200 Amazing Facts About Pakistan: Exploring Its Culture

Pakistan is a fascinating country located in South Asia, bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China to the north. With a population of over 200 million people, it is the fifth most populous country in the world. Pakistan has a rich and diverse culture, with influences from various civilizations that have called this region home throughout history. Its landscapes range from the towering peaks of the Himalayas to the sandy beaches of the Arabian Sea. In this article, we will delve into 200 intriguing facts about Pakistan, exploring its geography, demographics, history, art, music, food, and much more.

Discovering Pakistan: 200 Fascinating Facts About the Country and Its Culture

The Supreme Court is the highest court in Pakistan.
The United States, Hong Kong S.A.R., Germany, United Kingdom, Japan and the United Arab Emirates are major export trade partners of Pakistan.
Pakistan imports: machinery, electrical goods, petroleum products, transportation equipment, metals and metal products, fertilizer and foodstuffs.
Afghanistan, China, India, and Iran share a border with Pakistan.
Pakistan’s national language is Urdu, while its official language is English.
At least 15 million people were uprooted and displaced in one of the largest human migrations in recorded history.
Around one to two million people were killed during the implementation of the partition.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man behind the creation of Pakistan as a separate country, was a secularist.
Bangladesh was called East Pakistan, located over 1700 kilometers away from West or present-day Pakistan.
The Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan is one of the world’s largest mosques. It was commissioned by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1671 and its construction was completed in 1673. However, the mosque was largely used for military purposes during the Sikh era and the British rule for many years until the independence of Pakistan when it was restored to its original condition.
Darra Adam Khel is a city situated in Khyber Regency, south of the city of Peshawar. Almost three-quarters of the population of the city, generally regarded as the largest illegal gun market in the world, is involved in the gun business. Replicas of nearly every gun available on the market are produced in the region. The business came into existence in 1897 and is run by the local Afridi tribe.
akistan’s major crops include cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane.
Textiles, cement, fertilizer, steel, sugar, electric goods and shipbuilding are the major industries in Pakistan.
There are 151 airports in Pakistan (2013).
A total length of 11,881 km is covered by railways in Pakistan. Out of this length, 11,492 km is the broad gauge, while 389 km is the narrow gauge.
There is 263,942 km of roadway infrastructure in Pakistan, out of which 708 km is the expressway.
There are 51 universities and 155,000 primary schools in Pakistan.
A person at the age of 18 is qualified to vote in Pakistan.
According to a survey, Pakistan has one of the world’s top national anthem tunes. The duration of Pakistan’s National Anthem is 80 seconds.
Pakistanis are the fourth-most intelligent people in the world, according to poll results gathered from 125 countries by the Institute of European Business Administration.
The world’s seventh-largest collection of scientists and engineers is from Pakistan.
The world’s longest glacial system outside the polar regions – the Biafo Glacier – is in Pakistan.
The largest earth-filled dam in the world (and fifth largest by structural volume) is the ‘Tarbela Dam’ on the Indus river in Pakistan. The dam was built in 1968 and 1976. The dam is 143.26 meters high and 2,743.2 meters long.
Pakistan has some of the best-trained air force pilots in the world.
The Shah Faisal Mosque in Pakistan can accommodate 100,000 worshipers at a time. It was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993.
MM Alam, late Air Commodore from Pakistan, is known to have shot five planes in less than a minute during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, has a population of 2,006,572 (2017). Islamabad officially became the capital of Pakistan on 14 August 1967, exactly 20 years after the country’s independence.
Pakistan is so far the only nation in the world to get established on the basis of ‘Religion’.
Pakistan is the only Muslim country after Turkey to open Combat Jobs for women.
Shandur Pass located in Chitral District and Ghizer (Gherz) District, Balawaristan, North Pakistan is home to the world’s highest Polo ground at 3,700 meters. Since 1936, traditional polo festival is being held on Shandur Top.
Makli Hill located in Thatta, Pakistan is home to over half a million tombs and graves. It is one of the largest necropolis (a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments) in the world. The tombs were built over a period of 400 years between the 14th and 18th centuries.
Gaddani, Pakistan is also home to the world’s third-largest ship breaking yard.
Sohail Abbas, a Pakistani field hockey defender, is the highest goal scorer in the history of field hockey, with his current goal tally at 348.
Pakistan is also famous for truck art (decorating trucks with complex floral patterns and poetic calligraphy). Trucks are painted with a splash of colors and the artists’ creativity is very appealing.
When Pakistan became independent, it received between 10 and 12 million refugees from different parts of India. Many of these people had lost everything they had and used a different language for communicating with the locals. Pakistanis smilingly welcomed these people to their nation and helped them to lead a prosperous life.
Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo III was shot in Pakistan.
Also, bring a small gift to the hostess — good chocolates are the best option for men, while women may also gift flowers (non-white, which are only for weddings).
Give your gift with both hands; do not give alcohol; your host will not open your gift when receiving it.
You will probably be served tea, since it is considered a sign of hospitality.
Taboo subjects are sex, dating, homosexuality, alcohol, and questioning Islamic beliefs.
Eating utensils are used only by Westernized families, so you have to eat with your right hand.
Gandhi was absent from all proceedings during this time; he was in Calcutta, the city was torn by riots. Bengal had been divided into two parts – one that would be part of free India and had Calcutta, while the other that had become East Pakistan.
Over 25 films have been made set in the partition of India and Pakistan, while many others allude to the migration, displacement, communal tension and revolts of the time.
The independence and partition was originally planned to be before June 1948.
The first capital of independent Pakistan was Karachi.
1857 saw the first war for independence when the nation revolted as one against the British Empire.
British India had 17 provinces before partition.
The partition was announced in India by Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy General of India.
Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer, drew up the borders for the newly independent Pakistan, completed on August 17, 1947.
Clement Atlee was the British Prime Minister who oversaw the withdrawal of the Empire from the sub-continent.
Women stay in the home and men go to work. When a woman works, they are usually involved in fields such as nursing or teaching.
Women have the same rights as men, including voting and being educated, a woman has been a prime minister in the past, there are many female judges as well.
The reason for the women stay at home is that Pakistani families are larger — 6 children is considered normal — and the woman is responsible for raising the children, along with the extended family as well.
Living closely to extended family also emphasizes the transmission of Pakistani customs and traditions across generations, as well as the respect for their elders and the traditional Pakistani gender roles too.
Red meat is halal and slaughtered according to the Islam; and
Curry and spices are used very often in Pakistani cuisine, which leads us to #2;
As a consequence, plain white rice is the most common side dish.
Lentils are also very common.
Meats — beef, lamb, chicken, and fish — are often marinated in yogurt.
Southern Pakistani food is much spicier.
Northern Pakistani cuisine is centered around plain barbecued meat.
As a rule of thumb, seafood is usually curried.
Food is often fried in ghee, a type of butter.
The Pakistani also eat many pickles, preserved foods, and chutneys.
Pakistani drink green tea throughout the day.
The world's first PC virus was created by two Pakistani brothers. Basit Farooq Alvi and Amjad Farooq Alvi created "Brain," which was discovered in 1986 and targeted IBM PC platforms.
Some of the highest mountains in the world are located in Pakistan. The world's second-tallest mountain is in the country and has many names: Dapsang or Chogori locally, Mount Godwin-Austen in English and Qogir Fengin Chinese. But most people know it simply as K2, standing at 8,611 meters, or 28,251 feet.
The Karakoram Highway is the world's highest paved international road, according to Travel+Leisure magazine. The 800-mile highway connects Pakistan to western China, and reaches a maximum height of 15,300 feet.
Speaking of heights, the ATM at the world's highest elevation belongs to the National Bank of Pakistan and sits in the Khunjerab Pass, in Gilgit-Baltistan. It was established in November 2016 and is 15,397 feet above sea level.
The late Benazir Bhutto was the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country.
Benazir Bhutto became the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan, and of any Muslim nation.
Pakistan is also home to a lake which is one of a kind – Ansoo Lake (Tear Lake). The shape of the lake resembles that of a tear. The lake also looks like a human eye with an eyebrow, which becomes prominent during the summer days when the ice melts. The lake has a central island which resembles the iris.
Pakistan is also home to the largest single dome mosque in the world – Masjid e Tooba. The mosque is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, and is locally known as the Gol Masjid. The dome of the mosque is 212 ft in diameter and is 51.48 ft high. It is balanced on a low surrounding wall with no central pillars. It was built in 1969. Learn more.
Located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley, Lake Saiful Muluk, is one of the highest lakes in Pakistan, at an elevation of 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above sea level.
Pakistan has the only fertile desert in the world – the Tharparkar desert – located in Sindh province.
Pakistan has the eleventh-largest armed force in the world. It has 617,000 people in its army. UN peacekeeping missions are supported largely by the Pakistani army.
Out of the total land area in Pakistan, 25% is under agricultural cultivation. Pakistan irrigates three times more land area than Russia.
The once world’s largest man-made forest is in Pakistan – the Changa Manga forest (12,423 acres in area). It is named after two brother dacoits, the Changa Manga forest was originally planted in 1866 by British foresters.
Pakistan is also blessed with Jahangir Khan, a former World No. 1 professional squash player. Between 1981 and 1986, he won 555 matches consecutively (the longest winning streak by any athlete in top-level professional sports as recorded by Guinness World Records).
Islamabad, Pakistan is ranked the second most beautiful capital in the world.
Shalwar kameez is the traditional Pakistani dress, which is worn by 80% or 90% of Pakistanis.
Pakistani intelligence is considered the best intelligence corps in the world, even better than the CIA.
Pakistan is also known for its missile technology, which is one of the best in the world.
Pakistan is world’s fourth largest milk producing country while India tops the list.
Pakistan is also one of the top producers and exporters of surgical instruments in the world. According to a source, almost 99% of these instruments are produced in Sialkot.
An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the Kashmir region in Pakistan on 8 October 2005. The earthquake caused displacement of approximately 3 million people.
The majority of Pakistan’s population is Muslim, amounting to 96.4%, while the rest includes Hindus and Christians.
Pakistan generated a whopping $1 billion in freelancing in the year 2017. Freelancing is the way of providing technical expertise via the internet. Pakistan ranks on the 4th spot behind India, Bangladesh, and the United States.
The borders of Pakistan were drawn two days after on 17th August 1947, after the separation of India and Pakistan.
Gwadar port is the largest deep sea port in the world, located on the southwestern Arabian Sea along the coastline of Balochistan, Pakistan. The port has an area of 64,000 square meters and has a depth of more than 14 meters.
Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen Of Pakistan until 1956. And the ex-US President Barack Obama visited Pakistan in 1981.
Sugarcane juice is the national drink of Pakistan. In Pakistan, it is also known as “roh.”
Pakistan levies 5% advance tax on annual expenses made related to education, however, only when the total expense is above Rs 200,000 during a year.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was founded on 23 October 1946 as Orient Airways. The airline was nationalized on January 10th, 1955. The airline has a world record for flying the fastest between London and Karachi. The airline achieved this feat in 1962 when they completed the flight in 6 hours, 43 minutes, 55 seconds, a record which remains unbroken to this day.
K-2 (Chagori) is the highest mountain peak in Pakistan and the second highest in the world.
Pakistan boasts the world’s highest ATM (automated teller machine). The ATM is operated by the National Bank of Pakistan and it is installed at a height of 16,007 feet above sea level, at the Pak-China border, Khunjerab Pass.
Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan, is its financial hub as well as home to almost 17 million people. It also has a major seaport. Karachi was the first capital city of Pakistan post-independence and remained so until the capital was shifted to Rawalpindi in 1958.
India and Pakistan got their independence at midnight of 14–15 August 1947. The Indian Independence Act states – “As from the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-seven, two independent Dominions shall be set up in India, to be known respectively as India and Pakistan.”
Pakistan also has one of the oldest civilizations in history, Mehrgarh, dating back to 6000 B.C. Mehrgarh is now seen as a precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization. It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia.
Pakistan has the largest canal-based irrigation system in the world.
Pakistan has the world’s largest ambulance network. Pakistan’s Edhi Foundation, which is also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, operates the network.
The highest batting partnership formed by two players playing in their first Test matches in the sport of Cricket is 249 runs by Khalid Ibadulla (b. 20 December 1935) and Abdul Kadir (b. 1944, d. 2002) for Pakistan against Australia in Karachi, Pakistan, in the match played 24-29 October 1964. Wasim Akram, a former Pakistani fast bowler is the first to take 400 wickets in both Tests and ODIs (second being Muttiah Muralitharan).
Sialkot, located in Pakistan, is the world’s largest producer of handsewn footballs. Local factories in the region produce 40-60 million footballs a year, which is roughly 50-70% of the world’s total production. The football manufacturing industry now consists of more than 200 factories.
Pakistan is the world’s first Islamic country to attain nuclear power.
Pakistan has the highest paved international road – The Karakoram Highway (KKH).
Pakistan’s estimated population was 207,774,520 in August 2017, making it the world’s sixth-most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Nigeria.
The name Pakistan means ‘land of the pure’ in Persian and Urdu.
Just two people have won the Nobel Prize from Pakistan. Malala Yousafzai for Peace in 2014 and Abdus Salam for Physics in 1979.
They also have a rare species of ‘Blind Dolphin’ found in the water of Indus River. It is the second most endangered freshwater dolphin species in the world, the first being the ‘functionally extinct’ Yangtze River dolphin.
Pakistan also made history with the youngest civil judge in the world. Mohammed Ilyas passed the exam when he was 20 years and 9 months old and thus became the youngest civil judge in the world.
The ‘Khewra Salt Mine’ in Pakistan is the second largest and oldest salt mine in the world.
For the passenger trains in Pakistan, the railway uses, 5 ft 6 in wide gauge, the size of a broad track gauge which is also commonly used in India, west of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile. Elsewhere it is known as “Indian gauge”. It is the widest gauge in regular passenger use anywhere in the world.
Pakistan is also home to the world’s second-largest Muslim population, behind Indonesia. Note that India is home to the world’s third-largest Muslim population.
In 1965, Pakistan had a second war with India over Kashmir. The seventeen-day war caused thousands of casualties on both sides, and also witnessed the largest tank battle since World War II.
Pakistan and India both claimed victory in the war of 1965, which ended after a ceasefire declaration by the intervention of the Soviet Union and the United States.
In the last five years, Pakistan’s literacy rate has grown by 250%, the largest increase in any country to date.
On August 31st, 2007, General Parvez Musharraf amended the constitution of Pakistan to allow himself a third term as president.
On May 2, 2011 – Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces during a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He was the leader of Al Qaeda.
In 2013, Lonely Planet–the largest travel guide book publisher in the world–titled Pakistan, ‘The Next Big Thing’.
Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton producing country in the world (2017).
On November 29, 2007, Musharraf took the oath as President for the third time.
The Pakistani rupee is the official currency of Pakistan.
The markhor is the national animal of Pakistan. Its national bird is the chukar partridge.
March 23rd is Pakistan’s Republic Day or “Pakistan Day.”
In 1973, Pakistan adopted a constitution for the parliamentary system of government.
Islamic law became the law of the land in Pakistan after legislation was passed in 1991.
Port Muhammad Bin Qasim is the major port in Karachi, Pakistan.
Allama Muhammad Iqbal is the National Poet of Pakistan.
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) is the Father of the Nation of Pakistan.
Mango is the national fruit of Pakistan, and its national flower is Jasmine.
Moenjo Daro, Harappa, Taxila, Kot Diji, Mehr Garh, Takht Bhai, Juniper Shaft cave, the Murghagull Gharra cave and Mughall saa cave are major archaeological sites in Pakistan.
The Pakistani have a sense of extended family, which goes beyond the nuclear family and includes immediate and distant relatives, friends, fellow tribe members, and even neighbors. Loyalty to family is above any and all other relationships — even business.
So, hiring relatives is a common practice which has a positive spin in Pakistani culture, due to this high sense of loyalty.
The name Pakistan derives from two words, "Pak," which is Persian for holy, clean or pure, and "istan" derives from the Hindi word "isthan," which means a place.
Pakistan has six designated UNESCO World Heritage sites: the archeological ruins at Moenjodaro; the Buddhist ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and neighboring city remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol; the fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore; the monuments at Makli; Fort Rohtas; and the ancient ruins of Taxila.
Pakistan has the world's largest contiguous irrigation system, according to the United Nations.
Forming new relationships is very important in Pakistan, and asking friends and colleagues to make business introductions is a normal thing to do.
One important observation to be made here is that it is very inappropriate when someone asks questions to a Pakistani about any of their female relatives, especially their wives.
Casual dating is disapproved and many marriages are arranged by the family elders even today.
When there is no arrangement, parent approval is still necessary — in Pakistan, marriage is seen as a responsibility of the parents, especially due to the need of protecting the family’s honor.
When entering a Pakistani home, usually you will need to remove your shoes. The best way to make sure is to look at your host’s feet and follow suit.
Greet the elders first; the greetings exchange is usually made between members of the same sex. Men will shake hands and, when closer in relationship, might as well hug each other. Women will hug and kiss.
You will notice that Pakistani do not use first names, unless among close friends.
Although guests are served first, you should only start eating after the oldest person starts.
In 1941, Karachi, the first capital of Pakistan had a 46.7 per cent Hindu population, who fled the city during and immediately after the partition.
Around the same time, Delhi’s entire population included one-third Muslims, most of whom were displaced in 1947.
The borders of Pakistan were drawn up two days after partition, on August 17th of 1947.
As of August, 1947, the subcontinent was divided into parts lying in 4 different countries, some of which are still under dispute after 70 years, most notably the state of Kashmir.
During the iconic pre-independence speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of free India, in Delhi, the viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, was watching the Bob Hope movie ‘My Favourite Brunette’ with his wife.
Kingsway Camp, Delhi’s largest refugee camp at the time, was home to about 300,000 people, when at its maximum.
Disney films were screened in some of the refugee camps, with as many as 15,000 people watching.
As Hindu, Muslim and Sikh vigilantes hurt all sides killing and maiming at all sides, British soldiers were confined to their barracks. They had been ordered by Mountbatten to save only British lives.
There were trains of only corpses going to and fro the new countries – bodies of people who were killed or died on the way to their new homes.
On August 14, just hours before Nehru’s speech, a great riot had broken out in the streets of Lahore. The main Sikh temple or ‘gurudwara’ was in flames, while around 100,000 people were trapped in the burning city without water or medical help.
Until 1948, Pakistan used Indian currency bank notes, over-stamped with 'Pakistan' on the notes. New coins and banknotes of Pakistani rupees were circulated in 1948.
Two Pakistanis have won the Nobel Peace Prize: the late Abdus Salam, a theoretical physicist who in 1979 shared the Nobel Prize in physics for his contribution to electroweak unification theory, and Malala Yousafzai, a woman's education activist who in 2014 shared it with Kailash Satyarthi of India. Yousafzai was 17 when she was awarded the Nobel, making her the youngest-ever laureate.
If you play soccer – called football by most people around the world – it's likely you've put a boot into a product made in Pakistan. Workers in the country hand-sew many of the soccer balls distributed around the world, and as The Atlantic reports, roughly 40% of all soccer balls in the world are made in one Pakistani city: Sialkot.

Pakistan is a country with a fascinating past and an exciting present, offering a unique and enriching experience to those who visit it. From its bustling cities to its peaceful countryside, Pakistan has so much to offer to its visitors. Whether you're interested in its ancient history, its modern-day politics, or simply its stunning natural beauty, there is something for everyone to discover in Pakistan. We hope that this article has given you a glimpse into the unique and fascinating world of this remarkable country and that it has inspired you to learn more about its rich culture and heritage.

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