The Islamic Republic is situated between the Karakoram mountain range, the Himalayas and China in the northeast, Afghanistan in the northwest, Iran in the southwest, the Arabian Sea in the south, and India in the east.
The country occupies an area of 796,095 km²; compared, it is somewhat larger than Turkey (783,562 km²) or slightly less than twice the size of the U.S. state of California. It would fit four times in India, its neighbor and arch-enemy.
The world’s fifth most populous country (in 2022) is home to more than 228 million people. Pakistan’s capital is Islamabad. The most important port, the largest city and the biggest economic center of the country is Karachi. Pakistan’s second-largest city is Lahore. Other major Pakistani cities are Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala, Hyderabad (Pakistan), Peshawar, and Quetta.
Spoken languages are Urdu (a form of Hindustani), English (both official), Punjabi, Sindhi, Dari, Balochi, and Pashto. The main religion is Islam (96%).
Within Pakistan’s landscape, there is the flat fertile Indus plain in the east, nurtured by the Indus, the country’s longest river and a key water resource. Pakistan’s north is mountainous. The nation’s highest mountains are the K2 in the Karakoram Range and the Nanga Parbat, the ‘Naked Mountain,’ in the Himalayas in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan’s largest and least populated province is Balochistan in the southwest; the region includes the Balochistan Plateau and the Sulaiman Mountains.
(Source: nationsonline.org)
Pakistan is home to 108 peaks above 7,000 meters and probably as many peaks above 6,000 m. There is no count of the peaks above 5,000 and 4,000 m. Five of the 14 highest independent peaks in the world (the eight-thousanders) are in Pakistan (four of which lie in the surroundings of Concordia; the confluence of Baltoro Glacier and Godwin Austen Glacier).
Pakistan is rich in its tourist destinations offering a diverse range of choices for different types of tourists. The country is home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world, has innumerable locations of scenic beauty, the world’s highest mountains, many religious and historic places, unique arts and crafts and a rich culture and heritage.
The British Backpacker Society ranked Pakistan as the world’s top adventure travel destination in 2018, describing the country as “one of the friendliest countries on earth, with mountain scenery that is beyond anyone’s wildest imagination”
Pakistan is home to a number of UNESCO world heritage sites like Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro, the Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol, Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore, Historical Monuments at Makli, Thatta, Rohtas Fort and Taxila.
Pakistan is endowed with rich and varied flora and fauna. High Himalayas, Karakoram and the Hindukush range with their alpine meadows and permanent snow line, coniferous forests down the sub-mountain scrub, the vast Indus plain merging into the great desert, the coast line and wetlands, all offer a remarkably rich variety of vegetation and associated including avifauna, both endemic and migratory. Ten of 18 mammalian orders are represented in Pakistan with species ranging from the world’s smallest surviving mammal, the Mediterranean Pigmy Shrew, to the largest mammal ever known; the blue whale.