main|British India|British Raj|Aligarh Movement|Two-nation theory}}

{{multiple image

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| caption1 = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898), whose vision formed the basis of Pakistan.{{R|Wolpert-1984|Sengupta-2023}}{{sfn|Holt|Curta|2016}}

| alt1 = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898), whose vision (Two-nation theory) formed the basis of Pakistan

| width2 = 170

| image2 = Jinnah1945b.jpg

| caption2 = Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948) served as Pakistan's first Governor-General and the leader of the Pakistan Movement.{{sfn|Wolpert|1984}}

| alt2 = Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948) served as Pakistan's first Governor-General and the leader of the Pakistan Movement

}}

None of modern Pakistan was under British rule until 1839 when Karachi, a small fishing village governed by Talpurs of Sindh with a mud fort guarding the harbour, was taken,{{sfn|Rustomji|1952}}{{sfn|Walbridge|2012}} and used as an enclave with a port and military base for the First Afghan War that ensued.{{sfn|Gayer|2014}} The remainder of Sindh was acquired in 1843,{{sfn|Sharma|D'Angelo|Giri|2020}} and subsequently, through a series of wars and treaties, the East India Company, and later, after the post-Sepoy Mutiny (1857–1858), direct rule by Queen Victoria of the British Empire, acquired most of the region.{{sfn|Pirbhai|2009}} Key conflicts included those against the Baloch Talpur dynasty, resolved by the Battle of Miani (1843) in Sindh,{{sfn|Harjani|2018}} the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845–1849),{{sfn|Cook|1975}} and the Anglo-Afghan Wars (1839–1919).{{sfn|Khan|2022|page=119}} By 1893, all modern Pakistan was part of the British Indian Empire, and remained so until independence in 1947.{{sfn|Cavendish|2006|page=365}}

Under British rule, modern Pakistan was primarily divided into the Sind Division, Punjab Province, and the Baluchistan Agency. The region also included various princely states, with the largest being Bahawalpur.{{sfn|Law|1999}}{{sfn|Hussain|2015}}

The major armed struggle against the British in the region was the rebellion known as the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.{{sfn|Malleson|2016}} Divergence in the relationship between Hinduism and Islam resulted in significant tension in British India, leading to religious violence. The language controversy further exacerbated tensions between Hindus and Muslims.{{sfn|Holt|Curta|2016}}{{sfn|Hali|Akhtar|1993}} A Muslim intellectual movement, led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to counter the Hindu renaissance, advocated for the two-nation theory and led to the establishment of the All-India Muslim League in 1906.{{R|Wolpert-1984|Sengupta-2023}}{{sfn|Holt|Curta|2016}}

In March 1929, in response to the Nehru Report, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, issued his fourteen points, which included proposals to safeguard the interests of the Muslim minority in a united India. These proposals were rejected.{{R|Hardy-1972|Wuthnow-2013|Singh-Shani-2021}} In his 29 December 1930 address, Allama Iqbal advocated the amalgamation of Muslim-majority states in North-West India, including Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind, and Baluchistan.{{R|Singh-Shani-2021}}{{refn|name="Iqbal"}} The perception that Congress-led British provincial governments neglected the Muslim League from 1937 to 1939 motivated Jinnah and other Muslim League leaders to embrace the two-nation theory.{{sfn|Pandeya|2003}}{{sfn|Basu|Miroshnik|2017}} This led to the adoption of the Lahore Resolution of 1940, presented by Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Haque, also known as the Pakistan Resolution.{{sfn|M. H. Khan|2016}}

By 1942, Britain faced considerable strain during World War II, with India directly threatened by Japanese forces. Britain had pledged voluntary independence for India in exchange for support during the war. However, this pledge included a clause stating that no part of British India would be compelled to join the resulting dominion, which could be interpreted as support for an independent Muslim nation. Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement, demanding an immediate end to British rule. In contrast, the Muslim League chose to support the UK's war efforts, thereby nurturing the possibility of establishing a Muslim nation.{{R|Tucker-2020}}{{sfn|Chandra|2008}}

{{main|Pakistan Movement}}

{{further|History of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan|Indian independence movement|Partition of India}}

File:Partition of India 1947 en.svg: green regions were all part of Pakistan by 1948, and orange ones part of India. The darker-shaded regions represent the Punjab and Bengal provinces partitioned by the Radcliffe Line. The grey areas represent some of the key princely states that were eventually integrated into India or Pakistan.]]

The 1946 elections saw the Muslim League secure 90 percent of the Muslim seats, supported by the landowners of Sindh and Punjab. This forced the Indian National Congress, initially skeptical of the League's representation of Indian Muslims, to acknowledge its significance.{{R|Mohiuddin-2007-1}} Jinnah's emergence as the voice of the Indian Muslims,{{sfn|Hoodbhoy|2023}} compelled the British to consider their stance, despite their reluctance to partition India. In a final attempt to prevent partition, they proposed the Cabinet Mission Plan.{{R|Mohiuddin-2007-2}}

As the Cabinet Mission failed, the British announced their intention to end rule by June 1948.{{sfn|Wolpert|1984|page=309}}{{sfn|Markovits|2012}} Following rigorous discussions involving Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the All-India Muslim League, and Jawaharlal Nehru of Congress, the formal declaration to partition British India into two independent dominions—namely Pakistan and India—was issued by Mountbatten on the evening of 3 June 1947. In Mountbatten's oval office, the prime ministers of around a dozen major princely states gathered to receive their copies of the plan before its worldwide broadcast. At 7:00 P.M., All India Radio transmitted the public announcement, starting with the viceroy's address, followed by individual speeches from Nehru, and Jinnah. The founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah concluded his address with the slogan Pakistan Zindabad (Long Live Pakistan).{{sfn|Wolpert|1984|pages=328–329}}

As the United Kingdom agreed to the partitioning of India,{{sfn|Wolpert|1984|pages=328–329}} the modern state of Pakistan was established on 14 August 1947 {{small|(27th of Ramadan in 1366 of the Islamic Calendar, considered to be the most blessed date from an Islamic perspective)}}.{{sfn|Hasanie|2013}}{{sfn|Akbarzadeh|2020}} This new nation amalgamated the Muslim-majority eastern and northwestern regions of British India, comprising the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab, and Sindh.{{sfn|Cohen|2004|page=6}}

In the riots that accompanied the partition in Punjab Province, between 200,000 and 2,000,000 people were killed in what some have described as a retributive genocide between the religions.{{refn|name="Riots-1"}} Around 50,000 Muslim women were abducted and raped by Hindu and Sikh men, while 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women experienced the same fate at the hands of Muslims.{{refn|name="Riots-2"}} Around 6.5 million Muslims moved from India to West Pakistan and 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved from West Pakistan to India.{{R|Hasan-Raza-2009}} It was the largest mass migration in human history.{{sfn|Riggs|2024}} A subsequent dispute over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir eventually sparked the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948.{{sfn|Bhaumik|1996}}

{{Main|History of Pakistan (1947–present)|Dominion of Pakistan}}

File:Liaquat Ali Khan 1945.jpg was elected 1st Prime Minister of Pakistan.{{sfn|Kazmi|2003}}{{sfn|Tucker|2017}}]]

After independence in 1947, Jinnah, the President of the Muslim League, became Pakistan's first Governor-General and the first President-Speaker of the Parliament, but he succumbed to tuberculosis on 11 September 1948.{{sfn|Tucker|2017}}{{sfn|Akbar|2018}} Meanwhile, Pakistan's founding fathers agreed to appoint Liaquat Ali Khan, the secretary-general of the party, the nation's first Prime Minister.{{sfn|Kazmi|2003}}{{sfn|Tucker|2017}} From 1947 to 1956, Pakistan was a monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations, and had two monarchs before it became a republic.{{R|Kumarasingham-2013}}

The creation of Pakistan was never fully accepted by many British leaders including Lord Mountbatten.{{R|McGrath-1996}} Mountbatten expressed his lack of support and faith in the Muslim League's idea of Pakistan.{{R|Ahmed-1997}} Jinnah refused Mountbatten's offer to serve as Governor-General of Pakistan.{{R|Wolpert-2009}} When Mountbatten was asked by Collins and Lapierre if he would have sabotaged Pakistan had he known that Jinnah was dying of tuberculosis, he replied 'most probably'.{{R|Lapierre-Collins-2015}}

File:Pakistan.ogv film on Pakistan, made in 1950, examines the history and geography of Pakistan.]]

{{quote box

|quote = "You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State."

|source = —Muhammad Ali Jinnah's first speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.{{sfn|Wilson|2009}}

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Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, a respected Deobandi alim (scholar) who held the position of Shaykh al-Islam in Pakistan in 1949, and Maulana Mawdudi of Jamaat-i-Islami played key roles in advocating for an Islamic constitution. Mawdudi insisted that the Constituent Assembly declare the "supreme sovereignty of God" and the supremacy of the shariah in Pakistan.{{R|Hussain-2008-1}}

The efforts of Jamaat-i-Islami and the ulama led to the passage of the Objectives Resolution in March 1949. This resolution, described by Liaquat Ali Khan as the second most significant step in Pakistan's history, affirmed that "sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God Almighty alone and the authority which He has delegated to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust". It was later included as a preamble to the constitutions of 1956, 1962, and 1973.{{R|Hussain-2008-2}}

Democracy faced setbacks due to the martial law imposed by President Iskander Mirza, who was succeeded by General Ayub Khan. After adopting a presidential system in 1962, Pakistan witnessed significant growth until the second war with India in 1965, resulting in an economic downturn and widespread public discontent in 1967.{{sfn|Wynbrandt|2009|p=190–197}}{{sfn|Chowdhury|Mahmud|2008}} In 1969, President Yahya Khan consolidated control, but faced a devastating cyclone in East Pakistan resulting in 500,000 deaths.{{sfn|Kathpalia|1986}}

In 1970, Pakistan conducted its first democratic elections since independence, intending to transition from military rule to democracy. However, after the East Pakistani Awami League emerged victorious over the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Yahya Khan and the military refused to transfer power.{{sfn|Koumar|2023}} This led to Operation Searchlight, a military crackdown, and eventually sparked the war of liberation by Bengali Mukti Bahini forces in East Pakistan,{{sfn|Lewis|2011}} described in West Pakistan as a civil war rather than a liberation struggle.{{sfn|Bose|2005}}

File:Ayubkhanandbhutto.jpg to end hostilities with India in 1965 in Tashkent, USSR, by President Ayub alongside Bhutto (centre) and Aziz Ahmed (left){{sfn|Khan|2008}}]]

Independent researchers estimate that between 300,000 and 500,000 civilians died during this period while the Bangladesh government puts the number of dead at three million,{{sfn|Sunkara|Walter|Rojas|2024}} a figure that is now nearly universally regarded as excessively inflated.{{sfn|Hiro|2015}} Some academics such as Rudolph Rummel and Rounaq Jahan say both sides committed genocide;{{sfn|Rummel|1998}} others such as Richard Sisson and Leo E. Rose believe there was no genocide.{{sfn|Beachler|2011}} In response to India's support for the insurgency in East Pakistan, preemptive strikes on India by Pakistan's air force, navy, and marines sparked a conventional war in 1971 that resulted in an Indian victory and East Pakistan gaining independence as Bangladesh.{{sfn|Totten|2000}}

With Pakistan surrendering in the war,{{sfn|Agha|2021}} Yahya Khan was replaced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as president; the country worked towards promulgating its constitution and putting the country on the road to democracy.{{sfn|Paxton|2016}}{{sfn|Oldenburg|2010}} In 1972 Pakistan embarked on an ambitious plan to develop its nuclear deterrence capability with the goal of preventing any foreign invasion; the country's first nuclear power plant was inaugurated in that same year.{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|2007}}{{sfn|Hoodbhoy|2011}} India's first nuclear test in 1974 gave Pakistan additional justification to accelerate its nuclear program.{{sfn|Hoodbhoy|2011}}

Democracy ended with a military coup in 1977 against the leftist PPP, which saw General Zia-ul-Haq become the president in 1978.{{sfn|Krasno|LaPides|2015}} From 1977 to 1988, President Zia's corporatisation and economic Islamisation initiatives led to Pakistan becoming one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia.{{sfn|Khanna|2002}} While building up the country's nuclear program, increasing Islamisation, and the rise of a homegrown conservative philosophy, Pakistan helped subsidise and distribute US resources to factions of the mujahideen against the USSR's intervention in communist Afghanistan.{{sfn|Hajari|2015}}{{sfn|Coll|2004}}{{sfn|Westad|2005}} Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province became a base for the anti-Soviet Afghan fighters, with the province's influential Deobandi ulama playing a significant role in encouraging and organising the 'jihad'.{{sfn|Haroon|2008}}

President Zia died in a plane crash in 1988, and Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the country's first female Prime Minister. The PPP was followed by conservative Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML (N)), and over the next decade the leaders of the two parties fought for power, alternating in office.{{sfn|Tucker|2015}} This period is marked by prolonged stagflation, political instability, corruption, misgovernment, geopolitical rivalry with India, and the clash of left wing-right wing ideologies.{{sfn|Chapman|2018}}{{sfn|Husain|2010}} As PML (N) secured a supermajority in elections in 1997,{{sfn|Yap|Abeyratne|2023|page=68}} Nawaz Sharif authorised nuclear testings, as a retaliation to the second nuclear tests conducted by India in May 1998.{{sfn|Khan|2012}}

File:The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee meets the President of Pakistan Mr. Pervez Musharraf on the sidline of 12th SAARC Summit in Islmabad on January 5, 2003.jpg meets with Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee in Islamabad at the sidelines of 12th SAARC summit in 2004.{{sfn|Ahmad|2023}}]]

Military tension between the two countries in the Kargil district led to the Kargil War of 1999,{{sfn|Mazari|2003}}{{sfn|Chakma|2014}} and turmoil in civil-military relations allowed General Pervez Musharraf to take over through a bloodless coup d'état.{{sfn|Yarbakhsh|2019}} Musharraf governed Pakistan as chief executive from 1999 to 2002 and as president from 2001 to 2008{{sfn|Khoja-Moolji|2021}}—a period of enlightenment,{{sfn|Fair|2014}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2021}} social liberalism,{{sfn|Zulfiqar|2011}} extensive economic reforms,{{sfn|Mohiuddin|2007|page=219}} and direct involvement in the US-led war on terrorism.{{sfn|Kennedy|2021}} By its own financial calculations, Pakistan's involvement in the war on terrorism has cost up to $118 billion, over eighty one thousand casualties,{{sfn|Martini|Ford|Jackson|2020}} and more than 1.8 million displaced civilians.{{sfn|Mansbach|Pirro|Taylor|2017}}

The National Assembly historically completed its first full five-year term on 15 November 2007.{{sfn|United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|2008}} After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the PPP secured the most votes in the elections of 2008, appointing party member Yusuf Raza Gilani as Prime Minister.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2015|page=261}} Threatened with impeachment, President Musharraf resigned on 18 August 2008, and was succeeded by Asif Ali Zardari.{{sfn|Kapoor|2009}} Clashes with the judicature prompted Gilani's disqualification from the Parliament and as the Prime Minister in June 2012.{{sfn|Waseem|2022}} The general election held in 2013 saw the PML (N) achieve victory,{{sfn|Dede|Sadioglu|2016}} following which Nawaz Sharif was elected as Prime Minister for the third time.{{sfn|Ruhland|2019}} In 2018, PTI won the general election and Imran Khan became the 22nd Prime Minister.{{sfn|Burnett|2020}} In April 2022, Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister, after Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote.{{sfn|Central Intelligence Agency|2023}} During 2024 general election, PTI-backed independents became the largest bloc,{{sfn|Afzal|2024}} but Shehbaz Sharif was elected prime minister for a second term, as a result of a coalition between PML (N) and PPPP.{{sfn|Tariq|Stenson|2024}}

{{Clear}}

{{Main|Geography of Pakistan|Environment of Pakistan|Climate of Pakistan|List of extreme weather records in Pakistan|l4=Extreme weather records in Pakistan|List of tropical cyclones in Pakistan|List of beaches in Pakistan}}

File:Koppen-Geiger_Map_PAK_present.svg of Pakistan]]

Pakistan's diverse geography and climate host a wide array of wildlife.{{sfn|Cheng et al.|2022}} Covering {{convert|881913|km2|abbr=on}},{{sfn|Agarwal|Ahmad|2021}} Pakistan's size is comparable to France and the UK combined.{{sfn|Malik|2015}} It ranks as the 33rd-largest nation by total area,{{sfn|Mordi|Adisa|2022}} but this varies based on Kashmir's disputed status. Pakistan boasts a {{convert|1046|km|abbr=on}} coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman,{{sfn|Haque|2002}}{{sfn|Britannica (Gulf of Oman)|2024}} and shares land borders totaling {{convert|6774|km|abbr=on}}, including {{convert|2430|km|abbr=on}} with Afghanistan, {{convert|523|km|abbr=on}} with China, {{convert|2912|km|abbr=on}} with India, and {{convert|909|km|abbr=on}} with Iran.{{sfn|Factbook|2024}} It has a maritime border with Oman,{{sfn|Karaman|2012}} and shares a border with Tajikistan via the Wakhan Corridor.{{sfn|Banerjee|2019}} Situated at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia,{{sfn|Mohiuddin|2007|page=3, 317, 323–324}} Pakistan's location is geopolitically significant.{{sfn|Kreft|2007}} Geologically, Pakistan straddles the Indus–Tsangpo Suture Zone and the Indian tectonic plate in Sindh and Punjab, while Balochistan and most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sit on the Eurasian Plate, primarily on the Iranian plateau. Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, along the Indian plate's edge, are susceptible to powerful earthquakes.{{refn|name="Geology"}}

File:Indus.A2002274.0610.1km.jpg

Pakistan's landscapes vary from coastal plains to glaciated mountains, offering deserts, forests, hills, and plateaus.{{sfn|Cavendish|2006|page=297}} Pakistan is divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands, the Indus River plain, and the Balochistan Plateau.{{sfn|Blood|1996|page=82}} The northern highlands feature the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Pamir mountain ranges, hosting some of the world's highest peaks, including five of the fourteen eight-thousanders (mountain peaks over {{convert|8000|m|ft|-1||disp=or}}), notably K2 ({{convert|8611|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}) and Nanga Parbat ({{convert|8126|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}).{{sfn|Jiwani|2021}}{{sfn|Bright|2017}} The Balochistan Plateau lies in the west and the Thar Desert in the east.{{sfn|Blood|1996|page=83}}{{sfn|Ahmad|2009}}{{sfn|Hasan|Raza|2009|page=10}} The {{convert|1609|km|abbr=on}} Indus River and its tributaries traverse the nation from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea, sustaining alluvial plains along the Punjab and Sindh regions.{{sfn|Samuel|2016}}

The climate varies from tropical to temperate, with arid conditions in the coastal south. There is a monsoon season with frequent flooding due to heavy rainfall, and a dry season with significantly less rainfall or none at all.{{sfn|Chandrappa|Gupta|Kulshrestha|2011}} Pakistan experiences four distinct seasons: a cool, dry winter from December through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the retreating monsoon period of October and November.{{sfn|Blood|1996|page=87}} Rainfall varies greatly from year to year, with patterns of alternate flooding and drought common.{{sfn|Lane|Norton|Ryan|2017}}

{{Main|Wildlife of Pakistan|Flora of Pakistan|Fauna of Pakistan}}

The diverse landscape and climate in Pakistan support a wide range of trees and plants.{{sfn|El-Esawi|2019}} From coniferous alpine and subalpine trees like spruce, pine, and deodar cedar in the northern mountains to deciduous trees like shisham in the Sulaiman Mountains,{{sfn|Chandrappa|Gupta|Kulshrestha|2011}} and palms such as coconut and date in the southern regions.{{sfn|Abul-Soad|2011}}{{sfn|Descals et al.|2023}} The western hills boast juniper, tamarisk, coarse grasses, and scrub plants.{{sfn|Spate|Learmonth|2017}} Mangrove forests dominate the coastal wetlands in the south.{{sfn|Sandhu|2010}} Coniferous forests span altitudes from {{convert|1,000|to|4000|m|abbr=off}} in most northern and northwestern highlands.{{sfn|UNEP-WCMC|2024}} In Balochistan's xeric regions, date palms and Ephedra are prevalent.{{sfn|Abul-Soad|2011}}{{sfn|Akhtar|Mirza|2006}} In Punjab and Sindh's Indus plains, tropical and subtropical dry and moist broadleaf forests as well as tropical and xeric shrublands thrive.{{sfn|PEPA|2016}} Approximately 4.8% or {{convert|36,845.6|km2|ha}} of Pakistan was forested in 2021.{{sfn|World Bank|2024}}{{efn|The World Bank data lists the total area of Pakistan as 770,880 km², excluding Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, and water areas.}}

File:Markhor_Horns_(5779055412).jpg is the national animal of Pakistan.{{sfn|Fatima|2020}}]]

Pakistan's fauna mirrors its diverse climate. The country boasts around 668 bird species,{{sfn|Faridah-Hanum|Hakeem|Öztürk|Efe|2015}} including crows, sparrows, mynas, hawks, falcons, and eagles. Palas, Kohistan, is home to the western tragopan, with many migratory birds visiting from Europe, Central Asia, and India.{{sfn|Grimmett|Inskipp|2021}} The southern plains harbor mongooses,{{sfn|Hunter|2018}} small Indian civet,{{sfn|San|Belant|Sato|Somers|2021}} hares,{{sfn|Flux|Chapman|1990}} the Asiatic jackal,{{sfn|Srinivasulu|Srinivasulu|2012}} the Indian pangolin,{{sfn|Waseem et al.|2020}} the jungle cat,{{sfn|Sunquist|Sunquist|2014}} and the sand cat.{{sfn|Sunquist|Sunquist|2017}} Indus is home to mugger crocodiles,{{sfn|Stoneman|2021}} while surrounding areas host wild boars,{{sfn|Tisdell|2013}} deer,{{sfn|Srinivasulu|2018}} and porcupines.{{sfn|Roze|2012}} Central Pakistan's sandy scrublands shelter Asiatic jackals,{{sfn|Srinivasulu|Srinivasulu|2012}} striped hyenas,{{sfn|Somerville|2021}} wildcats, and leopards. The mountainous north hosts a variety of animals like the Marco Polo sheep,{{sfn|Nyrop|1975}} urial, markhor goat, ibex goat, Asian black bear, and Himalayan brown bear.{{sfn|Chandrappa|Gupta|Kulshrestha|2011}}

The lack of vegetative cover, severe climate, and grazing impact on deserts have endangered wild animals.{{sfn|CBD Report|2009}} The chinkara is the only animal found in significant numbers in Cholistan,{{sfn|Mallon|Kingswood|2001}} with a few nilgai along the Pakistan–India border and in some parts of Cholistan.{{sfn|Woods|Mufti|Hasan|1997}} Rare animals include the snow leopard and the blind Indus river dolphin,{{sfn|Chandrappa|Gupta|Kulshrestha|2011}} of which there are believed to be about 1,816 remaining, protected at the Indus Dolphin Reserve in Sindh.{{sfn|WWF|2024}} In total, 174 species of mammals, 177 species of reptiles, 22 species of amphibians, 198 species of freshwater fish, 668 species of birds, over 5,000 species of insects, and over 5,700 species of plants have been recorded in Pakistan.{{sfn|Faridah-Hanum|Hakeem|Öztürk|Efe|2015}} Pakistan faces deforestation, hunting, and pollution, with a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.42/10, ranking 41st globally out of 172 countries.{{sfn|Grantham et al.|2020}}

{{Main|Government of Pakistan|Politics of Pakistan}}

File:Parliament House, Islamabad by Usman Ghani.jpg]]

Pakistan operates as a democratic parliamentary federal republic, with Islam designated as the state religion.{{sfn|Inter-Parliamentary Union|1973}}{{sfn|Munir|1975}} Initially adopting a constitution in 1956, Pakistan saw it suspended by Ayub Khan in 1958, replaced by a second constitution in 1962.{{sfn|Cohen|2004|page=65}} A comprehensive constitution emerged in 1973, suspended by Zia-ul-Haq in 1977 but reinstated in 1985, shaping the country's governance.{{sfn|Factbook|2024}} The military's influence in mainstream politics has been significant throughout Pakistan's history.{{sfn|Cohen|2004}} The eras of 1958–1971, 1977–1988, and 1999–2008 witnessed military coups, leading to martial law and military leaders governing de facto as presidents.{{sfn|Tertrais|Sokolski|2013}} Presently, Pakistan operates a multi-party parliamentary system,{{sfn|He|Breen|Allison-Reumann|2023}} with distinct checks and balances among government branches.{{sfn|Bloor|2023}} The first successful democratic transition occurred in May 2013.{{sfn|B. Chakma|2014}} Pakistani politics revolves around a blend of socialism, conservatism, and the third way,{{sfn|Chengappa|2002}} with the three main political parties being the conservative PML (N), socialist PPP, and centrist PTI.{{sfn|CRS|2023}} Constitutional amendments in 2010 curtailed presidential powers, enhancing the role of the prime minister.{{sfn|Rafiq|Ahmad|2016}}

• Head of State: The ceremonial head of the state and civilian commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces is the President, elected by an Electoral College.{{sfn|CRS|2023}} The Prime Minister advises the President on key appointments, including military and judicial positions, and the President is constitutionally bound to act on this advice.{{sfn|Aziz|2018}}{{sfn|F. Hussain|2015}} The President also holds powers to pardon and grant clemency.{{sfn|Mahmood|1965}}
• Legislative: The bicameral legislature includes a 96-member Senate (upper house) and a 336-member National Assembly (lower house). National Assembly members are elected via first-past-the-post under universal adult suffrage, representing National Assembly constituencies. The constitution reserves 70 seats for women and religious minorities, allocated to political parties based on proportional representation. Senate members are elected by provincial legislators, ensuring equal representation across all provinces.{{sfn|Yap|Abeyratne|2023|page=272}}

File:A night side view of Prime Minister's Secretariat Building.jpg]]

• Executive: The Prime Minister, typically the leader of the majority rule party or coalition in the National Assembly (the lower house),{{sfn|Dowding|Dumont|2014}} serves as the country's chief executive and head of government. Responsibilities include forming a cabinet,{{sfn|Zierke|Stockmann|Meyer|2023}} making executive decisions,{{sfn|Aziz|2018}} and appointing senior civil servants, subject to executive confirmation.{{sfn|Establishment Division|2013}}
• Provincial governments: Each of the four provinces follows a similar governance system, with a directly elected Provincial Assembly choosing the Chief Minister, usually from the largest party or coalition. Chief Ministers lead the provincial cabinet and oversee provincial governance.{{sfn|Mahmood|2007}}{{sfn|IFES|2013}} The Chief Secretary, appointed by the Prime Minister, heads the provincial bureaucracy.{{sfn|Establishment Division|2021}} Provincial assemblies legislate and approve the provincial budget, typically presented by the provincial finance minister annually.{{sfn|IFES|2013}}{{sfn|Ahmad|Asif|2007}} Ceremonial heads of provinces, the Provincial Governors, are appointed by the President based on the binding advice of the Prime Minister.{{sfn|Mahmood|2007}}{{sfn|Senate of Pakistan|2018}}

File:Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad by Usman Ghani.jpg]]

• Judicature: The judiciary in Pakistan has two classes: the superior and subordinate judiciary. The superior judiciary includes the Supreme Court of Pakistan,{{sfn|Wu|Bandyopadhyay|Lee|2021}} Federal Shariat Court, and five high courts,{{sfn|Jha|2016}} with the Supreme Court at the top. It's responsible for safeguarding the constitution.{{sfn|Wu|Bandyopadhyay|Lee|2021}} Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have their own court systems.{{sfn|Oberst|2018}}{{sfn|Ejaz|2022}}

{{See also|Islam in Pakistan}}

Pakistan, the only country established in the name of Islam,{{sfn|Esposito|2003}} had overwhelming support among Muslims, especially in provinces like the United Provinces, where Muslims were a minority.{{R|Dhulipala-2015-1}} This idea, articulated by the Muslim League, the Islamic clergy, and Jinnah, envisioned an Islamic state.{{R|Dhulipala-2015-2}} Jinnah, closely associated with the ulama, was described upon his death by Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as the greatest Muslim after Aurangzeb, aspiring to unite Muslims worldwide under Islam.{{R|Dhulipala-2015-3}}

The Objectives Resolution of March 1949 marked the initial step towards this goal, affirming God as the sole sovereign.{{R|Hussain-2008-2|Haqqani-2010-1}} Muslim League leader Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman asserted that Pakistan could only truly become an Islamic state after bringing all believers of Islam into a single political unit.{{R|Dhulipala-2015-4}} Keith Callard observed that Pakistanis believed in the essential unity of purpose and outlook in the Muslim world, expecting similar views on religion and nationality from Muslims worldwide.{{R|Haqqani-2010-2}}

File:Eid prayers at the Badshahi Mosque.JPG in Lahore]]

Pakistan's desire for a united Islamic bloc, called Islamistan, wasn't supported by other Muslim governments,{{R|Haqqani-2010-3}} though figures like the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Al-Haj Amin al-Husseini, and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood were drawn to the country. Pakistan's desire for an international organization of Muslim countries was fulfilled in the 1970s when the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) was formed.{{R|Haqqani-2010-4}} East Pakistan's Bengali Muslims, opposed to an Islamist state, clashed with West Pakistanis who leaned towards Islamic identity.{{sfn|Haqqani|2010|page=19}}{{R|Cochrane-2009}} The Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami backed an Islamic state and opposed Bengali nationalism.{{sfn|Lintner|2002}}

After the 1970 general elections, the Parliament crafted the 1973 Constitution.{{R|Diamantides-Gearey-2011-1}} It declared Pakistan an Islamic Republic, with Islam as the state religion, and mandated laws to comply with Islamic teachings laid down in the Quran and Sunnah and that no law repugnant to such injunctions could be enacted.{{sfn|Iqbal|2009}} Additionally, it established institutions like the Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology to interpret and apply Islam.{{R|Diamantides-Gearey-2011-2}}

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto faced opposition under the banner of Nizam-e-Mustafa ("Rule of the Prophet"),{{sfn|Nasr|1996}} advocating an Islamic state. Bhutto conceded to some Islamist demands before being ousted in a coup.{{sfn|Kepel|2006}}

General Zia-ul-Haq, after seizing power, committed to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law.{{sfn|Kepel|2006}} He instituted Shariat judicial courts,{{R|Diamantides-Gearey-2011-3}} and court benches,{{sfn|Haqqani|2010|page=400}}{{sfn|Asia Watch Committee (U.S.)|1992}} to adjudicate using Islamic doctrine.{{R|Wynbrandt-2009}} Zia aligned with Deobandi institutions,{{R|Syed-Pio-Kamran-Zaidi-2016-1}} exacerbating sectarian tensions with anti-Shia policies.{{R|Syed-Pio-Kamran-Zaidi-2016-2}}

Most Pakistanis, according to a Pew Research Center (PEW) poll, favor Sharia law as the official law,{{sfn|Ziegfeld|2016}} and 94 percent of them identify more with religion than nationality compared to Muslims in other nations.{{sfn|PRC|2011}}

{{Main|Administrative units of Pakistan}}

Pakistan, a federal parliamentary republic, consists of four provinces: Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan, along with three territories: Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir.{{sfn|Adibelli et al.|2022}} The Government of Pakistan governs the western parts of the Kashmir Region, organized into separate political entities, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.{{sfn|Jan|2015}} In 2009, the constitutional assignment ({{small|the Gilgit–Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order}}) granted Gilgit-Baltistan semi-provincial status, providing it with self-government.{{sfn|Lansford|Muller|2012}}

The local government system consists of districts, tehsils, and union councils, with an elected body at each tier.{{sfn|Berman|Sabharwal|2017}}

{{Pakistan Administrative Units Image Map}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Pakistan}}

Since independence, Pakistan has aimed to maintain an independent foreign policy.{{sfn|Lodhi|2022}} Pakistan's foreign policy and geostrategy focus on the economy, security, national identity, and territorial integrity, as well as building close ties with other Muslim nations.{{sfn|Hamid et al.|2023}} According to Hasan Askari Rizvi, a foreign policy expert, "Pakistan highlights sovereign equality of states, bilateralism, mutuality of interests, and non-interference in each other's domestic affairs as the cardinal features of its foreign policy."{{sfn|Rizvi|2004}}

The Kashmir conflict remains a major issue between Pakistan and India, with three of their four wars fought over it.{{sfn|Stewart-Ingersoll|Frazier|2012}} Due partly to strained relations with India, Pakistan has close ties with Turkey and Iran, both focal points in its foreign policy.{{sfn|Anwar|2006}} Saudi Arabia also holds importance in Pakistan's foreign relations.{{sfn|Pande|2011|page=167}}

As a non-signatory of the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Pakistan holds influence in the IAEA.{{sfn|Chakma|2012}} For years, Pakistan has blocked an international treaty to limit fissile material, arguing that its stockpile does not meet its long-term needs.{{sfn|Kmentt|2021}} Pakistan's nuclear program in the 20th century aimed to counter India's nuclear ambitions in the region, and reciprocal nuclear tests ensued after India's nuclear tests, solidifying Pakistan as a nuclear power.{{sfn|Izuyama|Ogawa|2003}} Pakistan maintains a policy of Full spectrum deterrence, considering its nuclear program vital for deterring foreign aggression.{{sfn|Noor|2023}}

File:SCO meeting (2022-09-16).jpg at the 2022 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit{{sfn|Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Malta|2022}}]]

Located strategically in the world's major maritime oil supply lines and communication fiber optic corridors, Pakistan also enjoys proximity to the natural resources of Central Asian countries.{{sfn|Shah|1997}} Pakistan actively participates in the United Nations with a Permanent Representative representing its positions in international politics.{{sfn|Wasi|2005}} It has advocated for the concept of "enlightened moderation" in the Muslim world.{{sfn|Zahra|Bouckaert|Jadoon|Jabeen|2022}} Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, SAARC, ECO,{{sfn|Turner|2016}}{{sfn|Kemal|2004}} and the G20 developing nations.{{sfn|Hoekman|Kostecki|2009}}

File:Motorcade in Arrival Ceremonies for Muhammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan use.jpg with US President John F. Kennedy in 1961{{sfn|Picone|2020}}|left]]

Pakistan is designated as an "Iron Brother" by China, emphasizing the significance of their close and supportive relationship.{{sfn|Qingyan|2021}} In the 1950s, Pakistan opposed the Soviet Union for geopolitical reasons. During the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s, it was a close ally of the United States.{{sfn|Rizvi|2004}} Relations with Russia have improved since the end of the Cold War,{{sfn|Clary|2022}} but Pakistan's relationship with the United States has been "on-and-off."{{sfn|Rizvi|2004}} Initially a close ally during the Cold War,{{sfn|Karat|2007}} Pakistan's relations with the US soured in the 1990s due to sanctions over its secretive nuclear program.{{sfn|Mazzetti|2013}} Since 9/11, Pakistan has been a US ally on counterterrorism, but their relationship has been strained due to diverging interests and mistrust during the 20-year war and terrorism issues. Although Pakistan was granted major non-NATO ally status by the U.S. in 2004,{{sfn|Zaidi|Ahmad|2021}} it faced accusations of supporting the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.{{sfn|Yousafzai|2021}}

Pakistan does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel; nonetheless, an exchange occurred between the two countries in 2005, with Turkey acting as an intermediary.{{sfn|Zelnick|2013}}

{{Main|China–Pakistan relations}}

File:Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Zhou Enlai signing the Treaty of Friendship Between China and Pakistan in Beijing.jpg with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai signing the Treaty of Friendship Between China and Pakistan.{{sfn|van Tonder|2018}} Pakistan is host to China's largest embassy.{{sfn|Schuurmans|2023|page=73}}]]

Pakistan was among the first nations to establish formal diplomatic ties with the China,{{sfn|Cohen|2011}} forging a strong relationship since China's 1962 conflict with India, culminating in a special bond.{{sfn|Schwinghammer|2018}} During the 1970s, Pakistan acted as an intermediary in U.S.-China rapprochement,{{sfn|Afridi|Bajoria|2010}} facilitating US President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China.{{sfn|Roos|2024}}{{sfn|Lord|Mastro|Naftali|Brinkley|2022}} Despite changes in Pakistani governance and regional/global dynamics, China's influence in Pakistan remains paramount.{{sfn|Afridi|Bajoria|2010}} In reciprocation, China stands as Pakistan's largest trading partner, with substantial investment in Pakistani infrastructure, notably the Gwadar port.{{sfn|Raju|2021}} In 2015 alone, they inked 51 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for cooperative efforts.{{sfn|Rimmer|2020}} Both nations signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2006,{{sfn|Zreik|2024}} with China making its largest investment in Pakistan's history through CPEC.{{sfn|Dorsey|2018}} Pakistan acts as China's liaison to the Muslim world,{{sfn|Shih|2022}} and both nations support each other on sensitive issues like Kashmir, Taiwan, Xinjiang, and more.{{sfn|Pant|2011}}

After Independence, Pakistan vigorously pursued bilateral relations with other Muslim countries.{{R|Pasha-2005-1}} The Ali brothers sought to project Pakistan as the natural leader of the Islamic world, partly due to its significant manpower and military strength.{{R|Pasha-2005-2}} Khaliquzzaman, a prominent Muslim League leader, declared Pakistan's ambition to unite all Muslim countries into Islamistan, a pan-Islamic entity.{{R|Dhulipala-2015-5}}

These developments, alongside Pakistan's creation, didn't receive approval from the United States, with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee expressing a hope for India and Pakistan to reunite.{{R|Haqqani-2013-1}} However, due to a nationalist awakening in the Arab world at that time, there was little interest in Pakistan's Pan-Islamic aspirations.{{R|Haqqani-2013-2}} Some Arab countries perceived the 'Islamistan' project as Pakistan's bid to dominate other Muslim states.{{R|Roberts-2003}}

Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, consistently advocated for the Palestinian cause, shaping Pakistan's foreign policy to support Palestinian rights within the broader framework of Muslim solidarity.{{sfn|Jafri|Sultana|Ijaz|2021}} During the 1967 Arab-Israel war, Pakistan supported the Arab states and played a key role in securing Iran's backing for the Arab cause both within the U.N. and beyond.{{sfn|Arora|Grover|1995}}

Pakistan's relations with Iran have been strained by sectarian tensions,{{R|Hunter-2010}} with both Iran and Saudi Arabia using Pakistan as a battleground for their proxy sectarian war.{{R|Pande-2011-2}} Since the early days of the Iran–Iraq war, President Zia-ul-Haq played an important mediatory role, with Pakistan actively engaging in efforts to end the conflict.{{sfn|Talbot|2020}}{{sfn|Rose|Husain|1985}} Pakistan provided support to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War.{{sfn|Halladay|Matei|Bruneau|2021}} Pakistan chose to remain neutral during Operation Decisive Storm, refraining from sending military support to Saudi Arabia in its offensive against Yemen. Instead, Pakistan aimed to play a proactive diplomatic role in resolving the crisis,{{sfn|Panda|2019}} which led to tensions between the two countries.{{sfn|Halladay|Matei|Bruneau|2021}} In 2016, Pakistan mediated between Saudi Arabia and Iran following the execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, with visits to both countries by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Chief of Army Staff, Raheel Sharif.{{sfn|Basharat|2023}}

Pakistan provided refuge to millions of displaced Afghans after the Soviet invasion and supported the Afghan mujahideen in their efforts to expel Soviet forces from Afghanistan.{{sfn|Riedel|2010}} After the Soviets withdrew, infighting erupted among Mujahideen factions over control of Afghanistan. Pakistan facilitated peace talks to help end the conflict.{{sfn|Visoka|Richmond|2022}} After four years of unresolved conflict between rival Mujahideen groups, Pakistan helped establish the Taliban as a stabilizing force.{{sfn|Maizland|2023}} Pakistan's support for the Sunni Taliban in Afghanistan challenged Shia-led Iran, which opposed a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.{{R|Pande-2011-2}}

Pakistan vigorously advocated for self-determination among Muslims globally. Its efforts in supporting independence movements in countries like Indonesia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Eritrea fostered strong ties.{{R|Pande-2011-1}} Due to its support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Pakistan has not established diplomatic relations with Armenia.{{sfn|Berg|Kursani|2021}}{{sfn|Babayev|Schoch|Spanger|2019}}

Pakistan and Bangladesh have experienced strained relations, particularly under the Awami League governments led by Sheikh Hasina, driven by her pro-India stance and historical grievances.{{sfn|Ahmed|Zahoor|2019}}

Pakistan, a prominent member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), prioritizes maintaining cultural, political, social, and economic relations with Arab and other Muslim-majority nations in its foreign policy.{{sfn|Pande|2011}}

{{Main|Kashmir conflict}}

File:Kashmir map.jpg

Kashmir, a Himalayan region at the northern tip of the Indian subcontinent, was governed as the autonomous princely state of Jammu and Kashmir during the British Raj before the Partition of India in August 1947. This sparked a major territorial dispute between India and Pakistan, resulting in several conflicts over the region. India controls about 45.1% of Kashmir, including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, while Pakistan controls roughly 38.2%, comprising Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit−Baltistan. Additionally, about 20% of the region, known as Aksai Chin and the Shaksgam Valley, is under Chinese control.{{sfn|Kudaisya|Yong|2004}} India claims the entire Kashmir region based on the Instrument of Accession signed by the princely state's ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh,{{sfn|Zahoor|Rumi|2020}} while Pakistan argues for its Muslim-majority population,{{sfn|Bhattacharyya|2023}} and geographical proximity to Pakistan.{{sfn|Raghavan|2012}} The United Nations was involved in resolving the conflict, leading to a ceasefire in 1949 and the establishment of the Line of Control (LoC) as a de facto border.{{sfn|Stone|2017}} India, fearing Kashmir's secession, did not hold the promised plebiscite, as it believed Kashmiris would vote to join Pakistan.{{R|Endrst-1965}}

File:Neelum Valley, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan.jpg in Azad Kashmir is part of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.{{sfn|Ganguly|2019}}]]

Pakistan claims that its position is for the right of the Kashmiri people to determine their future through impartial elections as mandated by the United Nations, while India has stated that Kashmir is an "integral part" of India, referring to the 1972 Simla Agreement and to the fact that regional elections take place regularly.{{sfn|Khurshid|2016}} Certain Kashmiri independence groups believe that Kashmir should be independent of both India and Pakistan.{{sfn|Oldenburg|2019}}

{{Clear}}

{{Main|Pakistan Armed Forces}}

File:Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder flies in front of the 26,660 ft high Nanga Parbat.jpg's JF-17 Thunder flying in front of the {{convert|26660|ft|m|adj=mid|abbr=off|-high|order=flip}} Nanga Parbat]]

Pakistan is considered a middle power nation,{{refn|name="Middle power nation"}}{{efn|name="RSCT"}} with the world's seventh-largest standing armed forces in terms of personnel size, comprising approximately 660,000 active-duty troops and 291,000 paramilitary personnel as of 2024.{{sfn|IISS|2024}} Established in 1947, the armed forces of Pakistan wielded significant influence over national politics.{{sfn|Bartholomees|2008}} The main branches include the Army, Navy, and Air Force, supported by numerous paramilitaries.{{sfn|DeRouen|Heo|2005}}

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) is the highest-ranking military officer, advising the civilian government. However, they lack direct command over the branches and serve as intermediaries, ensuring communication between the military and civilian leadership. Overseeing the Joint Staff Headquarters, they coordinate inter-service cooperation and joint military missions.{{sfn|Blood|1996|page=287}}

Command and control over Pakistan's strategic arsenal development and employment is vested in the National Command Authority, overseeing work on nuclear doctrine to maintain Full spectrum deterrence.{{sfn|Khan|2012}}

The United States, Turkey, and China maintain close military relations with Pakistan Armed Forces, regularly exporting military equipment and technology transfer.{{refn|name="Military relations"}} Pakistan was the 5th-largest recipient and importer of arms between 2019 and 2023.{{sfn|Wezeman et al.|2024}}

{{Main|Military history of Pakistan}}

Since 1947, Pakistan has been involved in four conventional wars with India.{{sfn|Gates|Roy|2016}} The first conflict took place in Kashmir and ended in a United Nations-mediated ceasefire, with Pakistan gaining control of one-third of the region.{{sfn|Oetzel|Ting-Toomey|2006}} Territorial disputes led to another war in 1965. In 1971, India and Pakistan fought another war over East Pakistan, with Indian forces aiding its independence, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.{{sfn|Center for Preventive Action|2024}} Tensions in Kargil brought the two countries to the brink of war.{{sfn|Busch|2014}}

During the Soviet-Afghan War, Pakistan's intelligence community, mostly the ISI, coordinated US resources to support Afghan mujahideen and foreign fighters against Soviet presence.{{sfn|Rupert|1989}} The PAF engaged with Soviet and Afghan Air Forces during the conflict.{{sfn|Withington|2005}} Pakistan has been an active participant in UN peacekeeping missions,{{sfn|de Coning|Aoi|Karlsrud|2017}} playing a major role in operations like the rescue mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993.{{sfn|Stewart|2002}} According to a 2023 UN report, the Pakistani military was the fifth largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping missions.{{sfn|UN|2023}}

Pakistan has deployed its military in some Arab countries, providing defense, training, and advisory roles.{{sfn|Cordesman|1987}}{{sfn|Chengappa|2004}} The PAF's fighter pilots participated in missions against Israel during the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.{{sfn|Faruqui|2019}} Pakistani special forces assisted Saudi forces in Mecca during the Grand Mosque Seizure.{{refn|name="Miller-2015"}} Pakistan also sent 5,000 troops as part of a US-led coalition for the defense of Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War.{{sfn|Rizvi|1993}}

Despite the UN arms embargo on Bosnia, the ISI under General Javed Nasir airlifted anti-tank weapons and missiles to Bosnian mujahideen, shifting the tide in favor of Bosnian Muslims. ISI, under Nasir's leadership, supported Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang, rebel groups in the Philippines, and religious groups in Central Asia.{{R|Wiebes-2003|Abbas-2015}}

Since 2001, the Pakistan military has been engaged in counterinsurgency and internal security operations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, primarily targeting Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and associated militant groups. Major military operations conducted during this period include Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation al-Mizan, Operation Zalzala, Operation Sherdil, Operation Rah-e-Haq, Operation Rah-e-Rast, and Operation Rah-e-Nijat.{{sfn|ZA Khan|2012}}

{{Main|Law enforcement in Pakistan|Pakistani Intelligence Community}}

Law enforcement in Pakistan consists of federal and provincial police agencies. Each of the four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan) has its own police force, while the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has the Islamabad Police.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/ |title=Pakistan |publisher=CIA |website=World Factbook|access-date=13 February 2008}} Provincial police forces are led by an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) appointed by provincial governments. However, top officers are from the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), ensuring national standards across provincial forces.

Specialized Units:

• National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP): Enforces traffic laws and ensures safety on Pakistan's inter-provincial motorway network.
• Elite Police Units: Each provincial police force, such as the Punjab Elite Force, focuses on counter-terrorism operations and high-risk situations.

The Civil Armed Forces (CAF) support regular law enforcement agencies, aiding in tasks like riot control, counter-insurgency, and border security, enhancing Pakistan's law enforcement capabilities.{{cite web |title=Our Partners |url=http://www.npb.gov.pk/partners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118155449/http://www.npb.gov.pk/partners/ |archive-date=18 January 2012 |access-date=1 July 2008 |publisher=National Police Bureau, Government of Pakistan}}

The National Intelligence Coordination Committee oversees intelligence activities at federal and provincial levels, including the ISI, MI, IB, FIA, Police, and Civil Armed Forces.{{cite book |author=Asad Jamal |title=Police Organisations in Pakistan |publisher=CHRI and HRCP |year=2010 |isbn=978-81-88205-79-0 |pages=9–15}} Pakistan's primary intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was established within a year of Pakistan's independence in 1947.{{cite book |author=Manoj Shrivastava |title=Re-Energising Indian Intelligence |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |year=2013 |isbn=978-93-82573-55-5 |page=89}}{{Cite news |date=15 December 2014 |title=Top 10 Best Intelligence Agencies in The World 2016 |url=http://www.abcnewspoint.com/top-10-best-intelligence-agencies-in-the-world-2015/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105032641/http://www.abcnewspoint.com/top-10-best-intelligence-agencies-in-the-world-2015/ |archive-date=5 January 2015 |access-date=27 December 2016 |work=ABC News Point}}

{{Main|Human rights in Pakistan|LGBT rights in Pakistan}}

In 2024, Pakistan ranked 152 out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, highlighting restrictions on freedom of the press.{{cite web |title=Pakistan {{!}} RSF |url=https://rsf.org/en/country/pakistan |website=rsf.org |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |language=en |access-date=21 March 2025}} Television stations and newspapers face closures for publishing reports critical of the government or military.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/06/pakistani-news-channel-geo-suspended-isi|title=Pakistani TV news channel ordered off air after criticising spy agency|author=Jon Boone|work=The Guardian|date=6 June 2014}}
- {{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/jun/09/press-freedom-pakistan|title=Intimidated journalists in Pakistan cannot exercise press freedom|author=Roy Greenslade|work=The Guardian|date=9 June 2014}}
- {{cite news |title=Redlining the News in Pakistan |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/press-freedom_redlining-news-pakistan/6176260.html |work=VOA News |date=22 September 2019}} Male homosexuality is illegal in Pakistan, punishable with up to life in prison.{{cite news |title=The countries where homosexuality is still illegal |url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/96298/the-countries-where-homosexuality-is-still-illegal |work=The Week |date=12 June 2019 |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128203653/https://www.theweek.co.uk/96298/the-countries-where-homosexuality-is-still-illegal |archive-date=28 November 2019 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite news |title=Home Office refused thousands of LGBT asylum claims, figures reveal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/02/home-office-refused-thousands-of-lgbt-asylum-claims-figures-reveal |work=The Guardian |date=2 September 2019}}

{{Main|Economy of Pakistan|Economic history of Pakistan}}

{{See also|Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund}}

Pakistan's economy ranks 24th globally by purchasing power parity (PPP) and 43rd by nominal GDP. Historically, Pakistan was part of the wealthiest region in the first millennium CE, but lost ground to regions like China and Western Europe by the 18th century.{{cite book |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=The World Economy. A Millennial Perspective (Vol. 1). Historical Statistics (Vol. 2) |publisher=OECD |year=2006 |pages=241, 261 |isbn=978-92-64-02261-4 }} Pakistan is a developing country,{{cite web |author=Faryal Leghari |url=http://www.grc.ae/?frm_module=contents&frm_action=detail_book&sec=Contents&override=Articles%20%3E%20GCC%20Investments%20in%20Pakistan%20and%20Future%20Trends&book_id=25458&op_lang=en |title=GCC investments in Pakistan and future trends |publisher=Gulf Research Center |date=3 January 2007 |access-date=12 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111131042/http://www.grc.ae/?frm_module=contents&frm_action=detail_book&sec=Contents&override=Articles%20%3E%20GCC%20Investments%20in%20Pakistan%20and%20Future%20Trends&book_id=25458&op_lang=en |archive-date=11 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite book |title=Contextualizing Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies and Developing Countries |date=2017 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78536-753-3 |page=133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3pHDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133}} and part of the Next Eleven, poised to become one of the world's largest economies in the 21st century, alongside the BRIC countries.{{cite news |author=Tavia Grant |title=On 10th birthday, BRICs poised for more growth |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/daily-mix/on-10th-birthday-brics-poised-for-more-growth/article2264208/|access-date=4 January 2012 |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=8 December 2011 |location=Toronto}}

In recent years, Pakistan has faced social instability and macroeconomic imbalances, with deficiencies in services like rail transportation and electrical energy generation.{{cite news |title=Pakistan, Rusting in Its Tracks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/world/asia/pakistans-railroads-sum-up-nations-woes.html|access-date=19 May 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=18 May 2013 |author=Declan Walsh |quote=natural disasters and entrenched insurgencies, abject poverty and feudal kleptocrats, and an economy near meltdown}} The semi-industrialized economy has growth centers along the Indus River.{{cite journal |last=Henneberry |first=S. |title=An analysis of industrial–agricultural interactions: A case study in Pakistan |url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/175305/files/agec2000v022i001a002.pdf |journal=Agricultural Economics |volume=22 |pages=17–27 |year=2000 |doi=10.1016/S0169-5150(99)00041-9|doi-broken-date=24 December 2024 | issn = 0169-5150}}{{cite web |title=World Bank Document |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/293051-1241610364594/6097548-1257441952102/balochistaneconomicreportvol2.pdf |page=14 |year=2008 |access-date=2 January 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rad-aid.org/UploadedFiles/RAD-AID%20Pakistan%20Health%20Care%20Radiology%20Report%202011.pdf |title=Pakistan Country Report |website=RAD-AID |year=2010 |pages=3, 7|access-date=26 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112021042/http://www.rad-aid.org/UploadedFiles/RAD-AID%20Pakistan%20Health%20Care%20Radiology%20Report%202011.pdf |archive-date=12 January 2012}} The diversified economies of Karachi and Punjab's urban centers coexist with less-developed areas in other parts of the country, particularly in Balochistan. Pakistan ranks as the 67th-largest export economy and the 106th-most complex economy globally, with a negative trade balance of US$23.96 billion in fiscal year 2015–16.{{cite web |title=Pakistan |url=http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/pak/ |website=atlas.media.mit.edu |access-date=4 March 2017 |archive-date=18 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318001324/http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/pak/ |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |last1=Hamza |first1=Abrar |title=Pakistan's trade deficit widens to 35-year high in FY16 |url=http://dailytimes.com.pk/business/16-Jul-16/pakistans-trade-deficit-widens-to-35-year-high-in-fy16|access-date=14 February 2017 |work=Daily Times|location=Pakistan |date=16 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717140936/https://dailytimes.com.pk/business/16-Jul-16/pakistans-trade-deficit-widens-to-35-year-high-in-fy16 |archive-date=17 July 2016}}

File:Islamabad Stock Exchange Bull.JPG, Islamabad, Pakistan]]

{{as of|2022}}, Pakistan's estimated nominal GDP is US$376.493 billion.{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/October/weo-report?c=564,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,PCPIEPCH,&sy=2020&ey=2022&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 | title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects }} The GDP by PPP is US$1.512 trillion. The estimated nominal per capita GDP is US$1,658, the GDP (PPP)/capita is US$6,662 (international dollars), According to the World Bank, Pakistan has important strategic endowments and development potential. The increasing proportion of Pakistan's youth provides the country with both a potential demographic dividend and a challenge to provide adequate services and employment.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/pakistan/overview |title=Pakistan Overview |website=worldbank.org}} 21.04% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. The unemployment rate among the aged 15 and over population is 5.5%.{{cite web |title=Human Development Indices |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDI_2008_EN_Tables.pdf |publisher=United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Reports |page=15 |access-date=6 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219191319/http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDI_2008_EN_Tables.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2008}} Pakistan has an estimated 40 million middle class citizens, projected to increase to 100 million by 2050.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2016/02/29/us-higher-education-partnership-development-pakistan/#11d078c1d7dd |title=How U.S. Higher Education Partnerships Can Promote Development In Pakistan |website=Forbes|access-date=4 March 2016}} A 2015 report published by the World Bank ranked Pakistan's economy at 24th-largest{{cite web |title=Gross domestic product 2015, PPP |url=http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP_PPP.pdf |publisher=World Bank|access-date=14 February 2017}} in the world by purchasing power and 41st-largest{{cite web |title=Gross domestic product 2015 |url=http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP.pdf |publisher=World Bank|access-date=14 February 2017}} in absolute terms. It is South Asia's second-largest economy, representing about 15.0% of regional GDP.{{cite web |title=Recent developments |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/EXTGBLPROSPECTSAPRIL/0,,contentMDK:20394787~menuPK:659178~pagePK:2470434~piPK:4977459~theSitePK:659149,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120030342/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/EXTGBLPROSPECTSAPRIL/0%2C%2CcontentMDK%3A20394787~menuPK%3A659178~pagePK%3A2470434~piPK%3A4977459~theSitePK%3A659149%2C00.html |archive-date=20 January 2012 |publisher=World Bank |date=June 2011 |access-date=30 December 2011 |url-status=dead}}
- {{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJxFBbyVC_hs |title=Pakistan May Keep Key Rate Unchanged After Two Cuts This Year |publisher=Bloomberg |date=28 September 2009|access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202102429/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJxFBbyVC_hs |archive-date=2 December 2010}}

Pakistan's economic growth varied over time, with slow progress during democratic transitions but robust expansion under martial law, lacking sustainable foundations.{{sfn|Chowdhury|Mahmud|2008}} Rapid reforms in the early to mid-2000s, including increased development spending, reduced poverty by 10% and boosted GDP by 3%.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org.pk/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/PAKISTANEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20918063~menuPK:293074~pagePK:2865066~piPK:2865079~theSitePK:293052,00.html |title=Concluding Remarks at the Pakistan Development Forum 2006 |author=John Wall |publisher=World Bank |access-date=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311081830/http://www.worldbank.org.pk/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/PAKISTANEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20918063~menuPK:293074~pagePK:2865066~piPK:2865079~theSitePK:293052,00.html |archive-date=11 March 2012 |url-status=dead }} The economy cooled post-2007, with inflation peaking at 25.0% in 2008,{{cite news |author=Sajid Chaudhry |title=Inflation Outlook 2008–09 |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\01\17\story_17-1-2009_pg5_2|access-date=30 December 2011 |newspaper=Daily Times |date=17 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111205343/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C01%5C17%5Cstory_17-1-2009_pg5_2 |archive-date=11 January 2012}} necessitating IMF intervention to prevent bankruptcy.{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3147266/Pakistan-facing-bankruptcy.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007093145/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3147266/Pakistan-facing-bankruptcy.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 October 2008 |title=Pakistan facing bankruptcy—Telegraph|access-date=6 October 2008 |author=Isambard Wilkinson |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=6 October 2008}} The Asian Development Bank later noted easing economic strain in Pakistan.{{cite news |url=http://aaj.tv/2009/09/pakistans-economic-crisis-eases-in-2009-adb/ |title=Pakistan's economic crisis eases in 2009: ADB |work=AAJ News |agency=Associated Press of Pakistan |date=22 September 2009 |access-date=27 February 2017 |archive-date=22 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022193451/http://aaj.tv/2009/09/pakistans-economic-crisis-eases-in-2009-adb/ |url-status=dead }} Inflation for fiscal year {{nowrap|2010–11}} stood at 14.1%.{{cite web |title=Labour Force Survey 2010–11 |url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/Labour%20Force/publications/lfs2010_11/results.pdf |publisher=Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan |year=2011 |page=12 |access-date=2 July 2012 |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425011532/http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/Labour%20Force/publications/lfs2010_11/results.pdf |url-status=dead }} Since 2013, Pakistan's economy has seen growth under an IMF program. Goldman Sachs predicted Pakistan's economy could grow 15 times by 2050,{{cite web |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/660936/global-ranking-pakistan-billed-to-become-18th-largest-economy-by-2050/ |title=Global ranking: Pakistan billed to become 18th largest economy by 2050 – The Express Tribune |website=The Express Tribune|access-date=4 March 2016|date=20 January 2014 }} and Ruchir Sharma in his 2016 book anticipated a transformation to a middle-income country by 2020.{{cite news |url=http://tns.thenews.com.pk/pakistans-economy-ready-takeoff/#.V9_EsZN95Z3 |title=Pakistan's economy ready for takeoff |work=The News on Sunday |access-date=7 November 2016|date=18 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806060828/http://tns.thenews.com.pk/pakistans-economy-ready-takeoff/#.V9_EsZN95Z3|archive-date=6 August 2017|url-status=dead}}

Pakistan's vast natural commodity production and 10th-largest labour market, along with a US$19.9 billion contribution from its 7-million-strong diaspora in 2015–16,{{cite news |last1=Iqbal |first1=Shahid |title=$20 billion remittances received in FY16 |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1271081|access-date=20 February 2017 |work=Dawn |date=16 July 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://www.overseaspakistanis.net/category/op-news/page/2/ |title=OP News Discussions Archives |publisher=Overseaspakistanis.net |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-date=11 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211070343/https://www.overseaspakistanis.net/category/op-news/page/2/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.sbp.org.pk/ecodata/Homeremit.pdf |title=Pakistan | State Bank of Pakistan |publisher=sbp.org|access-date=15 July 2011}} position it significantly. However, Pakistan's global export share is declining, accounting for just 0.13% in 2007 according to the World Trade Organization.{{cite web |author=Yasir kamal |title=Understanding Pakistan's Exports Flows: Results from Gravity Model Estimation |url=http://www.pitad.org.pk/indexP.php?type=completed-studies |publisher=Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development|access-date=30 December 2011}}

{{Main|Agriculture in Pakistan|Fuel extraction in Pakistan|Mining in Pakistan}}

File:Pakistan Chrome Mines20120126 16100237 0003.jpg in Sindh. Pakistan has been termed the 'Saudi Arabia of Coal' by Forbes.{{cite web |title=US needs to look at Pakistan in a broader way, not just through security prism: Forbes report |website=Pakistan Today |url=http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/03/04/city/islamabad/us-needs-to-look-at-pakistan-in-a-broader-way-not-just-through-security-prism-forbes-report/ |access-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100811/http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/03/04/city/islamabad/us-needs-to-look-at-pakistan-in-a-broader-way-not-just-through-security-prism-forbes-report/}}]]

The Pakistani economy has shifted from agriculture to services, with agriculture contributing only 20.9% of the GDP as of 2015.{{cite web |title=Pakistan Economic Survey 2014–15 |url=http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_15/Highlights.pdf |publisher=Ministry of Finance |access-date=4 April 2017 |archive-date=17 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517015406/http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_15/Highlights.pdf |url-status=dead }} Despite this, Pakistan's wheat production in 2005 surpassed Africa's and nearly matched South America's, highlighting its agricultural significance.{{cite web |url=http://www.sbp.org.pk/departments/stats/PakEconomy_HandBook/Chap-1.2.pdf |title=Sectoral Share in Gross Domestic Product |year=2010 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Statistics |page=10|access-date=30 December 2011}} The sector employs 43.5% of the labor force and is a major source of foreign exchange.{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/agriculture-statistics |title=Agriculture Statistics {{!}} Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|website=www.pbs.gov.pk|access-date=4 March 2016}}

Manufactured exports, heavily reliant on agricultural raw materials like cotton and hides, face inflationary pressures due to supply shortages and market disruptions. Pakistan ranks fifth in cotton production, self-sufficient in sugarcane, and the fourth-largest milk producer globally. Though land and water resources haven't increased proportionately, productivity gains, especially from the Green Revolution in the late 1960s and 1970s, significantly boosted wheat and rice yields. Private tube wells and High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) further augmented crop yields.{{cite web |url=https://ishrathusain.iba.edu.pk/speeches/New/AgricultureSector_Issues_n_Prospects.docx |title=AGRICULTURE SECTOR: ISSUES AND PROSPECTS|access-date=4 March 2016}} Meat industry accounts for 1.4 percent of overall GDP.{{cite web |url=http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_10/03_Manufacturing.pdf |title=Manufacturing in Pakistan |publisher=Government of Pakistan |access-date=4 March 2016 |archive-date=19 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419064503/http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_10/03_Manufacturing.pdf |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|Industry of Pakistan}}

{{See also|Textile industry in Pakistan}}

File:Tv Assembly Line 1.jpg. Pakistan's industrial sector accounts for about 20% of the GDP, and is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises.{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/industry |title=Industry |publisher= Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|website=www.pbs.gov.pk|access-date=23 October 2016}}]]

Industry, constituting 19.74% of GDP and 24% of total employment, is the second-largest sector. Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) dominates, representing 12.2% of GDP, with cement production thriving due to demand from Afghanistan and the domestic real estate sector.{{cite web |url=http://www.apcma.com/data_export.html |title=All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association Export Data |website=apcma.com |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-date=3 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203231542/http://www.apcma.com/data_export.html |url-status=live }} In 2013, Pakistan exported 7,708,557 metric tons of cement, with an installed capacity of 44,768,250 metric tons.{{cite news |last=Bhutta |first=Zafar |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/552042/cant-get-enough-soaring-profits-not-enough-for-cement-industry/ |title=Can't get enough: Soaring profits not enough for cement industry |work=The Express Tribune |date=21 May 2013|access-date=15 October 2013}} The textile industry, a key player in Pakistan's manufacturing, contributes 9.5% to GDP and employs around 15 million people. As of 2022, Pakistan ranks seventh globally in cotton production,{{cite web |title=Countries by commodity |url=https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/countries_by_commodity |website=fao.org |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=8 April 2025}} with substantial spinning capacity, making it a major exporter of textile products in Asia.{{cite web |title=World Trade Statistics 2023 |url=https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/statistics2023_e.htm |publisher=World Trade Organization |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=en}} China has been a significant buyer of Pakistani textiles, importing US$1.527 billion worth of textiles in 2012.{{cite news |last=Baig |first=Khurram |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/522293/anatomy-of-an-indispensable-sector-why-the-pakistan-textile-industry-cannot-die/ |title=Why the Pakistan textile industry cannot die |work=The Express Tribune |date=18 March 2013|access-date=15 October 2013}}

{{main|Real estate in Pakistan|Information technology in Pakistan|Banking in Pakistan}}

File:KHIURBANSKYLINE.jpg, with several under construction skyscrapers|upright=1.3]]

As of 2014–15, the services sector contributes 58.8% to GDP, serving as the main driver of economic growth in Pakistan,{{Cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/483436/the-unparalleled-growth-of-the-services-sector/ |title=The unparalleled growth of the services sector |work=Express Tribune|access-date=4 March 2016}} with a consumption-oriented society. The sector's growth rate surpasses that of agriculture and industry, accounting for 54% of GDP and over one-third of total employment. It has strong linkages with other sectors, providing essential inputs to agriculture and manufacturing.{{cite web |url=http://www.pide.org.pk/pdf/Working%20Paper/WorkingPaper-79.pdf |title=Contribution of Services Sector in the Economy of Pakistan |access-date=4 March 2016}} Pakistan's IT sector is one of the fastest-growing, ranked 110th for ICT development by the World Economic Forum.{{cite news |title=Pakistan most affordable country in world for telecom, ICT services: WEF |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1219605/pakistan-affordable-country-world-telecom-ict-services-wef/|access-date=5 March 2017 |work=Express Tribune |date=4 November 2016}} With around 82 million internet users as of May 2020, Pakistan ranks among top ten globally,{{cite web |url=https://www.pta.gov.pk/en/telecom-indicators|title=Telecom Indicators |website=PTA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803183309/https://www.pta.gov.pk/en/telecom-indicators |archive-date=3 August 2020}} and its ICT industry is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2020.{{cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/738036/upward-move-pakistans-ict-sector-to-cross-10b-mark-says-psha/ |title=Upward move: Pakistan's ICT sector to cross $10b mark, says P@SHA |website=The Express Tribune |access-date=4 March 2016}} With 12,000 employees, Pakistan is among the top five freelancing nations,{{cite web |title=Pakistan: The Next Colombia Success Story? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2015/08/03/pakistan-the-next-colombia-success-story/#2720446a3b60 |access-date=4 March 2016 |website=Forbes}} and its export performance in telecom, computer, and information services has notably improved.{{cite news |last=Bhatti |first=Muhammad Umer Saleem |date=22 June 2015 |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1189624 |title=Services sector: domestic and outward growth |work=Dawn |access-date=4 March 2016}}

{{main|Tourism in Pakistan}}

File:Shangrila, Lower Kachura Lake.jpg and adjoining resort in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan]]

With its diverse cultures, landscapes, and attractions, Pakistan drew around 6.6 million foreign tourists in 2018.{{cite web |last=Junaidi |first=Ikram |title=Tourist traffic witnesses sharp increase in five years |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1508132 |work=Dawn |date=30 September 2019}} However, this was a decline from the peak of tourism in the 1970s driven by the popular Hippie trail.{{cite web |title=Richard Gregory |website=www.richardgregory.org.uk |url=http://www.richardgregory.org.uk/history/hippie-trail.htm |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728045152/https://www.richardgregory.org.uk/history/hippie-trail.htm |archive-date=28 July 2020 |url-status=dead}} Pakistan boasts attractions from mangroves in the south to Himalayan hill stations in the northeast, including ancient Buddhist ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and Taxila, the 5,000-year-old Indus Valley civilization sites such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa,{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/76d57272-6764-11de-925f-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/76d57272-6764-11de-925f-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |title=The road between China and Pakistan |website=Financial Times |date=4 July 2009|access-date=27 September 2010}} and numerous mountain peaks over {{convert|7,000|m|abbr=off}}.{{cite magazine |title=5 Pakistani peaks that are among world's highest |url=http://nation.com.pk/entertainment/11-Dec-2015/5-pakistani-peaks-that-are-among-world-s-highest|access-date=9 January 2017 |magazine=The Nation |date=11 December 2015 |quote=Pakistan is home to 108 peaks above 7,000 metres and probably as many peaks above 6,000 m.}} The northern part of Pakistan boasts numerous old fortresses, showcasing ancient architecture. It encompasses the Hunza and Chitral valleys, where the small pre-Islamic Kalasha community resides, claiming descent from Alexander the Great.{{cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/28439107.html|title=Pakistan's Forgotten Pagans Get Their Due|last=Bezhan|first=Frud|date=19 April 2017|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|access-date=11 July 2017|quote=About half of the Kalash practice a form of ancient Hinduism infused with old pagan and animist beliefs.}} Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital, showcases numerous examples of Mughal architecture, including the Badshahi Masjid, the Shalimar Gardens, the Tomb of Jahangir, and the Lahore Fort. Following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, The Guardian highlighted "The top five tourist sites in Pakistan" to boost tourism, featuring destinations like Taxila, Lahore, the Karakoram Highway, Karimabad, and Lake Saiful Muluk.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/oct/17/pakistan?page=all |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Out of the rubble |first=Antonia |last=Windsor |date=17 October 2006|access-date=25 May 2010}} Festivals and government initiatives aim to promote Pakistan's cultural heritage.{{cite web |url=http://www.tourism.gov.pk/fairs_festivals.html |title=Tourism Events in Pakistan in 2010 |publisher=tourism.gov.pk |access-date=27 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209103944/http://www.tourism.gov.pk/fairs_festivals.html |archive-date=9 February 2007 |url-status=dead }} In 2015, the World Economic Forum ranked Pakistan 125th out of 141 countries in its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report.{{cite web |title=The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/TT15/WEF_Global_Travel&Tourism_Report_2015.pdf |publisher=World Economic Forum|access-date=24 February 2017}}

{{See also|Water supply and sanitation in Pakistan}}

Pakistan was lauded as the top nation for infrastructure development in South Asia during the 2016 annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.{{Cite web|url=https://embassyofpakistanusa.org/press-releases-10-09-2016/|title=Pakistan has been recognized as Best Country for Infrastructure Development in South Asia by the Emerging Markets, the newspaper of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting – Embassy of Pakistan, Washington D.C}}

{{Main|Nuclear power in Pakistan|Energy in Pakistan|Electricity sector in Pakistan}}

File:Tarbela Dam during the 2010 floods.jpg, the largest earth filled dam in the world, was constructed in 1968.]]

As of May 2021, Pakistan operates six licensed commercial nuclear power plants.{{cite news|title=Pakistan's largest Chinese-built nuclear plant to start operating|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pakistans-largest-chinese-built-nuclear-plant-start-operating-2021-05-21/|access-date=18 June 2021 |newspaper=Reuters|date=21 May 2021}} The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) oversees these plants, while the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority ensures their safe operation.{{cite web |url=http://www.paec.gov.pk/paec-np.htm |title=Nuclear Power Generation Programme |last=(PAEC) |first=Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission |author-link=Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission |publisher=PAEC |website=Government of Pakistan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209020648/http://www.paec.gov.pk/paec-np.htm |archive-date=9 February 2005|access-date=15 January 2017}} These plants contribute approximately 5.8% to Pakistan's electricity supply, while fossil fuels (crude oil and natural gas) provide 64.2%, hydroelectric power provides 29.9%, and coal contributes 0.1%.{{cite news |last1=Kazmi |first1=Zahir |title=Pakistan's energy security |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/655573/pakistans-energy-security/|access-date=23 February 2015 |quote=Special report on Energy security efforts in Pakistan |work=Express Tribune |date=7 January 2014}}{{cite web |last=Syed Yousaf |first=Raza |title=Current Picture of Electrical Energy In Pakistan |url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:T4QW3douApsJ:www.iaea.org/INPRO/4th_Dialogue_Forum/DAY_3_01_August-ready/2._-_DG-C3-4-31-07-2012.pdf+pakistan+nuclear+power+program+2050&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjUcYBzrkzBdSSwbflDwBpLkLAkFaFROisP_jK3E3S97aqHY9tMS-It6gaYDd-q4lZP8BEuD6e4C5E91EnlkiSKIw-JbWuYsNwjNNC1f1Nxyw9D0Ib_V424k5ghsCazU80qDKfF&sig=AHIEtbRAsJSVdJ36dVxzvdggw_Xz16RLGg |website=Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission |publisher=Directorate-General for Nuclear Power Generation|access-date=28 November 2012 |date=31 July 2012}}
- {{cite news |last=Zulfikar |first=Saman |title=Pak-China energy cooperation |url=http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=109910 |access-date=23 April 2012 |newspaper=Pakistan Observer |date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927072914/http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=109910 |archive-date=27 September 2013}} The KANUPP-I, Pakistan's first commercial nuclear power plant, was supplied by Canada in 1971. Sino-Pakistani nuclear cooperation began in the 1980s, leading to the establishment of CHASNUPP-I. In 2005, both countries proposed a joint energy security plan, aiming for a generation capacity exceeding 160,000 MWe by 2030. Pakistan's Nuclear Energy Vision 2050 targets a capacity of 40,000 MWe,{{cite news |title=PAEC plans 40,000MW by 2050 using environment-friendly nuclear power |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/14698-paec-plans-40000mw-by-2050-using-environment-friendly-nuclear-power|access-date=30 April 2017 |work=The News International |date=17 September 2015}} with 8,900 MWe expected by 2030.{{cite news |last=Syed |first=Baqir Sajjad |title=8,900MW nuclear power generation planned |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1077816|access-date=30 April 2017 |work=Dawn |date=2 January 2014}}
- {{cite journal |last=Ijaz |first=Muhammad, Director of Scientific Information and Public Relation (SIPR) |title=PAEC assigned 8,800 MWe nuclear power target by 2030:PAEC contributing to socio-economic uplift of the country |journal=PakAtom Newsletter |volume=49 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–8 |date=December 2010 |url=http://www.paec.gov.pk/newsletters/pkatm-n/p-nd10.pdf}} {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In June 2008, the nuclear complex at Chashma in Punjab Province expanded with the installation of Chashma-III and Chashma–IV reactors, each with 325–340 MWe, costing ₨129 billion, with ₨80 billion from international sources, mainly China. Another agreement for China's assistance was signed in October 2008, seen as a response to the US–India agreement. The project's cost was then US$1.7 billion, with a foreign loan of US$1.07 billion. In 2013, Pakistan established a second nuclear complex in Karachi with plans for additional reactors, similar to Chashma.{{cite news |last1=Bhutta |first1=Zafar |title=Govt to kick off work on 1,100MW nuclear power plant |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/559885/govt-to-kick-off-work-on-1100mw-nuclear-power-plant/|access-date=19 January 2015 |agency=Express Tribune |date=7 June 2013}} Electrical energy in Pakistan is generated by various corporations and distributed evenly among the four provinces by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). However, Karachi-based K-Electric and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) generate much of the electricity used in Pakistan and collect revenue nationwide.{{cite web |title=Power Sector Situation in Pakistan |url=http://www.rural-electrification.com/cms/upload/pdf/Pakistan-GTZ-power-sector-overview.pdf|access-date=26 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124180708/http://www.rural-electrification.com/cms/upload/pdf/Pakistan-GTZ-power-sector-overview.pdf |archive-date=24 January 2011 |website=Alternate Energy Development Board and GTZ |year=2005 |page=1}} In 2023, Pakistan's installed electricity generation capacity was ~45,885 MWt.{{cite web |title=State of Industry Report 2023 |url=https://nepra.org.pk/publications/State%20of%20Industry%20Reports/State%20of%20Industry%20Report%202023.pdf |access-date=19 April 2024 |website=nepra.org.pk |archive-date=18 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418211926/https://nepra.org.pk/publications/State%20of%20Industry%20Reports/State%20of%20Industry%20Report%202023.pdf |url-status=dead }} Pakistan produced 1,135 megawatts of renewable energy for the month of October 2016. Pakistan expects to produce 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2025.{{Cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1218970/exclusive-club-nations-pakistan-producing-1000mw-clean-energy/ |title=Pakistan producing more than 1,000MW of clean energy |date=3 November 2016 |newspaper=The Express Tribune|access-date=3 November 2016}}

{{main|Transport in Pakistan}}

{{multiple image

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| width1 = 168

| image1 = M2-Motorway.jpg

| caption1 = The motorway passes through the Salt Range mountains.

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| image2 = PK Karachi asv2020-02 img54 Cantonment Railway Station.jpg

| caption2 = Karachi Cantonment railway station

}}

Pakistan boasts 2567 km of motorways and approximately 263,942 km of highways, which handle 92% of passengers and 96% of freight traffic. Despite constituting only 4.6% of the total road length, these north–south links manage 85% of the nation's traffic. They connect southern seaports such as Karachi port and Port Qasim in Sindh, along with Gwadar Port and Port of Pasni in Balochistan, to populous provinces like Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa domestically, and neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Central Asia, and China through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.{{cite web |author=Ahmed Jamal Pirzada |title=Draft: Role of Connectivity in Growth Strategy of Pakistan |url=http://www.pc.gov.pk/feg/PDFs/role%20of%20connectivity%20in%20growth%20strategy%20of%20pakistan.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421064636/http://www.pc.gov.pk/feg/PDFs/role%20of%20connectivity%20in%20growth%20strategy%20of%20pakistan.pdf |archive-date=21 April 2012 |year=2011 |publisher=Planning Commission, Pakistan |pages=4, 7, 9|access-date=31 December 2011}}{{cite web |title=National Highway Development Sector Investment Program |url=http://www.adb.org/Documents/RRPs/PAK/37559-PAK-RRP.pdf |publisher=Asian Development Bank |year=2005 |pages=11, 12|access-date=31 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007150953/http://www.adb.org/Documents/RRPs/PAK/37559-PAK-RRP.pdf |archive-date=7 October 2007}}{{cite web|url=https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-document/81261/40075-pak-seia-0.pdf|title=Proposed Multitranche Financing Facility Pakistan: National Trade Corridor Highway Investment Program|publisher=ADB|date=April 2007|access-date=11 January 2021}} According to the WEF's Global Competitiveness Report, Pakistan's port infrastructure quality ratings rose from 3.7 to 4.1 between 2007 and 2016.{{cite web |title=Quality of port infrastructure, WEF |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IQ.WEF.PORT.XQ|access-date=12 April 2017}} The railway's share of inland traffic is reduced to below 8% for passengers and 4% for freight. This shift led to a decrease in total rail track from {{convert|8,775|km|abbr=off}} in 1990–91 to {{convert|7,791|km|abbr=off}} in 2011.{{cite web |title=PAKISTAN |url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Pakistan.html |website=Encyclopedia Nation|access-date=31 December 2011}}

File:KKH.png, connecting Pakistan to China, is one of the highest paved roads in the world.]]

The transport landscape of Pakistan features various modern transit systems. The Orange Line Metro Train in Lahore, inaugurated in 2020,{{cite web|date=23 May 2014|title=Good news on track: Lahore to get Pakistan's first metro train|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/711864/good-news-on-track-lahore-to-get-pakistans-first-metro-train|access-date=12 April 2022|website=The Express Tribune}} spans {{convert|27.1|km|mi|1|abbr=on}},{{cite web|title=Norinco Technical Proposal|url=http://www.lahoremetroauraap.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Norinco-Technical-Proposal.pdf|access-date=25 January 2017|date=January 2016|page=12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202022759/http://www.lahoremetroauraap.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Norinco-Technical-Proposal.pdf|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=usurped}} and includes both elevated and underground sections, accommodating over 250,000 passengers daily.{{cite web|url=https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/25-Oct-2020/punjab-cm-inaugurates-lahore-s-much-delayed-orange-line-metro-train|title=Punjab CM inaugurates Lahore's much-delayed Orange Line Metro Train|date=25 October 2020|work=Daily Pakistan|access-date=25 October 2020}} Lahore also boasts the Lahore Metrobus, the first of its kind in Pakistan, operational since February 2013.{{cite web|url=http://pakvisit.com/pakistan/metrobus.html|title=Metro Bus Lahore Pakistan -Rapid Bus Transport|website=pakvisit.com|access-date=9 June 2018|archive-date=9 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609002127/http://www.pakvisit.com/pakistan/metrobus.html|url-status=dead}} The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus, stretching 48.1 km, commenced its first phase in June 2015, with subsequent extensions, and employs e-ticketing and an Intelligent Transportation System.{{Cite news|url=https://www.incpak.com/national/islamabad-starts-trial-of-orange-line-metro-bus-service/|title=Islamabad Starts Trial of Orange Line Metro Bus Service|date=16 April 2022|work=INCPAK|access-date=18 April 2022|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/412136-pm-shehbaz-sharif-inaugurates-metrobus-service-from-peshawar-mor-to-islamabad|title=PM Shehbaz Sharif confident his 'speedy work' will frighten ex-premier Imran Khan|date=18 April 2022|work=GEO News|access-date=18 April 2022|language=en-US}} Multan Metrobus, inaugurated in January 2017, serves Multan with its rapid transit services.{{cite news|url=http://www.nation.com.pk/national/06-Jun-2014/work-on-multan-metro-bus-to-begin-on-august-14 |title= Work on Multan Metro Bus to Begin on August 14|newspaper= The Nation|access-date= 30 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1310439/this-is-naya-pakistan-pm-inaugurates-rs29bn-metro-bus-project-in-multan|title= Prime Minister inaugurates Multan Metrobus|newspaper= Dawn News|date= 24 January 2017|access-date= 24 January 2018}} Peshawar's Bus Rapid Transit, inaugurated in August 2020, marks the fourth BRT system in Pakistan. Karachi's Green Line Metrobus, operational since December 2021, is part of a larger metrobus project financed by the Government of Pakistan and initiated in February 2016.{{cite news |title=PM Imran inaugurates Karachi's much-awaited Green Line bus service |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1663004/pm-imran-inaugurates-karachis-much-awaited-green-line-bus-service |work=Dawn |date=10 December 2021|access-date=12 February 2022}}{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1055243/ground-breaking-ceremony-green-line-brt-finally-gets-go-ahead/|title=Ground-breaking ceremony: Green Line BRT finally gets go-ahead – The Express Tribune|date=26 February 2016|website=The Express Tribune|access-date=11 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1241849|title=Karachi's Green Line bus will be more beautiful than Lahore metro: PM Nawaz|last=Dawn.com|date=26 February 2016|website=www.dawn.com|access-date=11 June 2016}} Meanwhile, Faisalabad awaits its proposed rapid transit project, the Faisalabad Metrobus.{{cite web|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/542890/special-shuttle-train-service-to-be-launched-for-workers-of-cpec-sez/|title=Special shuttle train service to be launched for workers of CPEC SEZ|date=20 January 2020|website=Daily Times|access-date=18 June 2020|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517115358/https://dailytimes.com.pk/542890/special-shuttle-train-service-to-be-launched-for-workers-of-cpec-sez/|url-status=dead}}
- {{Cite news|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/17091/cm-to-take-metro-bus-to-faisalabad/|title=CM to take metro bus to Faisalabad – Daily Times|date=15 April 2017|work=Daily Times|access-date=9 June 2018}} Karachi Circular Railway, partially revived in November 2020, offers public transit services in the Karachi metropolitan area.{{cite news |url=https://nation.com.pk/10-Aug-2020/chairman-railways-visits-kcr-track |title=Chairman Railways visits KCR track |author= |date=10 August 2020 |work=The Nation |access-date=12 January 2021}}
- {{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2260409/supreme-court-gives-four-more-months-to-overhaul-railways |title=Supreme Court gives four more months to overhaul railways |author= |date=20 August 2020 |work=The Express Tribune |access-date=12 January 2021}}{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1591237/karachi-circular-railway-begins-partial-operations-today |title=Karachi Circular Railway begins partial operations |author= |date=19 November 2020 |work=Dawn News |access-date=12 January 2021}} Additionally, plans are underway to resurrect Karachi's tramway service, which ceased operations in 1975, in collaboration with Austrian experts.{{cite news|title=OLMT project to face further delay|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1941286/1-olmt-project-face-delay/|access-date=2 April 2019|work=The Express Tribune|author=Adnan, Imran|date=1 April 2019|quote=As per the direction of the apex court, he said, the civil works of the project will be completed by end of July 2019. But the project will not enter into commercial operations by August or November 2019.}}
- {{cite news|title=Manufacturing of orange trains starts, says Kh Hassan|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/122738-Manufacturing-of-orange-trains-starts-says-Kh-Hassan|access-date=24 January 2017|agency=The News|date=26 May 2016|quote=Latest technology will be employed for fabricating these trains and the rolling-stock will be fully computerised, automatic and driverless.}}{{cite web|url=https://propakistani.pk/2019/01/02/karachi-is-planning-to-restart-tram-services/amp/|title=Karachi is Planning to Restart Tram Services|website=propakistani.pk|date=2 January 2019}}

File:PIA rendezvous-edit.jpg owned and operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at Skardu International Airport]]

As of 2013, Pakistan boasts approximately 151 airports and airfields, encompassing both military and civilian installations.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|title=Airports – The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=29 May 2021}} Despite Jinnah International Airport serving as the primary international gateway, significant international traffic also flows through Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot, and Multan airports. The civil aviation industry, deregulated in 1993, operates with a blend of public and private entities while state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) dominates, carrying 73% of domestic passengers and all domestic freight.

{{Main|Science and technology in Pakistan|List of Pakistani inventions and discoveries}}

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Abdus Salam 1987.jpg

| caption1 = Abdus Salam won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to electroweak interaction. He was the first Muslim to win a Nobel prize in science.

| caption2 = Atta-ur-Rahman won the UNESCO Science Prize for pioneering contributions in chemistry in 1999, the first Muslim to win it.

| image2 = Atta-Ur-Rahman (cropped).jpg

| caption3 = Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was a Pakistani organic chemist who pioneered research on pharmacology use of various domestic plants. He was a member of the Royal Society.

| image3 =

| width4 = 120

| caption4 = Mahbub ul Haq was a Pakistani game theorist whose work led to the Human Development Index. He had a profound effect on the field of international development.

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}}

Developments in science and technology have played a significant role in Pakistan's infrastructure, linking the nation to the global community.{{cite web |last1=Ministry of Science and Technology |title=National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2012 |url=http://most.comsatshosting.com/%5CPolicies%5CNational%20Science,%20Technology%20and%20Innovation%20Policy%202012.pdf |publisher=Ministry of Science and Technology|access-date=3 February 2015}} Each year, the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and the government invite scientists worldwide to the International Nathiagali Summer College on Physics.{{cite web |title=Address by Prime Minister |website=Press Information Department (Government of Pakistan) |format=DOC |url=http://www.pid.gov.pk/pm%20address%20on%2027-6-2011.doc |access-date=24 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112161844/http://www.pid.gov.pk/pm%20address%20on%2027-6-2011.doc |archive-date=12 January 2012 |url-status=dead}} In 2005, Pakistan hosted an international seminar on "Physics in Developing Countries" for the International Year of Physics.{{cite book |editor1=Hameed A. Khan |editor2=M. M. Qurashi |editor3=Tajammul Hussain |editor4=Irfan Hayee |date=April 2006 |title=Physics in Developing Countries – Past, Present & Future |series=COMSATS' Series of Publications on Science and Technology |volume=8 |publisher=Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South |url=http://www.comsats.org/Publications/Books_SnT_Series/08.%20Physics%20in%20Developing%20Countries%20-%20Past,%20Present%20and%20Future%20(April%202006).pdf |page=9 |access-date=1 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524011938/http://www.comsats.org/Publications/Books_SnT_Series/08.%20Physics%20in%20Developing%20Countries%20-%20Past,%20Present%20and%20Future%20(April%202006).pdf |archive-date=24 May 2012 |url-status=live }} Pakistani theoretical physicist Abdus Salam won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the electroweak interaction.{{Cite journal |title=1979 Nobel Prize in Physics |journal=Science |volume=206 |issue=4424 |pages=1290–1292 |bibcode=1979Sci...206.1290C |last1=Coleman |first1=Sidney |year=1979 |doi=10.1126/science.206.4424.1290 |pmid=17799637}} Pakistani scientists have made notable contributions in mathematics, biology, economics, computer science, and genetics.{{cite book |editor-last1=Mian |editor-first1=Zia |editor-last2=Kothari |editor-first2=Smitu |title=Out of the nuclear shadow |date=2001 |publisher=Zed |location=London |isbn=978-1-84277-059-7}}

In chemistry, Salimuzzaman Siddiqui identified the medicinal properties of the neem tree's components.{{sfn|Muniapan|Shaikh|2007}}{{cite magazine |url=http://technologytimes.pk/documents/mag/PDF_Old/Vol02-Issue11.pdf |title=The scientist who painted: Dr. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui |magazine=Technology Times |publisher=Mediaventures |location=Islamabad |date=14 March 2011 |volume=II |issue=11 |page=3 |access-date=18 March 2020 |archive-date=10 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710192902/http://technologytimes.pk/documents/mag/PDF_Old/Vol02-Issue11.pdf |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Irshad |date=29 October 2013 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2425893 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130506031535/http://www.academia.edu/2425893/Using_RP_Model_to_Solve_the_Current_Challenges_of_PAKISTAN |archive-date=6 May 2013 |title=Using RP Model to solve Current Challenges of Pakistan by PHd Scholar Irshad Ahmed Sumra |via=Academia.edu |access-date=20 April 2013 }} Ayub K. Ommaya developed the Ommaya reservoir for treating brain conditions.{{cite journal |author=Leonidas C. Goudas |display-authors=etal |year=1999 |title=Decreases in Cerebrospinal Fluid Glutathione Levels after Intracerebroventricular Morphine for Cancer Pain |journal=Anesthesia & Analgesia |volume=89 |issue=5 |page=1209 |publisher=International Anesthesia Research Society |doi=10.1213/00000539-199911000-00023 |url=http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/cgi/content/full/89/5/1209|access-date=1 January 2012|doi-access=free }} Scientific research is integral to Pakistani universities, national laboratories, science parks, and the industry.{{cite journal |last1=Osama |first1=Athar |last2=Najam |first2=Adil |last3=Kassim-Lakha |first3=Shamsh |last4=Zulfiqar Gilani |first4=Syed |last5=King |first5=Christopher |title=Pakistan's reform experiment |journal=Nature |date=3 September 2009 |volume=461 |issue=7260 |pages=38–39 |doi=10.1038/461038a |pmid=19727184 |s2cid=205048760 |bibcode=2009Natur.461...38O}} Abdul Qadeer Khan spearheaded Pakistan's HEU-based gas-centrifuge uranium enrichment program for its atomic bomb project.{{cite web |last=(IISS) |first=International Institute for Strategic Studies |author-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies |title=Bhutto was father of Pakistan's Atom Bomb Program |publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies |year=2006 |url=http://www.iiss.org/whats-new/iiss-in-the-press/press-coverage-2007/may-2007/bhutto-was-father-of-pakistani-bomb/?locale=en |access-date=24 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314025504/http://www.iiss.org/whats-new/iiss-in-the-press/press-coverage-2007/may-2007/bhutto-was-father-of-pakistani-bomb/?locale=en |archive-date=14 March 2012}} He established the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1976, serving as both its senior scientist and the Director-General until his retirement in 2001. Besides atomic bomb project, he made significant contributions in molecular morphology, physical martensite, and their applications in condensed and material physics.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/world/asia/16chron-khan.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=24 July 2015 |title=Chronology: A.Q. Khan |newspaper=The New York Times |date=16 April 2006}}

In 2023, Pakistan ranked 26th globally in published scientific papers.{{cite news |last1= |first1= |date= |title=SJR - International Science Ranking |url=https://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?order=itp&ord=desc&year=2023 |access-date=26 March 2025 |work=}} The influential Pakistan Academy of Sciences guides the government on science policies.{{cite web |url=http://www.paspk.org/Introduction-to-the-Academy-19 |title=Introduction to the Academy |publisher=Introduction of the Academy |access-date=16 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219233435/http://www.paspk.org/Introduction-to-the-Academy-19 |archive-date=19 February 2015}} Pakistan was ranked 91st in the Global Innovation Index by 2024.{{Cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2024 : Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=www.wipo.int |language=en}}

The 1960s marked the rise of Pakistan's space program, led by SUPARCO, yielding advancements in rocketry, electronics, and aeronomy. Notably, Pakistan launched its first rocket into space, pioneering South Asia's space exploration.{{cite web |title=History of SUPARCO |url=http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/history.asp |publisher=SUPARCO |access-date=24 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417192331/http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/history.asp |archive-date=17 April 2008}} In 1990, it successfully launched its first satellite, becoming the first Muslim nation and second in South Asia to achieve this milestone.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chtAqyOp9OEC&pg=PA46|title=Asian Space Race: Rhetoric or Reality? |last=Lele |first=Ajey |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012 |isbn=978-81-322-0733-7|page=46|quote=Headquartered in SUPARCO headquarters, Karachi, it has been responsible directly and indirectly for the fabrication, processing and launch of the Muslim Ummah's first experimental satellite, Badr-1. It was a historical event not only for the people of Pakistan but also for the entire Muslim Ummah as it was the first satellite built by any Islamic country based on indigenous resources and manpower.}}
- {{cite web |title=The Launching of Badr-I |website=Aero Space Guide |url=http://www.aerospaceguide.net/worldspace/pakistan.html |access-date=24 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202005559/http://www.aerospaceguide.net/worldspace/pakistan.html |archive-date=2 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}

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| quote = Pakistan witnessed a fourfold increase in its scientific productivity in the past decade surging from approximately 2,000 articles per year in 2006 to more than 9,000 articles in 2015. Making Pakistan's cited article's higher than the BRIC countries put together.

| source = —Thomson Reuters's Another BRIC in the Wall 2016 report{{cite web |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1183999/notch-pakistani-articles-cited-brics-put-together-says-report/ |title=Pakistani articles 'cited more than BRICs put together', says report |website=Tribune|access-date=September 19, 2016|date=2016-09-19 }}

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Following the 1971 war with India, Pakistan hastily developed atomic weapons to deter foreign intervention and entered the atomic age.{{cite book |title=Pakistan : between mosque and military |date=2005 |last1=Haqqani |first1=Husain |publisher=United Book Press. |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0-87003-214-1 |edition=1. print. |chapter=§Chapter 3 |quote=The trauma was extremely severe in Pakistan when the news of secession of East Pakistan as Bangladesh arrived—a psychological setback, complete and humiliating defeat that shattered the prestige of Pakistan Armed Forces. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/pakistanbetweenm00haqq }} Tensions with India led to Pakistan's 1998 underground nuclear tests, making it the seventh country to possess such weapons.{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/pakistan/nuke/index.html |title=Pakistan Nuclear Weapons |publisher=Federation of American Scientists|access-date=22 February 2007}}

Pakistan is the sole Muslim nation active in Antarctica research, maintaining its Jinnah Antarctic Research Station since 1992.{{Cite journal |last=Sayar |first=M.A. |date=April–June 1995 |title=Should We Exploit The Last Wilderness? |url=http://www.fountainmagazine.com/Issue/detail/Should-We-Exploit-The-Last-Wilderness |journal=The Fountain Magazine |access-date=9 February 2016 |quote=Pakistan became the first Muslim country to send an official expedition to Antarctica. Pakistan in 1992, established its Jinnah Antarctic Research Station. |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215200726/http://www.fountainmagazine.com/Issue/detail/Should-We-Exploit-The-Last-Wilderness}}
- {{Cite journal |year=1991 |title=Huge Oil Deposits Located Near Coast |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMjsAAAAMAAJ|journal=Economic Review |volume=22|quote=To a question Dr. Farah said, Pakistan was the first country to carry out research and establish its station at the same time in Antarctica.}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kx1AAAAAIAAJ |title=Pakistan's Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica |last1=Farah |first1=Abul |last2=Rizvi |first2=S.H. Niaz |publisher=National Institute of Oceanography |year=1995|page=15 |quote=Pakistan's presence in Antarctica also appears imperative as none of the Muslim countries seem to be in a position to undertake research there.}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kx1AAAAAIAAJ |title=Pakistan's Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica |last1=Farah |first1=Abul |last2=Rizvi |first2=S.H. Niaz |publisher=National Institute of Oceanography |year=1995|page=17 |quote=We have already taken the lead amongst the Muslim countries by launching our first expedition in 1990–1991 with an investment of large funds and national talent towards Antarctic research.}}
- {{Cite journal |year=1992 |title=News Bulletin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vK0eAQAAIAAJ |journal=National Institute of Oceanography (Pakistan) |volume=7 |page=1 |quote=This makes Pakistan the first Muslim country to undertake Antarctic Expedition and to establish a research station in Antarctica.}} The government invests heavily in information technology projects, focusing on e-government and infrastructure.{{cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/432124/govt-to-spend-rs4-6b-on-it-projects/ |title=Govt to spend Rs4.6b on IT projects |work=Express Tribune |date=6 September 2012|access-date=6 September 2012}}

{{main|Demographics of Pakistan}}

{{further|Overseas Pakistani}}

{{multiple image

| caption_align = center

| direction =vertical

|image1=Population Density by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg

|caption1=Population Density per square kilometre of each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan Census

|image2=Population by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg

|caption2=Population of each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan Census

}}

{{Excerpt|Demographics of Pakistan|files=0}}

{{Main|Urbanisation in Pakistan}}

Since independence due to the partition of India, urbanisation has surged for various reasons. In the south, Karachi stands as the most populous commercial hub along the Indus River.{{cite news |title=The Urban Frontier—Karachi |newspaper = NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91009748 |publisher=National Public Radio |date=2 June 2008|access-date=2 July 2008}} In the east, west, and north, a dense population arc spans cities like Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan, and Peshawar. By 1990–2008, city dwellers constituted 36% of Pakistan's population, making it South Asia's most urbanized nation, with over 50% living in towns of 5,000+ inhabitants.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/17/pakistan |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Pakistan looks to life without the general |author=Jason Burke |date=17 August 2008|access-date=20 May 2010}} Immigration, both domestic and international, significantly fuels urban growth. Migration from India, especially to Karachi, the largest metropolis, and from nearby countries, accelerates urbanization, posing new political and socio-economic challenges. Economic shifts like the green revolution and political developments also play crucial roles.{{cite book |last=Clark |first=David |title=The Elgar Companion to Development Studies |year=2006 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-84376-475-5 |page=668}}

{{Largest cities

| name = Largest cities of Pakistan

| country = Pakistan

| stat_ref = According to the 2023 Census{{cite web |title=7th Population and Housing Census – 2023 {{!}} Key Findings Report |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/Key_Findings_Report.pdf |website=pbs.gov.pk |publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics – Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives |location=Islamabad |p=59}}

| div_name = Province

| div_link =

| city_1 = Karachi | div_1 = Sindh | pop_1 = 18,868,021 | img_1 = Karachi from above.jpg

| city_2 = Lahore | div_2 = Punjab | pop_2 = 13,004,135 | img_2 = Badshahi Mosquee, Lahore.jpg

| city_3 = Faisalabad | div_3 = Punjab | pop_3 = 3,691,999 | img_3 = Clock Tower Faisalabad by Usman Nadeem.jpg

| city_4 = Rawalpindi | div_4 = Punjab | pop_4 = 3,357,612 | img_4 =Faizabad Interchange, Rawalpindi.jpg

| city_5 = Gujranwala | div_5 = Punjab | pop_5 = 2,668,047

| city_6 = Multan | div_6 = Punjab | pop_6 = 2,215,381

| city_7 = Hyderabad, Sindh{{!}}Hyderabad | div_7 = Sindh | pop_7 = 1,921,275

| city_8 = Peshawar | div_8 = Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | pop_8 = 1,905,975

| city_9 = Quetta | div_9 = Balochistan | pop_9 = 1,565,546

| city_10 = Islamabad | div_10 = Islamabad Capital Territory{{!}}Capital Territory | pop_10 = 1,108,872

| city_11 = Sargodha | div_11 = Punjab | pop_11 = 975,886

| city_12 = Sialkot | div_12 = Punjab | pop_12 = 911,817

| city_13 = Bahawalpur | div_13 = Punjab | pop_13 = 903,795

| city_14 = Jhang | div_14 = Punjab | pop_14 = 606,533

| city_15 = Sheikhupura | div_15 = Punjab | pop_15 = 591,424

| city_16 = Gujrat, Pakistan{{!}}Gujrat | div_16 = Punjab | pop_16 = 574,240

| city_17 = Sukkur | div_17 = Sindh | pop_17 = 563,851

| city_18 = Larkana | div_18 = Sindh | pop_18 = 551,716

| city_19 = Sahiwal | div_19 = Punjab | pop_19 = 538,344

| city_20 = Okara, Pakistan{{!}}Okara | div_20 = Punjab | pop_20 = 533,693

}}

{{Main|Languages of Pakistan|Ethnic groups of Pakistan}}

{{See also|Pakistanis}}{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Languages of Pakistan (2023){{cite web|title=POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS–2023

|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_11.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241220005033/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_11.pdf|archive-date=20 December 2024}}|label1=Punjabi|value1=36.98|color1=Red|label2=Pashto|value2=18.15|color2=Yellow|label3=Sindhi|value3=14.31|color3=Purple|label4=Saraiki|value4=12.00|color4=Orange|label5=Urdu|value5=9.25|color5=Green|label6=Balochi|value6=3.38|color6=Blue|label7=Hindko|value7=2.32|color7=Lime|label8=Brahui|value8=1.16|color8=Violet|label9=Mewati|value9=0.46|color9=Black|value10=0.43|label10=Kohistani|value11=0.11|value12=0.05|label11=Kashmiri|label12=Shina|value13=0.02|label13=Balti|value14=0.003|label14=Kalasha|value15=1.38|label15=Others|color10=Brown|color11=Aqua|color12=Pink|color14=White|color15=Grey}}Pakistan is a diverse society with estimates suggesting it has between 75 and 85 languages.{{cite web |year=2017 |title=Pakistan – Languages |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/PK/languages |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902143126/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/pk/languages |archive-date=2 September 2017 |work=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |edition=20th |editor-last1=Simons |editor-first1=Gary F. |editor-last2=Fennig |editor-first2=Charles D.}}{{cite web |title=Languages of Pakistan |url=https://glottolog.org/glottolog/language.map.html?country=PK#4/33.01/73.28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512205543/https://glottolog.org/glottolog/language.map.html?country=PK#4/33.01/73.28 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |access-date=12 May 2022 |website=Glottolog 4.5 – Languages |publisher=Glottolog}} Urdu and English serve as the official languages, with Urdu being the country's lingua franca and a unifying force among over 75% of Pakistanis.{{cite book |author=Braj B. Kachru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2n4sFGDEMYC&pg=PA138 |title=Language in South Asia |author2=Yamuna Kachru |author3=S.N. Sridhar |date=27 March 2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-46550-2 |pages=36, 138}}-
{{cite web |date=31 December 2015 |title=Urdu In Contempt |url=http://nation.com.pk/editorials/31-Dec-2015/urdu-in-contempt |access-date=12 January 2016 |website=The Nation}}{{cite news |title=CCI defers approval of census results until elections |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1410447 |access-date=26 April 2020 |work=Dawn}} According to the 2023 national census, the largest ethnolinguistic groups include the Punjabis (36.98%), Pashtuns (18.15%), Sindhis (14.31%), Saraikis (12%), Urdu speaking people (9.25%), Balochs (3.38%), Hindkowans/Hazarewals (2.32%), and Brahuis (1.16%).{{Cite web |last=Rana |first=Shahbaz |date=19 July 2024 |title=Pakistan 27th in global population growth |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2480881/pakistan-27th-in-global-population-growth |access-date=23 July 2024 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en |quote=One of the questions in the population census was about the mother-tongue. The number of Urdu speaking people have increased to 9.3% by 2023. But Punjabi-origin people have reduced to 37%. There is also a reduction in the Sindh language speaking people from 14.6% to 14.3%. the Pashto speaking people reduced from 18.3% to 18.2% but Balochi-language people increased from 3% to 3.4%. The number of Saraiki-language people was reduced from 12.2% to 12%.}} The remaining population consists of various ethnic minorities such as Kashmiris, Paharis, Chitralis, various peoples of Gilgit-Baltistan, Kohistanis, Torwalis, Meos, Hazaras, Kalash and Siddis.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Brahui |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brahui}}{{cite news |last=Abbas |first=Zaffar |date=13 March 2002 |title=Pakistan's Sidi keep heritage alive |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1869876.stm |access-date=26 December 2016}} The Pakistani diaspora, numbering over seven million, is the sixth largest in the world.{{cite web |date=15 January 2016 |title=India has largest diaspora population in world: UN |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/india-has-largest-diaspora-population-in-world-un/183731.html |access-date=3 March 2016 |website=The Tribune}}

{{Main|Immigration to Pakistan}}

File:Refugees from Afghanistan in Pakistan, near Islamabad.jpg fetching water from water pump. (Pakistan hosts the second largest refugee population globally after Turkey.{{Cite news |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1188585 |title=Pakistan hosts second largest refugee population globally |last=Rafi |first=Yumna |date=17 June 2015 |newspaper=DAWN.COM|access-date=29 October 2016}})]]

Even post-1947 partition, Indian Muslims kept migrating to Pakistan, especially Karachi and Sindh province.{{Cite journal |last=Khalidi |first=Omar |date=1 January 1998 |title=From torrent to trickle: Indian Muslim migration to Pakistan, 1947–97 |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=339–352 |jstor=20837002}} Wars in neighboring Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s pushed millions of Afghan refugees into Pakistan, mainly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas, with some in Karachi and Quetta. Pakistan hosts one of the world's largest refugee populations.{{cite news |title=Ten countries host half of world's refugees: report |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/ten-countries-host-world-refugees-report-161004042014076.html|access-date=30 April 2017 |work=Al Jazeera English |date=4 October 2016}} Additionally, around 2 million Bangladeshis and half a million undocumented individuals, purportedly from Myanmar, reside in Pakistan.{{cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/322325/five-million-illegal-immigrants-residing-in-pakistan/ |title=Five million illegal immigrants residing in Pakistan |date=16 January 2012 |newspaper=Express Tribune|access-date=26 December 2016}} In October 2023, Pakistan ordered the deportation of thousands undocumented refugees, citing security concerns.{{cite news |title='What's wrong?': The silence of Pakistanis on expulsion of Afghan refugees |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/22/whats-wrong-the-silence-of-pakistanis-on-expulsion-of-afghan-refugees |work=Al Jazeera |date=22 November 2023}}

Migration of Bengalis and Rohingya to Pakistan started in the 1980s and continued till 1998. Karachi hosts a significant number of Bengali settlements, and large Rohingya migration made it one of their largest populations outside Myanmar.{{Cite news |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1165299 |title=Identity issue haunts Karachi's Rohingya population |last=Rehman |first=Zia Ur |date=23 February 2015 |work=Dawn |quote=Their large-scale migration had made Karachi one of the largest Rohingya population centres outside Myanmar but afterwards the situation started turning against them.|access-date=26 December 2016}} Karachi's Burmese community resides in various slums across the city.{{Cite news |url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/the-rohingyas-of-karachi/ |title=The Rohingyas of Karachi |last=Khan |first=Naimat |date=12 June 2015}}

According to BBC, thousands of Uyghur Muslims live in Gilgit-Baltistan, some left Xinjiang, China and the thriving trading town of Kashgar in 1949, while others are later arrivals, claiming to escape political oppression.{{Cite news |title=How the Uighurs keep their culture alive in Pakistan |last=Jaffrey |first=Shumaila |date=12 August 2015 |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33775646 |quote=Insa is one of a few thousand Uighur Muslims who live in Gilgit. The community is a mix of generations. Some left Xinjiang and the thriving trading town of Kashgar in 1949, while others are later arrivals. All say they were forced to leave as they were the victims of cultural and religious oppression in China.|access-date=26 December 2016}} Since 1989, thousands of Kashmiri Muslim refugees fled to Pakistan, alleging rape and forced displacement by Indian soldiers.{{Cite news |last=Istvan |first=Zoltan |date=13 March 2003 |work=National Geographic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0313_030313_tvpakirefugees_2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305173913/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0313_030313_tvpakirefugees_2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 March 2010 |title=Refugee Crisis Worsening In Western Kashmir |quote=The refugees claim that Indian soldiers forced them out of their homes ... For Kashmiri Muslims, Pakistan appeared safer than Indian-held Kashmir ... "She was also raped by the soldiers," Ahmad said. "Many of the other female refugees were also raped."|access-date=15 January 2017}}

{{Main|Overseas Pakistani}}

File:Nergis Mavalvala.jpg is a Pakistani American Professor of Physics at MIT who is known for her role in the first observation of gravitational waves.]]

According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Pakistan has the sixth-largest diaspora globally. Approximately 7 million Pakistanis reside abroad, mainly in the Middle East, Europe, and North America.{{cite web |date=14 February 2009 |title=Pride and the Pakistani Diaspora |url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/142435 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015142319/http://archives.dawn.com/archives/142435 |archive-date=15 October 2013 |access-date=15 October 2013 |publisher=Archives.dawn.com}} Pakistan ranks 10th globally for remittances sent home.{{cite web |year=2010 |title=Migration and Remittances: Top Countries |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1199807908806/Top10.pdf |access-date=19 December 2013 |publisher=Siteresources.worldbank.org}} Saudi Arabia is the largest source of remittances, contributing $5.9 billion {{as of|2016|lc=y}}.{{Cite news |date=16 July 2016 |title=Saudi Arabia remains largest source of remittances for Pakistan |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1142758/saudi-arabia-remains-largest-source-remittances/ |access-date=24 December 2016 |newspaper=The Express Tribune}} The term Overseas Pakistani is officially recognized by the Government of Pakistan, with the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development addressing their needs, welfare, and issues. Overseas Pakistanis constitute the second-largest source of foreign exchange remittances to Pakistan, with remittances increasing by over 100% from US$8.9 billion in 2009–10 to US$19.9 billion in 2015–16.

{{Main|Religion in Pakistan}}

{{bar box

|title=Religions in Pakistan (2023 census){{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf|title=Religious Demographics of Pakistan 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212115052/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf |archive-date=12 December 2024}}

|titlebar=#ddd

|left1=Religions

|right1=Percent

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{{bar percent|Islam|green|96.3}}

{{bar percent|Hinduism|orange|2.2}}

{{bar percent|Christianity|blue|1.4}}

{{bar percent|others|purple|0.1}}

}}

Islam is the state religion,{{sfn|Munir|1975}} with freedom of religion guaranteed by the constitution.{{cite web|title=Constitution of Pakistan|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/the-constitution-of-1973/|website=Story of Pakistan|date=June 2003|publisher=Nazaria-e-Pakistan, Part IV|access-date=6 October 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002225754/http://storyofpakistan.com/the-constitution-of-1973/|archive-date=2 October 2013}}
- {{cite web|title=Religions in Pakistan {{!}} PEW-GRF|url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/pakistan#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2020®ion_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2020|access-date=14 July 2021|website=www.globalreligiousfutures.org|archive-date=23 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123090234/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/pakistan#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2020®ion_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2020|url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Pakistan : Christians|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ba0ae0e7.html|access-date=14 July 2021|website=Refworld}}
- {{cite web|date=26 May 2018|title=Headcount finalised sans third-party audit|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1719994/headcount-finalised-sans-third-party-audit?amp=1|access-date=14 July 2021|website=The Express Tribune}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part2.ch1.html |title=The Constitution of Pakistan, Part II: Chapter 1: Fundamental Rights|publisher=Pakistani.org|access-date=22 August 2018}} The majority are Muslims (96.35%), followed by Hindus (2.17%) and Christians (1.37%). Minorities include Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians (Parsi), and the unique Kalash people who practice animism.{{cite news |title=Pakistan's Forgotten Pagans Get Their Due |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/28439107.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=19 April 2017}} In 2012, 2% of the population identified as atheist in a Gallup survey.{{cite news |last=Husain |first=Irfan |title=Faith in decline |url=http://dawn.com/2012/08/27/faith-in-decline/|access-date=16 December 2012 |newspaper=Dawn, Irfan |date=27 August 2012 |quote=Interestingly, and somewhat intriguingly, 2 per cent of the Pakistanis surveyed see themselves as atheists, up from 1pc in 2005. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204113125/http://dawn.com/2012/08/27/faith-in-decline/ |archive-date=4 December 2012}}

{{Main|Islam in Pakistan}}

File:Faisal Masjid.jpg, built in 1986 by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay on behalf of King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia]]

Islam dominates in Pakistan, with about 96.35% of the population being Muslim.Muhammad Qasim Zaman, Islam in Pakistan: A History (Princeton UP, 2018) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=53232 online review]

Pakistan ranks second globally in Muslim population,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbqfCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT5|title=Islam in India and Pakistan{{Snd}} A Religious History |last=Singh |first=Dr. Y P |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |year=2016 |isbn=978-93-85505-63-8 |quote=Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia.}}
- see: Islam by country and is home to 10.5% of the world's Muslims.{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/|title=The Global Religious Landscape|date=December 2012|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=5 November 2018}} Karachi is the largest Muslim city in the world.{{cite book|title=Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics|first=Nichola|last= Khan|year= 2016| isbn= 978-0-19-086978-6|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote= ... With a population of over 23 million Karachi is also the world's largest Muslim city, the world's seventh largest conurbation ... }}

The majority follow Sunni Islam, with a significant presence of Sufism, while Shia Muslims constitute a minority.{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf |title=Country Profile: Pakistan |date=February 2005 |publisher=Library of Congress |quote=Religion: The overwhelming majority of the population (96.4 percent) is Muslim, of whom approximately 95 percent are Sunni follows Sufism and 5 percent Shia.|website=Library of Congress Country Studies on Pakistan|access-date=1 September 2010}}{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Pakistan&countryCode=pk®ionCode=sas&#pk |title=Religions: Muslim 96.4% (Sunni 75%, Shia 20%), other |year=2010 |publisher=CIA |department=Pakistan (includes Christian and Hindu) 5% |access-date=28 August 2010 |website=The World Factbook |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226143549/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Pakistan&countryCode=pk®ionCode=sas&#pk |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite web |url=http://pewforum.org/Muslim/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population%286%29.aspx |title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population |date=7 October 2009 |publisher=Pew Research Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327201319/http://pewforum.org/Muslim/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population%286%29.aspx |archive-date=27 March 2010 |editor-first=Tracy |editor-last=Miller |access-date=9 June 2010 }}
- {{cite book |url=http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf |title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population |date=October 2009 |publisher=Pew Research Center |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Tracy |access-date=28 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113140829/http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 January 2010 }}
- {{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108505.htm |title=Pakistan – International Religious Freedom Report 2008 |publisher=United States Department of State |date=19 September 2008 |access-date=28 August 2010 }} Shias represent between 5–25%.{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/ |title=The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity |date=9 August 2012 |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=26 December 2016 |quote=On the other hand, in Pakistan, where 6% of the survey respondents identify as Shia, Sunni attitudes are more mixed: 50% say Shias are Muslims, while 41% say they are not. }}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Pakistan&countryCode=pk®ionCode=sas&#pk |title=Field Listing : Religions |year=2010 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=24 August 2010 |website=The World Factbook |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226143549/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Pakistan&countryCode=pk®ionCode=sas&#pk |url-status=dead }} The Shia population in Pakistan was estimated at 42 million in 2019.{{cite web|first=Ammar Ali|last=Qureshi|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1515823|title=Non-fiction: Pakistan's Shia dynamics |date=10 November 2019|website=Dawn}} {{As of|2012}}, 12% of Pakistani Muslims self-identify as non-denominational Muslims.{{cite web|date=9 August 2012|title=Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-religious-affiliation/|access-date=12 April 2022|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US}}

The Ahmadis are a minority, officially considered non-Muslims.The 1998 Pakistani census states that there are 291,000 (0.22%) Ahmadis in Pakistan. However, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has boycotted the census since 1974 which renders official Pakistani figures to be inaccurate. Independent groups have estimated the Pakistani Ahmadiyya population to be somewhere between 2 million and 4 million Ahmadis. However, the 4 million figure is the most quoted figure and is approximately 2.2% of the country. See:

• over 2 million: {{cite web |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49913b5f2c.html |title=Pakistan: The situation of Ahmadis, including legal status and political, education and employment rights; societal attitudes toward Ahmadis (2006 – Nov. 2008) |date=4 December 2008 |author=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada|access-date=28 June 2012}}
• 3 million: International Federation for Human Rights: International Fact-Finding Mission. Freedoms of Expression, of Association and of Assembly in Pakistan. Ausgabe 408/2, January 2005, S. 61 ([http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/pk408a-2.pdf PDF])
• 3–4 million: Commission on International Religious Freedom: Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 2005, S. 130
• {{cite web |url=http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&category=&publisher=IRBC&type=QUERYRESPONSE&coi=PAK&rid=&docid=45f1478f20&skip=0 |title=Pakistan: Situation of members of the Lahori Ahmadiyya Movement in Pakistan|access-date=30 April 2014}}{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108505.htm |title=International Religious Freedom Report 2008: Pakistan |date=19 September 2008 |publisher=US State Department|access-date=24 June 2010}} Ahmadis face persecution, banned from calling themselves Muslims since 1974.New Approaches to the Analysis of Jihadism: Online and Offline, p. 38, Rüdiger Lohlker{{Snd}} 2012

{{Main|Hinduism in Pakistan}}

[[File:Hindu Proportion by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|

Hinduism is the second-largest religion, followed by 2.17% of the population according to the census in 2023. Pakistan had the fifth-largest Hindu population globally in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/hindus/pf_15-04-02_projectionstables96/ |title=10 Countries With the Largest Hindu Populations, 2010 and 2050 |date=2 April 2015 |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=13 January 2017 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226143905/http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/hindus/pf_15-04-02_projectionstables96/ |url-status=dead }} In 2023, Hindus numbered 5,217,216.{{efn|This number includes population of the Hindu (Jati) and the scheduled castes.}} They reside across Pakistan but are concentrated in Sindh, where they make up 8.81% of the population. Umerkot district of the province is the only Hindu majority area. Tharparkar district hosts the largest Hindu population. Four districts – Umerkot, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, and Sanghar – have over half of Pakistan's Hindus.{{cite web |title=Population By Sex, Religion and Rural/Urban, Census - 2023 {{!}} Sindh |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/sindh/dcr/table_9.pdf |website=pbs.gov.pk |publisher=Pakistan Bureau Statistics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726222045/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/sindh/dcr/table_9.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2024}}

At Pakistan's inception, the 'hostage theory' suggested fair treatment of Hindus to safeguard Muslims in India.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5c9ta97GeoC&pg=PA72 |title=The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories |last=Zamindar |first=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-231-13847-5 |page=72 |quote=The logic of the hostage theory tied the treatment of Muslim minorities in India to the treatment meted out to Hindus in Pakistan.}}{{R|Dhulipala-2015-6}} However, some Pakistani Hindus felt marginalized, leading to emigration to India.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm |title=Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan |last=Sohail |first=Riaz |date=2 March 2007 |work=BBC News |quote=But many Hindu families who stayed in Pakistan after partition have already lost faith and migrated to India.|access-date=22 February 2011}} They faced violence post the Babri Masjid demolition,{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2DD113BF93BA35751C1A964958260&sec=&spon= |title=Pakistanis Attack 30 Hindu Temples |date=7 December 1992 |newspaper=The New York Times |quote=Muslims attacked more than 30 Hindu temples across Pakistan today, and the Government of this overwhelmingly Muslim nation closed offices and schools for a day to protest the destruction of a mosque in India.|access-date=15 April 2011}} enduring forced conversions and abductions.{{cite web|title=Pakistan: 25 Hindu girls abducted every month; forcibly converted to Islam | Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)|url=http://www.realcourage.org/2010/03/pakistan-25-hindu-girls-abducted-every-month/|access-date=12 April 2022|website=www.realcourage.org}}

{{Main|Christianity in Pakistan}}

[[File:Christian Proportion by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|

Christians are the next largest religious minority after Hindus, constituting 1.37% of the population. They are concentrated in Lahore District (5%) and Islamabad Capital Territory (over 4%). Karachi hosts a historic Roman Catholic community established by Goan and Tamil migrants during British colonial rule.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/district-wise-census-2017-results|title=District wise census|access-date=12 August 2021|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804025540/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/district-wise-census-2017-results|url-status=dead}}

Following Christianity, the Bahá'í Faith had 30,000 followers in 2008, followed by Sikhism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism, each with around 20,000 adherents in 2008,{{cite web |title=Pakistan—International Religious Freedom Report 2008 |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108505.htm |access-date=28 August 2010 |quote=The majority of Muslims in the country are Sunni, with a Shi'a minority ranging between 10 to 20 percent.|year=2008 |publisher=United States Department of State}} alongside a small Jain community.

{{Main|Education in Pakistan}}

{{See also|Higher Education Commission (Pakistan)|Rankings of universities in Pakistan}}

File:NUST MainOffice.png in Islamabad is a top ranked Engineering University.]]

Pakistan's constitution mandates free primary and secondary education,{{cite web |title=Chapter 1: "Fundamental Rights" of Part II: "Fundamental Rights and Principles of Policy" |url=http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part2.ch1.html |website=pakistani.org}}
- {{cite web |date=21 April 2006 |title=Right to Education in Pakistan |url=http://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/international-affairs/human-rights-and-impunity/the-right-to-education-in-pakistan.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313083147/http://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/international-affairs/human-rights-and-impunity/the-right-to-education-in-pakistan.html |archive-date=13 March 2012 |access-date=25 July 2010 |publisher=World Council of Churches}} with public universities established in each province, including Punjab University, Sindh University, Peshawar University, Karachi University, and Balochistan University. The country's educational landscape encompasses both public and private universities, fostering collaboration to enhance research and higher education opportunities, albeit with concerns regarding teaching quality in newer institutions.{{cite web |date=10 September 2015 |title=Number of universities rises while education standard falls |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/islamabad/10-Sep-2015/number-of-universities-rises-while-education-standard-falls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006074617/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/islamabad/10-Sep-2015/number-of-universities-rises-while-education-standard-falls |archive-date=6 October 2015 |access-date=11 September 2015 |website=DailyTimes}} Technical and vocational institutions in Pakistan number approximately 3,193,{{cite report |title=Economic Survey 2009–10 |publisher=Ministry of Finance, Pakistan |page=147 & Table 11.1 (p. 160) |access-date=2 January 2012 |chapter=Education |chapter-url=http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_10/10_Education.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113072252/http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_10/10_Education.pdf |url-status=dead }} complemented by madrassahs providing free Islamic education to students,{{cite web |title=Pakistani madrassahs |url=http://www.uvm.edu/~envprog/madrassah.html#_ftn8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050214194645/http://www.uvm.edu/~envprog/madrassah.html#_ftn8 |archive-date=14 February 2005 |access-date=21 February 2009 |publisher=United States Institute of Peace}} with government efforts to regulate and monitor their quality amidst concerns over extremists recruitment.{{cite web |last=Synovitz |first=Ron |date=24 February 2004 |title=Pakistan: Despite Reform Plan, Few Changes Seen At Most Radical Madrassahs |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1051650.html |access-date=21 February 2009 |publisher=Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty}}
- {{cite web |last1=Ali |first1=Syed Mohammad |title=Policy Brief: Another Approach to Madrassa Reforms in Pakistan |url=http://jinnah-institute.org/policy-brief-another-approach-to-madrassa-reforms-in-pakistan-3/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518112052/http://jinnah-institute.org/policy-brief-another-approach-to-madrassa-reforms-in-pakistan-3/ |archive-date=18 May 2015 |access-date=21 February 2015 |publisher=Jinnah Institute of Peace}} Education is divided into six main levels, including nursery, primary, middle, matriculation, intermediate, and university programs. Additionally, private schools offer a parallel secondary education system based on the curriculum set by the Cambridge International Examinations,{{cite web |title=GCE O and A level exams in Pakistan |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/pakistan-exams-gce.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201090835/http://www.britishcouncil.org/pakistan-exams-gce.htm |archive-date=1 February 2008 |access-date=13 February 2008 |publisher=British Council}} with 439 international schools reported in Pakistan.{{cite web |title=ISC News |url=http://www.iscresearch.com/information/isc-news.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000123/http://www.iscresearch.com/information/isc-news.aspx |archive-date=4 March 2016 |publisher=International School Consultancy Group}}

File:Malala Yousafzai and Kaliash Satyarthi at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.jpg was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, alongside Kailash Satyarthi of India, for her advocacy of educational initiatives, particularly girls' education worldwide.|left]]

Initiatives since 2007 made English medium education mandatory nationwide. Following a 2012 attack on activist Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban, she became the youngest Nobel laureate for her education advocacy.{{cite web |last=McNicoll |first=Kristen |title=English medium education improvement in Pakistan supported |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/organisation/press/english-medium-education-improvement-pakistan-supported |access-date=21 February 2015 |publisher=British Council Pakistan Bureau}}
- {{cite web |title=Ministry of Education-Government of Pakistan |url=http://www.moe.gov.pk/mediacell.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105215406/http://www.moe.gov.pk/mediacell.htm |archive-date=5 January 2007 |access-date=1 January 2012 |publisher=Moe.gov.pk}} Reforms in 2013 mandated Chinese language courses in Sindh, reflecting China's growing influence. As of 2018, Pakistan's literacy rate stands at 62.3%, with significant regional and gender disparities.{{cite news |date=10 June 2019 |title=Pakistan Economic Survey 2018–19 Chapter 10: Education |url=http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_19/10-Education.pdf |access-date=7 July 2019 |work=Dawn |archive-date=7 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707005708/http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_19/10-Education.pdf |url-status=dead }} Government initiatives, including computer literacy since 1995, aim to eradicate illiteracy, targeting 100% enrollment among primary school-age children and an ~86% literacy rate by 2015.{{cite web |title=National Plan of Action 2001–2015 |url=http://www.moe.gov.pk/npaEFA.zip |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517232352/http://www.moe.gov.pk/npaEFA.zip |archive-date=17 May 2006 |access-date=13 February 2008 |publisher=Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan |format=ZIP}} Pakistan allocates 2.3% of its GDP to education,{{cite news |title=Pakistan Economic Survey 2019–20 (Education) |url=http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_20/10_Education.pdf |access-date=25 May 2021 |archive-date=21 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621162712/https://finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_20/10_Education.pdf |url-status=dead }} among the lowest in South Asia.{{cite web |date=28 April 2016 |title=Pakistan's education spending lowest in South Asia |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1254909/pakistans-education-spending-lowest-in-south-asia |publisher=Dawn}}

{{Clear}}

{{Main|Culture of Pakistan|British heritage of Pakistan|Public holidays in Pakistan}}

File:Ceiling of Frere Hall.jpg on the ceiling of Frere Hall. Having painted around 15,000 paintings, Sadequain is considered one of the finest painters and calligraphers Pakistan has ever produced.]]

Civil society in Pakistan is hierarchical, emphasizing local cultural etiquette and traditional Islamic values. The primary family unit is the extended family, but there's a rising trend towards nuclear families due to socio-economic factors.{{cite web |url=http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/pakistan.html |title=Pakistan- Language, Religion, Culture, Customs and Etiquette |publisher=Kwint Essential|access-date=17 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323000308/http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/pakistan.html |archive-date=23 March 2009 }}{{cite journal |author=Anwar Alam |title=Factors and Consequences of Nuclearization of Family at Hayatabad Phase-II, Peshawar |journal=Sarhad J. Agric. |year=2008 |volume=24 |url=http://www.aup.edu.pk/sj_pdf/FACTORS%20AND%20CONSEQUENCES%20OF%20NUCLEARIZATION.pdf |access-date=21 April 2012 |issue=3 |archive-date=11 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411211512/http://www.aup.edu.pk/sj_pdf/FACTORS%20AND%20CONSEQUENCES%20OF%20NUCLEARIZATION.pdf |url-status=dead }} Both men and women typically wear Shalwar Kameez; men also favor trousers, jeans, and shirts.{{cite book |author1=Sarina Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zn8I4qEew9oC |title=Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway |author2=Lindsay Brow |author3=Paul Clammer |author4=Rodney Cocks |author5=John Mock |publisher=Lonely Planet |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-74104-542-0 |pages=60, 128, 376}} The middle class has grown to about 35 million, with another 17 million in the upper and upper-middle classes, leading to a shift in power from rural landowners to urban elites.{{cite web |title=The rise of Mehran man |url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/19124 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125011513/http://news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/irfan-husain-the-rise-of-mehran-man-740 |archive-date=25 November 2010 |website=Dawn |location=Pakistan News |author=Irfan Husain |date=17 April 2010|access-date=25 July 2010}} Festivals like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Azha, Ramadan, Christmas, Easter, Holi, and Diwali are primarily religious. Pakistan ranked 56th on the 2006 A.T. Kearney/FP Globalization Index due to increasing globalization.{{cite web |title=A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine Globalization Index 2006 |url=https://www.ucg.ac.me/skladiste/blog_2607/objava_31363/fajlovi/global06index.pdf |publisher=A.T. Kearney |date=Nov–Dec 2006 |page=77|access-date=15 April 2025 |via=University of Montenegro}}

{{Main|Pakistani architecture|Hindu, Jain and Buddhist architectural heritage of Pakistan}}

File: Lahore Fort.jpg, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site|left]]

Four periods define Pakistani architecture: pre-Islamic, Islamic, colonial, and post-colonial. The onset of the Indus civilization around the mid-3rd millennium BCE heralded an urban culture, evidenced by surviving large structures.{{cite web |author=Vidja Dehejia |title=South Asian Art and Culture |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/sasa/hd_sasa.htm |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|date=February 2007 |access-date=10 February 2008}} Notable pre-Islamic settlements include Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, and Kot Diji.{{cite web |url=http://www.tourism.gov.pk/mountain.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110014044/http://www.tourism.gov.pk/mountain.html |archive-date=10 November 2006 |title=PTDC page on mountaineering |publisher=Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation|access-date=10 November 2006}} The fusion of Buddhism and Greek influences birthed a distinctive Greco-Buddhist style from the 1st century CE, exemplified by the renowned Gandhara style.{{Cite book|last=Maity|first=Sachindra Kumar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8Iz5C5auqEC&pg=PA46|title=Cultural Heritage of Ancient India|date=1983|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-0-391-02809-8}} Notable Buddhist architectural remnants include the Takht-i-Bahi monastery in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.{{cite web |title=UNESCO Advisory Body Evaluation of Takht Bhai |publisher=International Council on Monuments and Sites |pages=1–2 |url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/140.pdf |date=29 December 1979|access-date=25 July 2010}}

The advent of Islam in present-day Pakistan marked the cessation of Buddhist architecture, ushering in Islamic architecture. The notable Indo-Islamic structure, the tomb of Shah Rukn-i-Alam in Multan, remains significant. During the Mughal era, Persian-Islamic design merged with Hindustani art, seen in Lahore's architectural gems like the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort with the iconic Alamgiri Gate. Lahore also boasts the vibrant Wazir Khan Mosque,{{Cite book|last=Valentine|first=Simon Ross|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdRth02Q6nAC&pg=PA63|title=Islam and the Ahmadiyya Jama'at: History, Belief, Practice|date=2008|publisher=Hurst & Company|isbn=978-1-85065-916-7}} and the lush Shalimar Gardens. In the British colonial period, Indo-European buildings emerged, blending European and Indian-Islamic styles. Post-colonial identity shines through modern landmarks like the Faisal Mosque, Minar-e-Pakistan, and Mazar-e-Quaid. British architectural influence persists in structures across Lahore, Peshawar, and Karachi.{{cite book |author=Kamil Khan Mumtaz |title=Architecture in Pakistan |year=1985 |publisher=Concept Media Pte Ltd |isbn=978-9971-84-141-6 |pages=32, 51, 160}}

{{Main|Pakistani clothing|Shalwar kameez|Sherwani|Jinnah cap|Peshawari chappal|Pakol|Sindhi topi}}

File:Traditional clothing from Sindh.jpg]]

The Shalwar kameez is Pakistan's national dress, worn in all provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Azad Kashmir. Each province has its own style. Pakistanis wear a variety of fabrics like silk, chiffon, and cotton. In addition to the national dress, men often wear domestically tailored suits and neckties, especially in offices, schools, and social gatherings.{{cite book|author1=Stephanie Koerner|author2=Ian Russell|title=Unquiet Pasts: Risk Society, Lived Cultural Heritage, Re-designing Reflexivity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7li2jpQgYvAC&pg=PA382|year=2010|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7548-8|page=382}}

Pakistan's fashion industry has thrived, blending traditional and modern styles to create a unique cultural identity. Regional and traditional dress remain significant symbols of native tradition, evolving into both modern and purer forms. Organizations like the Pakistan Fashion Design Council in Lahore and the Fashion Pakistan Council in Karachi host events like PFDC Fashion Week and Fashion Pakistan Week. Pakistan's inaugural fashion week took place in November 2009.{{cite news |author=Michele Langevine Leiby |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-pakistan-fashion-weeks-thrive-beyond-the-style-capitals-of-the-world/2012/04/24/gIQAt3qcgT_story.html |title=In Pakistan, fashion weeks thrive beyond the style capitals of the world |newspaper=Washington Post |date=25 April 2012|access-date=20 April 2013}}

{{Main|Literature of Pakistan|Urdu poetry|Pakistani philosophy}}

File:Iqbal.jpg, Pakistan's national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan]]

Pakistan boasts literature in various languages including Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Baluchi, Persian, English, and more.{{cite book |author=Alamgir Hashmi |editor=Radhika Mohanram |others=Gita Rajan |title=English postcoloniality: literatures from around the world |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_uwA78YZDoC&pg=PA107|year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-28854-8 |pages=107–112}} The Pakistan Academy of Letters actively promotes literature and poetry both domestically and internationally.Official website in English [http://pal.gov.pk/home/ Pakistan Academy of Letters] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306135947/http://pal.gov.pk/home/ |date=6 March 2013}} National Library contributes to literary dissemination. Historically, Pakistani literature consisted mainly of lyric, religious, and folkloric works, later diversifying under colonial influence into prose fiction, now widely embraced.{{cite web |author=Gilani Kamran |title=Pakistani Literature{{Snd}} Evolution & trends |url=http://www.the-south-asian.com/Jan2002/Pakistani-Literature3-the-Novel.htm |publisher=The South Asian Magazine |date=January 2002|access-date=24 December 2011}}{{cite web |author=Huma Imtiaz |title=Granta: The global reach of Pakistani literature |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/53272/granta-the-global-reach-of-pakistani-literature/ |website=The Express Tribune |date=26 September 2010|access-date=24 December 2011}}

The national poet of Pakistan, Muhammad Iqbal, wrote influential poetry in Urdu and Persian, advocating for Islamic civilizational revival.{{cite encyclopedia |author=Annemarie Schimmel |title=Iqbal, Muhammad |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |date=15 December 2004 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iqbal-muhammad |access-date=1 January 2012}} Notable figures in contemporary Urdu literature include Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and Saadat Hasan Manto. Popular Sufi poets like Shah Abdul Latif and Bulleh Shah are revered.{{Cite news |author=Muhammad Zahid Rifat |title=Paying tributes to popular Sufi poets |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-268638505.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117074308/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-268638505.html |archive-date=17 January 2013 |newspaper=The Nation|date=3 October 2011|access-date=25 December 2011}} Mirza Kalich Beg is hailed as the father of modern Sindhi prose.{{cite book |title=L.H. Ajwani |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dL5owdAV5TcC&pg=PA50 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi|author=Chetan Karnani |year=2003 |isbn=978-81-260-1664-8 |page=50}} Pakistani philosophy has been shaped by influences from British and American philosophy, with notable figures like M. M. Sharif contributing to its development.{{cite web |display-authors=etal |author=Richard V. DeSemet |title=Philosophical Activities in Pakistan:1947–1961 |url=http://www.crvp.org/book/Series02/IIA-3/appendix.htm |website=Work published by Pakistan Philosophical Congress |access-date=25 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509105450/http://www.crvp.org/book/Series02/IIA-3/appendix.htm |archive-date=9 May 2013}} Post-1971, Marxist thought gained prominence in Pakistani philosophy through figures like Jalaludin Abdur Rahim.{{cite book |editor-last1=Ahmad |editor-first1=Naeem |title=Philosophy in Pakistan |date=1998 |publisher=Council for Research in Values and Philosophy |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-56518-108-3}}

{{Main|Mass media in Pakistan|Cinema of Pakistan|Music of Pakistan|History of Pakistani pop music|Theatre of Pakistan|Pakistani dramas}}

The private print media, state-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) dominated media until the 21st century. Pakistan now boasts a vast network of domestic, privately owned 24-hour news media and television channels.{{cite web|url= https://www.mediasupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ims-media-pakistan-radicalisation-2009.pdf |title=Media in Pakistan |publisher=International Media Support |pages=14–16, 21 |access-date=10 August 2020 |date=July 2009}} Reporters Without Borders has indicated pressure faced by Pakistani reporters, particularly when reporting against the army or government. The BBC describes Pakistani media as "among the most outspoken in South Asia".{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12965785 |title=Pakistan profile{{Snd}} Media |work=BBC News |access-date=23 April 2016|date=2 March 2017}} Pakistani media has been instrumental in exposing corruption.{{cite web |url=https://www.mediasupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ims-media-pakistan-radicalisation-2009.pdf |title={{Not a typo|Between radicalisation and democratisation in an unfolding conflict: Media in Pakistan}}|publisher=International Media Support|date=July 2009|access-date=10 August 2020}}

The Lollywood, Punjabi, and Pashto film industry is centered in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar. Although Bollywood films were banned from public cinemas from 1965 to 2008, they remained influential in Pakistani popular culture.{{cite news |last=Randhava |first=Naseem |title=Bollywood films may be banned in Pakistan |url=http://sg.news.yahoo.com/bollywood-films-may-banned-pakistan-094000464.html |publisher=Yahoo! News |date=11 October 2011 |access-date=31 October 2011}}
- {{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4639216.stm |title=Pakistan to show Bollywood film |work=BBC News |date=23 January 2006 |access-date=13 February 2008}} However, in 2019, the screening of Bollywood movies faced an indefinite ban.{{Cite web |last=Zeb |first=Parkha |date=22 February 2023 |title=Pakistan is (finally) getting over its Bollywood mania |url=https://images.dawn.com/news/1191547 |access-date=22 February 2023 |website=Images |language=en}} Despite challenges faced by the Pakistani film industry, Urdu televised dramas and theatrical performances remain popular, frequently broadcast by many entertainment media outlets.{{cite web |url=http://www.browngirlmagazine.com/2015/01/evolving-world-pakistani-dramas-builds-stronger-relations-india/ |title=The Evolving World of Pakistani Dramas Builds Stronger Relations With India |date=21 January 2015 |publisher=Brown Girl |last1=Shaikh |first1=Naila |access-date=25 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428110047/http://www.browngirlmagazine.com/2015/01/evolving-world-pakistani-dramas-builds-stronger-relations-india/ |archive-date=28 April 2015 |url-status=dead }} Urdu dramas dominate the television entertainment industry, renowned for their quality since the 1990s.{{cite news|title=Pakistani dramas contribute to the evolution of Indian television |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/entertainment/25-Dec-2014/pakistani-dramas-contribute-to-the-evolution-of-indian-television |access-date=25 May 2015 |work=Daily Times|date=25 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150719082117/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/entertainment/25-Dec-2014/pakistani-dramas-contribute-to-the-evolution-of-indian-television |archive-date=19 July 2015}} Pakistani music encompasses diverse forms, from provincial folk music and traditional styles like Qawwali and Ghazal Gayaki to modern fusions of traditional and western music.{{cite news |date=6 September 1997 |title=The stilled voice |work=Frontline |url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1418/14181230.htm |access-date=30 June 2011 |author1=Amit Baruah |author2=R. Padmanabhan |location=Chennai, India |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927003536/http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1418/14181230.htm}} Pakistan boasts numerous renowned folk singers, and the arrival of Afghan refugees in western provinces has sparked interest in Pashto music, despite occasional intolerance.{{cite news |author=Owais Tohid |date=7 June 2005 |title=Music soothes extremism along troubled Afghan border |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0607/p07s01-wosc.html |access-date=20 January 2012}}

{{Main|Pakistani cuisine}}

[[Chapatis served with various side dishes are considered a staple food in Pakistan|thumb]]

Pakistani cuisine, rooted in the royal kitchens of 16th-century Mughal emperors, blends influences from British, Indian, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions.{{cite book|last=Goodwin|first=William |title=Pakistan|year=2002 |publisher=Lucent Books|isbn=978-1-59018-218-5|page=79|quote=Pakistani food is similar to that of northern India, with a splash of Middle Eastern influence derived from other Muslim cultures over the centuries.}} Unlike Middle Eastern fare, Pakistani dishes are heavily spiced with garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili, and garam masala. Roti, a wheat-based flatbread, accompanies most meals, alongside curry, meat, vegetables, and lentils. Rice is also common, served plain, spiced, or in sweet dishes.{{sfn|Mohiuddin|2007|page=3, 317, 323–324}}{{cite book |author=Kathleen W. Deady |title=Countries of the world :Pakistan |year=2001 |publisher=Capstone Press |isbn=978-0-7368-0815-6 |pages=13–15}} Lassi, a traditional drink from the Punjab region, and black tea with milk and sugar are popular beverages enjoyed nationwide.{{cite book |author=Tarla Dalal |title=Punjabi Khana |year=2007 |publisher=Sanjay & Co |isbn=978-81-89491-54-3 |page=8}} Sohan halwa, a beloved sweet dish from southern Punjab, is savored across Pakistan.{{cite news |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1074194/sohan-halwa-a-gift-of-saints-city |title=Sohan Halwa a gift of saints' city |date=16 December 2013 |publisher=Dawn.com|access-date=28 February 2014}}

{{Main|Sport in Pakistan}}

{{multiple image

| align = right

| width1 = 170

| image1 = Pakvaus.jpg

| caption1 = A cricket match between Pakistan and Australia at Lord's.

| width2 = 170

| image2 = Cricket in Iqbal Park (Lahore) and Badshahi Mosque.jpg

| caption2 = Locals playing tape ball cricket near Badshahi Masjid, Lahore

}}

Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, followed by football. Field hockey is the national sport. Other sports like squash, polo, and traditional games are also enjoyed.

In cricket, Pakistan boasts victories in all major ICC tournaments, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, and ICC Champions Trophy. The Pakistan Super League ranks among the top T20 leagues globally.{{cite web |last=Narayanan |first=Deepu |date=19 June 2017 |title=CT17 final stats: Pakistan become fourth team to win all three ICC crowns |url=https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/95302/ct17-final-stats-pakistan-become-fourth-team-to-win-all-three-icc-crowns |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=Cricbuzz}}{{cite web |date=13 February 2019 |title=PSL's brand value stands at $230m or Rs 32.258 bn |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/431453-n-a |website=The News International}}

In football, Pakistan established the Pakistan Football Federation soon after its creation, and it is known for producing FIFA World Cup balls.{{cite web |last=Ahsan |first=Ali |date=23 December 2010 |title=A history of football in Pakistan — Part I |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/593095/a-history-of-football-in-pakistan-part-i |access-date=22 August 2022 |website=Dawn}}{{cite web |date=28 January 2018 |title=Footballs made in Pakistan to be used in FIFA World Cup 2018 |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1620487/7-footballs-made-pakistan-used-fifa-world-cup-2018 |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=The Express Tribune}}

In field hockey, Pakistan boasts four Hockey World Cup wins, eight Asian Games gold medals, and three Olympic gold medals. Squash player Jahangir Khan holds the record for the longest winning streak in professional sport history, winning 555 consecutive matches.{{cite book |author=Bill Mallon |title=Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement |author2=Jeroen Heijmans |publisher=Scarecrow |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8108-7249-3 |edition=4th revised |page=291}}{{Cite web |title=Jahangir Khan recognised as greatest squash player of all time |url=https://unsquashable.com/en-us/blogs/world-tour-highlights/jahangir-khan-recognised-as-greatest-squash-player-of-all-time |access-date=28 August 2023 |website=UNSQUASHABLE |language=en}} Pakistan has hosted various international events, including Cricket and Hockey World Cups and Asian Games.{{cite web |date=16 November 2021 |title=USA to stage T20 World Cup: 2024–2031 ICC Men's tournament hosts confirmed |url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2354682 |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=International Cricket Council}}

{{Portal|Pakistan|Asia}}

• Outline of Pakistan
• Government of Pakistan
• Administrative units of Pakistan

{{Clear}}

{{notelist |refs=

{{efn|name="RSCT"|In the framework of their regional security complex theory (RSCT), Barry Buzan and Ole Waever differentiate between superpowers and great powers which act and influence the global level (or system level) and regional powers whose influence may be large in their regions but have less effect at the global level. This category of regional powers includes Brazil, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.}}

{{efn|name="Rigveda"|The precise time span of the period is uncertain. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas, was composed roughly between 1700 and 1100 BCE, also referred to as the early Vedic period. Oberlies gives an estimate of 1200–1100 BCE for the youngest hymns in book ten. Estimates for a terminus post quem of the earliest hymns are more uncertain. Other 'cumulative evidence' sets a wide range of 1700–1100.}}

}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist |refs=

{{harvtxt|Abbas|2015}} "Javed Nasir confesses that despite the U.N. ban on supplying arms to the besieged Bosnians, he successfully airlifted sophisticated antitank guided missiles which turned the tide in favour of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege. Under his leadership the ISI also got involved in supporting Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang Province, rebel Muslim groups in the Philippines, and some religious groups in Central Asia."

{{harvtxt|Ahmed|1997}} "Mountbatten's partiality was apparent in his own statements. He tilted openly and heavily towards Congress. While doing so he clearly expressed his lack of support and faith in the Muslim League and its Pakistan idea."

{{harvtxt|Allchin|Allchin|1982}} "During the second half of the fourth and early part of the third millennium B.C., a new development begins to become apparent in the greater Indus system, which we can now see to be a formative stage underlying the Mature Indus of the middle and late third millennium. This development seems to have involved the whole Indus system, and to a lesser extent the Indo-Iranian borderlands to its west, but largely left untouched the subcontinent east of the Indus system."

{{harvtxt|Cochrane|2009}} "The social scientist, Nasim Ahmad Jawed has conducted a survey of nationalism in pre-divided Pakistan and identifies the links between religion, politics and nationalism in both wings of Pakistan. His findings are fascinating and go some way to explain the differing attitudes of West and East Pakistan to the relationship between Islam and Pakistani nationalism and how this affected the views of people in both wings, especially the views of the peoples of both wings towards each other. In 1969, Jawed conducted a survey on the type of national identity that was used by educated professional people. He found that just over 60% in the East wing professed to have a secular national identity. However, in the West wing, the same figure professed an Islamic and not a secular identity. Furthermore, the same figure in the East wing described their identity in terms of their ethnicity and not in terms of Islam. He found that the opposite was the case in the West wing where Islam was stated to be more important than ethnicity."

{{harvtxt|Coningham|Young|2015}} "Mehrgarh remains one of the key sites in South Asia because it has provided the earliest known undisputed evidence for farming and pastoral communities in the region, and its plant and animal material provide clear evidence for the ongoing manipulation, and domestication, of certain species. Perhaps most importantly in a South Asian context, the role played by zebu makes this a distinctive, localised development, with a character completely different from other parts of the world. Finally, the longevity of the site, and its articulation with the neighbouring site of Nausharo (c. 2800—2000 BCE), provides a very clear continuity from South Asia's first farming villages to the emergence of its first cities (Jarrige, 1984)."

{{harvtxt|Copland|2001}} "However, the real turning point for the new Muslim League came with the general election of December 1945 and January 1946. Despite facing a rejuvenated Congress, the League won four-fifths of all the Muslim-reserved seats ... The result left no one, not least the British, in doubt about where the locus of power within the Muslim community now lay ... In most respects, therefore, the League's success in the elections of 1945–46 can be interpreted as a clear Muslim mandate for Pakistan. (p 72)"

{{harvtxt|Dhulipala|2015|page=496}} "The idea of Pakistan may have had its share of ambiguities, but its dismissal as a vague emotive symbol hardly illuminates the reasons as to why it received such overwhelmingly popular support among Indian Muslims, especially those in the 'minority provinces' of British India such as U.P."

{{harvtxt|Dhulipala|2015|page=497}} "As the book has demonstrated, local ML functionaries, (U.P.) ML leadership, Muslim modernists at Aligarh, the ulama and even Jinnah at times articulated their vision of Pakistan in terms of an Islamic state."

{{harvtxt|Dhulipala|2015|page=489}} "But what is undeniable is the close association he developed with the ulama, for when he died a little over a year after Pakistan was born, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, in his funeral oration, described Jinnah as the greatest Muslim after the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb."……"Similarly, Usmani asked Pakistanis to remember the Qaid's ceaseless message of Unity, Faith and Discipline and work to fulfil his dream to create a solid bloc of all Muslim states from Karachi to Ankara, from Pakistan to Morocco. He [Jinnah] wanted to see the Muslims of the world united under the banner of Islam as an effective check against the aggressive designs of their enemies."

{{harvtxt|Dhulipala|2015|page=491}} "Khaliq drew a sharp distinction between this Islamic state and a Muslim state. He claimed that as of now Pakistan was only a Muslim state in view of the majority of its population being Muslim, and indeed could never be an Islamic state by itself. It could certainly fulfill its promise and destiny by bringing together all the believers of Islam into one political unit and it is only then that an Islamic state would be achieved."

{{harvtxt|Dhulipala|2015|page=18}} "As a top ranking ML leader Khaliquzzaman declared, 'Pakistan would bring all Muslim countries together into Islamistan – a pan-Islamic entity'."

{{harvtxt|Dhulipala|2015|page=19}} "Within the subcontinent, ML propaganda claimed that besides liberating the 'majority provinces' Muslims it would guarantee protection for Muslims who would be left behind in Hindu India. In this regard, it repeatedly stressed the hostage population theory that held that 'hostage' Hindu and Sikh minorities inside Pakistan would guarantee Hindu India's good behaviour towards its own Muslim minority."

{{harvtxt|Diamantides|Gearey|2011|page=196}} "The Constitution of 1973 was created by a parliament that was elected in the 1970 elections. In this first ever general elections ..."

{{harvtxt|Diamantides|Gearey|2011|page=198}} "The 1973 constitution also created certain institutions to channel the application and interpretation of Islam: the Council of Islamic Ideology and the Shariat Court."

{{harvtxt|Diamantides|Gearey|2011|page=198}} "The Shariat judicial courts were not present in the original Constitution of 1973 and were later inserted in 1979 by General Zia-ul Haq ..."

{{harvtxt|Dyson|2018}} "The subcontinent's people were hunter-gatherers for many millennia. There were very few of them. Indeed, 10,000 years ago there may only have been a couple of hundred thousand people, living in small, often isolated groups, the descendants of various 'modern' human incomers. Then, perhaps linked to events in Mesopotamia, about 8,500 years ago agriculture emerged in Baluchistan."

{{harvtxt|Endrst|1965}} "Former Indian Defense Minister Krishna Menon who for years influenced the decisions of late Prime Minister Nehru himself a Kashmiri-put it bluntly last March in an interview with an American newsman when he said India could never agree to a U.N. sponsored plebiscite because 'Kashmir would vote to join Pakistan, and no Indian government responsible for agreeing to the plebiscite could survive.'"

{{harvtxt|Fisher|2018}} "The earliest discovered instance in India of well-established, settled agricultural society is at Mehrgarh in the hills between the Bolan Pass and the Indus plain (today in Pakistan) (see Map 3.1). From as early as 7000 BCE, communities there started investing increased labor in preparing the land and selecting, planting, tending, and harvesting particular grain-producing plants. They also domesticated animals, including sheep, goats, pigs, and oxen (both humped zebu [Bos indicus] and unhumped [Bos taurus]). Castrating oxen, for instance, turned them from mainly meat sources into domesticated draft-animals as well."

{{refn|name="Geology"|Geology: multiple sources:

• {{harvtxt|Hibbert|2015}}
• {{harvtxt|DeVivo|Laor|Panza|Kossobokov|2021}}
• {{harvtxt|Alisibramulisi et al.|2022}}
• {{harvtxt|Britannica (Azad Kashmir)|2024}}

}}

{{harvtxt|Haqqani|2010|page=16}} "The first formal step toward transforming Pakistan into an Islamic ideological state was taken in March 1949 when the country's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, presented the Objectives Resolution in the constituent assembly."

{{harvtxt|Haqqani|2010|page=18}} "One of the earliest Western scholars of Pakistani politics, Keith Callard, observed that Pakistanis seemed to believe in the essential unity of purpose and outlook in the Muslim world: Pakistan was founded to advance the cause of Muslims. Other Muslims might have been expected to be sympathetic, even enthusiastic. But this assumed that other Muslim states would take the same view of the relation between religion and nationality."

{{harvtxt|Haqqani|2010|page=18}} "Pakistan's pan-Islamic aspirations, however, were neither shared nor supported by the Muslim governments of the time. Nationalism in other parts of the Muslim world was based on ethnicity, language, or territory."

{{harvtxt|Haqqani|2010|page=19}} "Although Muslim governments were initially unsympathetic to Pakistan's pan-Islamic aspirations, Islamists from the world over were drawn to Pakistan. Controversial figures such as the pro-Nazi former grand mufti of Palestine, Al-Haj Amin al-Husseini, and leaders of Islamist political movements like the Arab Muslim Brotherhood became frequent visitors to the country."

{{harvtxt|Haqqani|2013|pages=20–21}} "Within a few years the president of the Muslim League, Chaudhry Khaliq-uz-Zaman, announced that Pakistan would bring all Muslim countries together into Islamistan – a pan-Islamic entity. None of these developments within the new country elicited approval among Americans for the idea of India's partition ... British Prime Minister Clement Attlee voiced the international consensus at the time when he told the House of Commons of his hope that 'this severance may not endure.' He hoped that the proposed dominions of India and Pakistan would in course of time, come together to form one great Member State of the British Commonwealth of Nations."

{{harvtxt|Haqqani|2013|page=22}} "During this time most of the Arab world was going through a nationalist awakening. Pan-Islamic dreams involving the unification of Muslim countries, possibly under Pakistani leadership, had little attraction."

{{harvtxt|Hardy|1972}} "Much has been made' of the failure of Congress and the Muslim parties to agree over the Nehru Report and of the rejection of Jinnah's 'Fourteen Points' as a significant milestone along the way to the partition of India. A great opportunity was lost, it is thought, for the abandonment of separate electorates by voluntary Muslim agreement."

{{harvtxt|Hasan|Raza|2009|page=12}} "When the British Indian Empire was partitioned in 1947, 4.7 million Sikhs and Hindus left what is today Pakistan for India, and 6.5 million Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan."

{{harvtxt|Hunter|2010}} "Since then, Pakistan's sectarian tensions have been a major irritant in Iranian-Pakistan relations."

{{harvtxt|Hussain|2008}} "Mawlānā Shabbīr Ahmad Usmānī, a respected Deobandī ʿālim (scholar) who was appointed to the prestigious position of Shaykh al-Islām of Pakistan in 1949, was the first to demand that Pakistan become an Islamic state. But Mawdūdī and his Jamāʿat-i Islāmī played the central part in the demand for an Islamic constitution. Mawdūdī demanded that the Constituent Assembly make an unequivocal declaration affirming the "supreme sovereignty of God" and the supremacy of the sharīʿah as the basic law of Pakistan."

{{harvtxt|Hussain|2008}} "The first important result of the combined efforts of the Jamāʿat-i Islāmī and the ʿulamāʿ was the passage of the Objectives Resolution in March 1949, whose formulation reflected compromise between traditionalists and modernists. The resolution embodied "the main principles on which the constitution of Pakistan is to be based". It declared that "sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God Almighty alone and the authority which He has delegated to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust", that "the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam shall be fully observed", and that "the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accord with the teaching and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Qurʿan and Sunna". The Objectives Resolution has been reproduced as a preamble to the constitutions of 1956, 1962, and 1973."

{{refn|name="Iqbal"|Iqbal (two-nation theory): multiple sources:

• {{harvtxt|N. Khan|2012}}
• {{harvtxt|Basu|Miroshnik|2023}} "Mohammed Iqbal was credited with coming up with the two-nation theory in his speech at Allahabad in 1930 to the Muslim League in a very formal way by saying: "I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind, and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single State. Self-government within the British Empire or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-West Indian Moslem State appears to me to be the final destiny of the Moslems, at least of NorthWest India" (Zaidi, 1993; Ahmed, 1970)."
• {{harvtxt|Hussain|2018}} "After repeated demands for stronger constitutional safeguards to protect the rights of minorities, Iqbal eventually opted for a separate Islamic Republic instead. As opposed to putting the free and rational individual at the centre of his democratic theory, Iqbal’s republic primarily required Muslims endowed with a specific character and smelted together by a peculiar vision of individuality. Like a number of his contemporaries, Iqbal warmed up to the two nation-theory. Unlike the mainstream view, however, which read an eternal struggle of Hindus and Muslims back into Indian history, Iqbal’s concept of the Muslim nation was something to be striven towards, not something to be replanted from the past. Iqbal believed that the best way to actualize this national sentiment in the present, was through individual political action."

}}

{{harvtxt|Kulke|Rothermund|2016}} "In the early centuries the centre of Buddhist scholarship was the University of Taxila."

{{harvtxt|Kumarasingham|2013}} "Few today, including those who work on the subcontinent, recollect that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka did not become republics the day British rule ended. Even distinguished scholars of Empire like Perry Anderson and A. G. Hopkins have made the common assumption that India naturally became a republic upon independence on 15 August 1947. Instead, all three of these South Asian states began their independent life as Realms within the British Commonwealth and mirrored the style and institutions of the Dominions of Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Though their sovereignty was in no way impaired by this seemingly ambiguous position they all held the British sovereign as their head of state who was represented in each capital by a governor- general appointed on the advice of the local prime minister. India, Pakistan and Ceylon were Realms from 1947 to 1950, 1947 to 1956 and 1948 to 1972 respectively."

{{harvtxt|Lapierre|Collins|2015}} "Not only was I not aware, but nobody was aware. Nobody had a clue. I'm glad I didn't because I just don't know what I would have done if I'd known that.

You see, Jinnah was so much of a one-man band. If somebody had told me he's going to be dead in x months would I then

-I am asking myself this question now-would I have said, Let's hold India together and not divide it? Would I have put back the clock, and held the position? Most probably. I have a feeling Jinnah may not have known himself he had tuberculosis. He was a very severe, cold and repressed person. Nothing would have surprised me about him. He was an extraordinary creature."

{{harvtxt|McGrath|1996}} "Undivided India, their magnificent imperial trophy, was besmirched by the creation of Pakistan, and the division of India was never emotionally accepted by many British leaders, Mountbatten among them."

{{harvtxt|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006}} "The loss of life was immense, with estimates ranging from several hundred thousand up to a million. But, even for those who survived, fear generated a widespread perception that one could be safe only among members of one's own community; and this in turn helped consolidate loyalties towards the state, whether India or Pakistan, in which one might find a secure haven. This was especially important for Pakistan, where the succour it offered to Muslims gave that state for the first time a visible territorial reality. Fear too drove forward a mass migration unparalleled in the history of South Asia. ... Overall, partition uprooted some 12.5 million of undivided India's people."

{{refn|name="Middle power nation"|Middle power: multiple sources:

• {{harvtxt|Buzan|2004}}
• {{harvtxt|Solomon|1997}}
• {{harvtxt|Rajagopalan|2011}}
• {{harvtxt|Buzan|Waever|2003}}
• {{harvtxt|Paul|2012|p=11}} "The regional powers such as Israel or Pakistan are not simple bystanders of great power politics in their regions; they attempt to asymmetrically influence the major power system often in their own distinct ways."
• {{harvtxt|Vandamme|2014|p=14}} "Countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enough influence to not be considered small, but not enough to be major powers. Within the limits of their regions, they play a significant political role. Thus instinctively, they would qualify as middle powers. While it is not the objective here to question the characteristics of Jordan's definition of middle powers, we argue that Pakistan is in fact a middle power despite its being nuclear-armed. When looking at the numbers, for instance, it appears that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan can be classified as middle powers."

}}

{{refn|name="Military relations"|Military relations: multiple sources:

• {{harvtxt|Yadav|2024}}
• {{harvtxt|Lalwani|2023}}
• {{harvtxt|Kronstadt|2023}}
• {{harvtxt|Bruno|Bajoria|2008}}

}}

{{harvtxt|Miller|2015}} "Not since the tenth century had such a maverick crew occupied Islam's holiest sanctuary, and for nearly two weeks Saudi Special Forces assisted by Pakistani and French commandos fought pitched battles to reclaim the compound."

{{harvtxt|Mohiuddin|2007|page=70}} "In the elections of 1946, the Muslim League won 90 percent of the legislative seats reserved for Muslims. It was the power of the big zamindars in Punjab and Sindh behind the Muslim League candidates that led to this massive landslide victory (Alavi 2002, 14). Even Congress, which had always denied the League's claim to be the only true representative of Indian Muslims had to concede the truth of that claim. The 1946 election was, in effect, a plebiscite among Muslims on Pakistan."

{{harvtxt|Mohiuddin|2007|page=71}} "Despite the League's victory in the elections, the British did not want the partition of British India. As a last attempt to avoid it, Britain put forward the Cabinet Mission Plan, according to which India would become a federation of three large, self-governing provinces and the central government would be limited to power over foreign policy and defense, implying a weak center."

{{harvtxt|Needham|1994}} "When the men of Alexander the Great came to Taxila in India in the fourth century BCE they found a university there the like of which had not been seen in Greece, a university which taught the three Vedas and the eighteen accomplishments and was still existing when the Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hsien went there about CE 400."

{{harvtxt|Pande|2011|page=178}} "The belief that the creation of Pakistan made Pakistan the true leader of Muslim causes around the world led Pakistan's diplomats to vigorously champion the cause of self-determination for fellow Muslims at the United Nations. Pakistan's founders, including Jinnah, supported anti-colonial movements: "Our heart and soul go out in sympathy with those who are struggling for their freedom ... If subjugation and exploitation are carried on, there will be no peace and there will be no end to wars." Pakistani efforts on behalf of Indonesia (1948), Algeria (1948–1949), Tunisia (1948–1949), Morocco (1948–1956) and Eritrea (1960–1991) were significant and initially led to close ties between these countries and Pakistan."

{{harvtxt|Pande|2011|page=159}} "Both Saudi Arabia and Iran used Pakistan as a battleground for their proxy war for the 'hearts and minds' of Pakistani Sunnis and Shias with the resultant rise in sectarian tensions in Pakistan. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1990s further strained Pakistan-Iran relations. Pakistan's support of the Sunni Pashtun organization created problems for Shia Iran for whom a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan was a nightmare."

{{harvtxt|Pasha|2005|page=225}} "Pakistan's expression of solidarity was followed, after Independence, by a vigorous pursuit of bilateral relations with Muslim countries like Iran and Turkey."

{{harvtxt|Pasha|2005|page=226}} "Following Khaliquzzaman, the Ali brothers had sought to project Pakistan, with its comparatively larger manpower and military strength, as the natural leader of the Islamic world."

{{refn|name="Riots-1"|Casualties/Genocide: multiple sources:

• {{harvtxt|Sikand|2004}}
• {{harvtxt|Butalia|2000}}
• {{harvtxt|Isaacs|1975}} "2,000,000 killed in the Hindu-Muslim holocaust during the partition of British-India and the creation of India and Pakistan"
• {{harvtxt|Basrur|2008}} "An estimated 12–15 million people were displaced, and some 2 million died. The legacy of Partition (never without a capital P) remains strong today ..."
• {{harvtxt|D'Costa|2011}} "Estimates of the dead vary from 200,000 (the contemporary British figure) to 2 million (a subsequent Indian speculation). Today, however, it is widely accepted that nearly a million people died during Partition (Butalia, 1997)."
• {{harvtxt|Brass|2003}} "In the event, largely but not exclusively as a consequence of their efforts, the entire Muslim population of the eastern Punjab districts migrated to West Punjab and the entire Sikh and Hindu populations moved to East Punjab in the midst of widespread intimidation, terror, violence, abduction, rape, and murder."

}}

{{refn|name="Riots-2"|Rape figures: multiple sources:

• {{harvtxt|Visweswaran|2011}}
• {{harvtxt|Daiya|2011}} "The official estimate of the number of abducted women during Partition was placed at 33,000 non-Muslim (Hindu or Sikh predominantly) women in Pakistan, and 50,000 Muslim women in India."
• {{harvtxt|Abraham|2002}} "In addition thousands of women on both sides of the newly formed borders (estimated range from 29,000 to 50,000 Muslim women and 15,000 to 35,000 Hindu and Sikh women) were abducted, raped, forced to convert, forced into marriage, forced back into what the two States defined as 'their proper homes', torn apart from their families once during partition by those who abducted them, and again, after partition, by the State which tried to 'recover' and 'rehabilitate' them."
• {{harvtxt|Singh|Iyer|Gairola|2016}} "The horrific statistics that surround women refugees-between 75,000–100,000 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh women who were abducted by men of the other communities, subjected to multiple rapes, mutilations, and, for some, forced marriages and conversions-is matched by the treatment of the abducted women in the hands of the nation-state. In the Constituent Assembly in 1949 it was recorded that of the 50,000 Muslim women abducted in India, 8,000 of then were recovered, and of the 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women abducted, 12,000 were recovered."

}}

{{harvtxt|Roberts|2003}} "The following year, Choudhry Khaliquzzaman toured the Middle East, pleading for the formation of an alliance or confederation of Muslim states. The Arab states, often citing Pakistan's inability to solve its problems with Muslim neighbor Afghanistan, showed little enthusiasm ... Some saw the effort to form 'Islamistan' as a Pakistani attempt to dominate other Muslim states."

{{harvtxt|Sengupta|2023}} "Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (which later became Aligarh Muslim University), had declared in a speech in Meerut what would become famous as the "two nation theory.""......"Is it possible that under these circumstances two nations — the Mahomedans and the Hindus — could sit on the same throne and remain equal in power? Most certainly not."

{{harvtxt|Singh|Shani|2021}} "Jinnah's famous 'fourteen points' as a condition for support for India's unity, with strong provinces within a weak Indian federation, marked the parting of ways between the Congress and the Muslim national leadership (Jalal 1994, 10–11). At the 1930 session of the All-Indian Muslim Conference, Sir Mohammed Iqbal proposed a Muslim homeland that would serve 'as a symbolic cultural expression of the common striving of Muslim fulfilment – a political manifestation of a common mission' (Gilmartin 1988, 167). The idea of self-determination for India's Muslims was constructed mainly in fear of the majoritarian 'secular' (Hindu) nationalism of the Congress."

{{harvtxt|Stubbs|Thomson|2016}} "Perhaps best known as home to Asia's earliest cities, the Harappan sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, Pakistan's rich history includes contributions from prominent Buddhist, Hindu, Hellenistic, Jain and Zoroastrian civilizations, as well as those connected to its Islamic heritage."

{{harvtxt|Syed|Pio|Kamran|Zaidi|2016|page=379}} "... the military dictator Zia ul Haq (1977–1988) forged a strong alliance between the military and Deobani institutions and movements (e.g. the TJ)."

{{harvtxt|Syed|Pio|Kamran|Zaidi|2016|page=346}} "The grave impact of that legacy was compunded by the Iranian Revolution, and Zia-ul Haq's anti-Shia policies, which added the violence and regimentation of the organization."

{{harvtxt|Tucker|2020}} "Gandhi's decision played directly into the hands of Jinnah. Jinnah's Muslim League strongly supported the Allied war effort and thereby greatly advanced the possibility of the creation of a separate Muslim state in the Indian subcontinent after the war."

{{refn|name="Vedic period"|Vedic period: multiple sources:

• {{harvtxt|Ninan|2018}}
• {{harvtxt|Parmar|2018}}
• {{harvtxt|Consiglio|2015}}
• {{harvtxt|Carmichael|2022}}

}}

{{harvtxt|Wiebes|2003}} "Pakistan definitely defied the United Nations ban on supply of arms to the Bosnian Muslims and sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles were airlifted by the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, to help Bosnians fight the Serbs."

{{harvtxt|Wolpert|1984|page=17}} "Barrister Jinnah of Bombay remained as remote from such feelings, as out of tune with such reasoning, as he had been in London in 1893, when Sir Sayyid first spoke of Hindus and Muslims as "different nationalities.""

{{harvtxt|Wolpert|2009}} "Mountbatten tried to convince Jinnah of the value of accepting him, Mountbatten, as Pakistan's first governor-general, but Jinnah refused to be moved from his determination to take that job himself."

{{harvtxt|Wright|2009}} "The Indus civilisation is one of three in the 'Ancient East' that, along with Mesopotamia and Pharaonic Egypt, was a cradle of early civilisation in the Old World (Childe, 1950). Mesopotamia and Egypt were longer lived, but coexisted with Indus civilisation during its florescence between 2600 and 1900 B.C. Of the three, the Indus was the most expansive, extending from today's northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and India."

{{harvtxt|Wuthnow|2013}} "To satisfy Muslims' determination to have guaranteed rights in the future political system of India and to maintain territorial unity of the Indian state, by 1929 Jinnah produced the formula known as the Fourteen Points of Mr. Jinnah.

The Fourteen Points included separate electorates for Muslims in the provinces of India, parity of electoral representation in the Punjab and Bengal, and electoral considerations for Muslims in those provinces in which they were a minority, although they would retain clear majority in the Northwest Frontier Province, Baluchistan, and Sind."

{{harvtxt|Wynbrandt|2009|pp=216–217}} "Zia, however, tried to bolster the influence of Islamic parties and the ulama on government and society."

}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{See also|Bibliography of Pakistan}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Ayres|first1=Alyssa|author-link1=Alyssa Ayres|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FddJQi1dQ30C&pg=PA38|title=Speaking Like a State: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan|date=23 July 2009|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=38|isbn=978-0-521-51931-1}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Badian|first1=Ernst|author-link1=Ernst Badian|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/639350|title=Alexander at Peucelaotis|journal=The Classical Quarterly|volume=37|pages=117–128|number=1|year=1987|jstor=639350|doi=10.1017/S0009838800031712|s2cid=246878679}}
• {{cite book|last1=Baqir|first1=Fayyaz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwtpDwAAQBAJ|title=Poverty Alleviation and Poverty of Aid: Pakistan|date=6 August 2018|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=|isbn=978-0-429-87153-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Bhandari|first=Medani P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_iGEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT241|title=Getting the Climate Science Facts Right: The Role of the IPCC|date=September 2022|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=River Publishers|isbn=978-1-000-79720-6}}
• {{cite book|last=Copland|first=Ian|title=India, 1885–1947: The Unmaking of an Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw1uAAAAMAAJ|series=Seminar Studies in History|year=2001|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-38173-5}}
• {{cite book|editor-last1=Cornwall|editor-first1=Andrea|editor-last2=Edwards|editor-first2=Jenny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JOViDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT176|title=Feminisms, Empowerment and Development: Changing Womens Lives|date=13 March 2014|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-1-78032-586-6}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|editor-last1=Eberhard|editor-first1=David M.|editor-last2=Simons|editor-first2=Gary F.|editor-last3=Fennig|editor-first3=Charles D.|year=2022|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|edition=25|place=Dallas, Texas|publisher=SIL International|chapter=Pakistan|chapter-url=https://ethnologue.com/country/PK|access-date=2 January 2023|archive-date=9 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309065841/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/PK/|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book|last=Haleem|first=Safia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcA-AQAAQBAJ|title=Pakistan – Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture|chapter=1, 7|date=May 2013|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Kuperard|isbn=978-1-85733-678-8}}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/October/weo-report?c=564,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2022&ey=2029&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1|title=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2024 Edition. (Pakistan)|publisher=International Monetary Fund|date=22 October 2024|access-date=29 October 2024|ref={{harvid|IMF|2024}}}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0pbMEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA54|title=Pakistan: Request for a Stand-by Arrangement-Press Release; Staff Report; Staff Statement; and Statement by the Executive Director for Pakistan|date=18 July 2023|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=International Monetary Fund|page=54|isbn=979-8-4002-4851-1|ref={{harvid|IMF|2023}}}}
• {{cite book|last=James|first=Orpha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2WkEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT14|title=Faith Restored: "A Pakistani Women's Journey from Land of Islam to a Nation Under God' a Christian Perspective|date=22 December 2022|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=WestBow Press|isbn=978-1-6642-8702-0}}
• {{cite book|author=Mathew Joseph C.|title=Understanding Pakistan: Emerging Voices from India|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2016|page=337|isbn=978-1-351-99725-6|oclc=958566633|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iUlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA337|ref={{harvid|Joseph|2016}}}}
• {{cite book|last1=Metcalf|first1=Barbara D.|last2=Metcalf|first2=Thomas R.|title=A Concise History of Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjIfqyY7jlsC&pg=PA221|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|page=221|isbn=978-1-139-45887-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Minahan|first=James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D7rOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PR19|title=The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems [2 volumes]|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2009|page=141|isbn=978-0-313-34497-8}}
• {{cite book|last1=Rais|first1=Rasul Bakhsh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXwzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA191|title=Imagining Pakistan: Modernism, State, and the Politics of Islamic Revival|date=30 August 2017|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Lexington Books|page=191|isbn=978-1-4985-5396-4}}
• {{cite web |author=SATP |date=2024 |title=Pakistan: Assessment-2024 |url=https://www.satp.org/terrorism-assessment/pakistan |website=South Asian Terrorism Portal |access-date=25 April 2024 }}
• {{cite book|last=Spuler|first=Bertold|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2DGzwEACAAJ|title=The Muslim World: a Historical Survey|year=1969|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=E.J. Brill|location=Leiden, Netherlands|isbn=978-90-04-02104-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Talbot|first=Ian|title=A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXsmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA227|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2016|pages=227–240|isbn=978-0-300-21659-2}}
• {{cite book|last=Wright|first=Rita P.|title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MG2ztAEACAAJ&pg=PA1|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=26 October 2009|pages=1–2|isbn=978-0-521-57219-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Wynbrandt|first=James|title=A Brief History of Pakistan|url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofpa0000wynb|url-access=registration|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8160-6184-6}}
• {{cite book|last1=Zia|first1=Nadeem|last2=Burton|first2=Bruce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hzTEAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA2002|title=Corporate Governance Challenges in Pakistan: Perceptions and Potential Routes Forward|date=24 October 2023|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-077306-4}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Anand|first1=Sugam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRgcAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA178|title=Modern Indian Historiography: From Pillai to Azad

|year=1991|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=MG Publishers|page=178|isbn=978-81-85532-09-7}}

• {{cite book|last1=Aziz|first1=Khursheed Kamal|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jB5uAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA88|title=Rahmat Ali: A Biography|year=1987|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Vanguard|page=88|isbn=978-3-515-05051-7}}
• {{cite book|last1=Lahiri|first1=Ashok|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NS6iEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT74|title=India in Search of Glory: Political Calculus and Economy

|date=23 January 2023|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited|isbn=978-93-5492-837-6}}

• {{cite book|last1=Saqib|first1=Muhammad Amjad|last2=Malik|first2=Aneeqa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mEBvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT100|title=Integral Finance – Akhuwat: A Case Study of the Solidarity Economy|date=21 September 2018|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-72767-9}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tummala|first1=Krishna K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSQZj1_FrosC&pg=PA42|title=Public Administration in India|year=1996|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Allied Publishers (P) Limited|page=42|isbn=978-81-7023-590-3}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Abraham|first1=Taisha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cm4PBNdaFjYC&pg=PA131|title=Women and the Politics of Violence|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|year=2002|isbn=978-81-241-0847-5|page=131}}
• {{cite web|last1=Afzal|first1=Madiha|url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/pakistans-surprising-and-marred-2024-election-and-what-comes-next/|title=Pakistan's surprising and marred 2024 election, and what comes next|date=29 February 2024|website=Brookings Institution|access-date=21 May 2024}}
• {{cite book|last1=Agha|first1=Karrar Ali|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbNrzgEACAAJ|title=Fall of East Pakistan: The Forgotten War: Forgotten Yet Never Forgiven|date=8 May 2021|publisher=Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print US|isbn=978-969-23257-0-7|access-date=16 May 2024}}
• {{cite book|last1=Ahmad|first1=Samir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyHcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT66|title=Track Two Diplomacy Between India and Pakistan: Peace Negotiations and Initiatives|date=23 November 2023|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-000-99914-3|access-date=19 May 2024}}
• {{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Akbar S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGdiqF6V8wYC&pg=PA136|title=Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search for Saladin|publisher=Psychology Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-415-14966-2|page=136|access-date=13 May 2024}}
• {{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Mukhtar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qLTBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA113|title=Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume I: The Stone Age|date=29 May 2014|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|page=113|isbn=978-1-4954-9047-7}}
• {{cite book|last1=Akbar|first1=M. J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qaohEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT55|title=India: The Siege Within|date=8 February 2018|publisher=Roli Books|isbn=978-81-936009-7-9|access-date=26 May 2024}}
• {{cite book|editor-last1=Akbarzadeh|editor-first1=Shahram| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpoMEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT378|title=Routledge Handbook of Political Islam|date=29 December 2020|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-429-75717-4|access-date=8 May 2024}}
• {{cite book|last1=Allchin |first1=Bridget |last2=Allchin |first2=Raymond |author-link1=Bridget Allchin|author-link2=Raymond Allchin|title=The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4s-YsP6vcIC&pg=PA131|access-date=30 April 2024|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1982 |page=131|isbn=978-0-521-28550-6}}
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{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

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{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

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{{refend}}

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• {{cite book |title=Culture and Customs of Pakistan (Culture and Customs of Asia) |date=2005 |last=Malik |first=Iftikhar |publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-33126-8}}
• {{cite book |title=Pakistan: The Political Economy of Growth, Stagnation and the State, 1951–2009 |date=2011 |last=McCartney |first=Matthew |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-57747-2}}
• {{cite book |title=Constructing Pakistan: Foundational Texts and the Rise of Muslim National Identity |date=2010 |last=Raja |first=Masood Ashraf |author-link=Masood Ashraf Raja|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-547811-2}}
• {{cite book |title=India, Pakistan and the West |date=2007 |last=Spear |first=Percival |author-link=Percival Spear|publisher=Read Books Publishers|isbn=978-1-4067-1215-5}}
• {{cite book |title=Studies in Applied Geography and Spatial Analysis: Addressing Real World Issues |date=1 January 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgiDiR1QQHQC&pg=PA44 |last1=Stimson |first1=Robert |last2=Haynes |first2=Kingsley E. |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=978-1-78100-796-9}}

{{refend}}

{{Sister project links|voy=Pakistan|d=Q843}}

• {{Official website|http://www.pakistan.gov.pk}}
• [https://pid.gov.pk/ Press Information Department] – Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/ Pakistan]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120829212601/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/pakistan.htm Pakistan] from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12965779 Pakistan] from BBC News
• {{Wikiatlas|Pakistan}}
• [https://www.ifs.du.edu/IFs/frm_CountryProfile/PK Key Development Forecasts for Pakistan] from International Futures
• {{OSM relation|307573}}

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