48 Fun Facts About Pakistan

Which city has been the capital of Pakistan since it was built as a planned city in the 1960s?

Islamabad was laid out by Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis, whose 1960 master plan divided the city into eight zones at the foot of the Margalla Hills; it formally became the capital in 1967.

Pakistan gained independence from British rule in which year?

1947 saw the two dominions of India and Pakistan legally come into being at midnight on 14–15 August, under the Indian Independence Act passed by the British Parliament that July.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah is revered in Pakistan by the title Quaid-e-Azam, which means what?

Quaid-e-Azam translates as Great Leader; Jinnah led the Muslim League from 1934 and served as Pakistan's first governor-general until his death in September 1948.

K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth, stands at what height?

K2 stands at 8,611 m, roughly 240 m short of Everest; also called Mount Godwin-Austen and nicknamed the 'Savage Mountain', it was first climbed by Italians Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni in 1954.

The Indus River rises in which region before flowing through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea?

Tibet is where the Indus begins, near Mount Kailash, as the Sengge Zangbo or 'Lion River'; the 3,180 km river then bends sharply around the Nanga Parbat massif on its way south.

Which is Pakistan's national sport?

Field hockey is the national sport: Pakistan's men's team won Olympic gold in 1960, 1968 and 1984 and the World Cup in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994.

Which animal, known for its corkscrew horns, is the national animal of Pakistan?

The Markhor, or screw-horned goat, is Pakistan's national animal; both sexes grow the tightly curled horns, which spread outward toward the tips, and a male's can reach about 1.5 m.

Which flower is Pakistan's national flower?

Jasmine, specifically Jasminum officinale, is Pakistan's national flower; Indonesia and the Philippines also chose a jasmine, but a different species, Jasminum sambac.

Which conifer is the national tree of Pakistan?

Deodar, the Himalayan cedar Cedrus deodara, is Pakistan's national tree; it is also the state tree of Himachal Pradesh in India and grows in Pakistan's northern mountains alongside spruce and pine.

Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel laureate in history when she won the Peace Prize at what age?

Malala was 17 when she shared the 2014 Peace Prize with Kailash Satyarthi, making her the youngest Nobel laureate; she was named after the Afghan folk heroine Malalai of Maiwand.

Abdus Salam, the first Pakistani Nobel laureate, won the 1979 prize in which field?

Physics: Abdus Salam shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics with Steven Weinberg and Sheldon Glashow for the electroweak theory unifying the weak and electromagnetic interactions.

The ancient city of Mohenjo-daro was built around what date?

Built c. 2500 BCE, Mohenjo-daro was contemporary with Old Kingdom Egypt and Sumerian Mesopotamia; its name means 'Mound of the Dead Men' in the local language, and excavation began in 1922.

The Mohenjo-daro archaeological site lies in which province?

Sindh's Larkana District holds the site, on the right bank of the Indus; the province's name and the word 'Indus' share the ancient root Sindhu.

The Badshahi Mosque in Lahore was built between 1671 and 1673 by which Mughal emperor?

Aurangzeb commissioned it in 1671 and it was finished in 1673, unusual for an emperor who spent most of his reign on campaign rather than building; the mosque faces the Alamgiri Gate of Lahore Fort.

The tent-shaped Faisal Mosque was designed by an architect from which country?

Turkey's Vedat Dalokay won the 1969 design competition; his eight-sided concrete shell replaces the usual dome, and the mosque is named for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who funded it.

Which language is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan?

Urdu is the national language under the 1973 constitution, with English the other official language; Punjabi is the most widely spoken mother tongue, while Urdu is the first language of under a tenth of Pakistanis.

Benazir Bhutto first became prime minister of Pakistan in which year?

Benazir Bhutto took office in December 1988 after the PPP won the election that followed Zia-ul-Haq's death; she was the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country's government and served again from 1993 to 1996.

The Khyber Pass runs along Pakistan's border with which country?

Afghanistan lies on the far side: the pass climbs through the Spin Ghar range to its summit at Landi Kotal, about 5 km inside Pakistan from the Torkham border crossing.

Nanga Parbat, nicknamed the 'Killer Mountain', ranks where among the world's highest peaks?

Ninth highest at 8,126 m, Nanga Parbat is also the 14th most prominent peak on Earth, one of only two mountains in the top twenty of both lists.

Squash legend Jahangir Khan went unbeaten from 1981 to 1986, winning how many consecutive matches?

555 consecutive wins between 1981 and 1986 ended with a loss to Ross Norman in the 1986 World Open final; Guinness lists it as the longest winning streak in professional sport, and Khan also won ten straight British Opens.

Imran Khan captained Pakistan to its first Cricket World Cup title in which year?

1992's final in Melbourne saw Pakistan beat England by 22 runs; Imran Khan, then 39, retired from cricket straight afterwards and later served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

The polytheistic Kalash people live in three valleys of which region?

Chitral's Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir valleys are home to the Kalash, a few thousand people who kept their polytheistic religion while the related people of Nuristan, across the border, were converted in the 1890s.

The Karakoram Highway reaches its highest point, 4,714 m, near which crossing on the Chinese border?

Khunjerab Pass, opened to traffic in 1986, is where the 1,300 km highway crosses into China's Xinjiang; the road, sometimes called the Eighth Wonder of the World, is one of the highest paved roads on Earth.

The port of Gwadar was purchased by Pakistan in 1958 from which country?

It had been an overseas possession of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman since 1783. Today it anchors the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Tarbela Dam on the Indus holds which world record?

Largest earth-filled dam is Tarbela's claim: completed in 1976, its 143 m high, 2.7 km long embankment stands where the Indus leaves the Himalayan foothills for the Pothohar Plateau.

On Pakistan's flag, what does the vertical white stripe at the hoist represent?

Religious minorities are represented by the white stripe, one quarter of the flag's width, while the green field stands for the Muslim majority; the Constituent Assembly adopted the flag days before independence.

The evening flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah border with India has run since which year?

1959 saw the first joint Beating Retreat ceremony at Wagah, a choreographed high-kicking drill by Pakistan Rangers and India's Border Security Force that ends each day with both flags lowered in unison.

Which is the largest of Pakistan's provinces by area, but the least populated?

Balochistan covers about 44 percent of Pakistan's land yet counted under 15 million people in the 2023 census, far fewer than any other province; its capital is Quetta.

The North-West Frontier Province was renamed what in April 2010?

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became the province's name under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, signed into law on 19 April 2010, reflecting its Pashtun majority.

Gilgit-Baltistan, home to K2, was known by what name until 2009?

Northern Areas was the name given in 1970 to the combined Gilgit Agency and Baltistan; the 2009 Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order renamed the territory and gave it an elected assembly.

The Pakistan Super League played its first season in 2016 in which country?

United Arab Emirates venues in Dubai and Sharjah hosted the whole inaugural 2016 season, because international cricket had largely avoided Pakistan since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was the world's most famous performer of which form of Sufi devotional music?

His title Shahanshah-e-Qawwali means 'King of Kings' of the form. NPR named him one of its 50 Great Voices.

The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore were begun in 1641 under which Mughal emperor?

Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, ordered the gardens in 1641; they were modelled on his father Jahangir's Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir and became a UNESCO site, with Lahore Fort, in 1981.

The UNESCO World Heritage city of Taxila was a centre of which ancient region and its Buddhist art?

Gandhara, the ancient region around the upper Indus and Kabul rivers, had Taxila (Takshashila) as one of its capitals and a great learning centre famed for Greco-Buddhist sculpture; UNESCO listed the site in 1980.

Rohtas Fort near the Salt Range was commissioned by which 16th-century ruler?

Sher Shah Suri, founder of the Sur Empire, began the fort in 1541 to hold down the Gakhar tribe and block Humayun's return; Todar Mal supervised the construction.

Makli Necropolis, among the world's largest funerary sites, lies near which historic city?

Thatta was the regional capital until the 17th century, and the hillside necropolis grew under the Samma dynasty from the 14th century; UNESCO listed Makli in 1981.

The flat, round chapli kebab originated in which city?

Peshawar and the surrounding Pashtun country gave rise to the chapli kebab, a minced-meat patty flattened like a sandal, which the name may reference in Pashto; it spread across South Asia as a Pashtun signature dish.

The Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore commemorates the Lahore Resolution, adopted on which date?

23 March 1940 was when the All-India Muslim League adopted the Lahore Resolution, the first official call for a separate Muslim homeland; the 70-metre tower marking the spot went up between 1960 and 1968.

Pakistan's Chagai-I nuclear tests of 28 May 1998 involved how many simultaneous detonations?

Five devices were fired together at the Ras Koh Hills in Chagai District on 28 May 1998, days after India's tests; a sixth, Chagai-II, followed on 30 May in the Kharan desert.

Arfa Karim became the youngest person in the world to hold which certification in 2004?

Microsoft Certified Professional status came at age nine in 2004, and Bill Gates invited her to Microsoft's headquarters the following year; Arfa Karim died in January 2012 aged 16.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's Oscars for Saving Face and A Girl in the River were in which category?

Documentary short was the category both times: Saving Face won at the 2012 Academy Awards and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness at the 2016 ceremony.

Before it became independent Bangladesh in 1971, that territory was known as what?

East Pakistan was the eastern wing from 1955 until the 1971 war, which began with Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 and ended on 16 December after India joined on 3 December.

In Choudhry Rahmat Ali's acronym 'Pakistan', what does the P stand for?

Panjab supplied the P in Rahmat Ali's 1933 pamphlet Now or Never, with Afghania, Kashmir and Baluchistan supplying other letters; the word also means 'land of the pure' in Persian.

Which city is home to Mazar-e-Quaid, the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah?

Karachi holds Mazar-e-Quaid, the white marble mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah completed in 1970 in the city where he was born and died; Pakistan's largest city was also its first capital.

Who served as Pakistan's first prime minister?

Liaquat Ali Khan, Jinnah's deputy in the Muslim League, served as the first prime minister from independence until he was shot dead at a rally in Rawalpindi on 16 October 1951.

In which city did Muhammad Iqbal give his famous 1930 address on a political framework for Muslim-majority regions?

Allahabad hosted the Muslim League's December 1930 annual session, where Iqbal's presidential address proposed a consolidated Muslim state in the north-west; he died in April 1938, before the state he imagined came into being.

In which year did Pakistan adopt a republican constitution and become an Islamic republic?

1956's constitution, promulgated in March that year, ended dominion status and declared the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with Iskander Mirza, the last governor-general, becoming its first president.

Which country borders Pakistan to the southwest?

Iran shares a roughly 900 km border with Pakistan in the southwest, running from the coast to the northern tripoint; the Taftan crossing is the main road link between the two.