THE PAKISTAN PORTAL

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان, islāmī jamhūriya i pākistān), or Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان, pākistān), is a country located in South Asia and is a part of the Indian Subcontinent and was a part of Ancient India and became a subject to British rule in the 1800s. The country borders India, Afghanistan, Iran (Persia), China and the Arabian Sea. With around 162 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country, the second most populous Muslim-majority nation. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the OIC.

Pakistan came into existence after the Partition of India when India got independence from the British Rule on 14 August 1947, but the region has a long history of settlement and civilisation that includes some of the most ancient cultures. The region was invaded by Chinese, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, and Turks before being invaded by the British Raj in the Eighteenth century. Following independence, Pakistan has seen the loss of East Pakistan in 1971, repeated military coups, widespread Islamic fundamentalism and significant military and economic growth, with the second-fastest growing economy amongst the ten most populous countries in the world in 2005 and the twenty-seventh largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. Pakistan has the seventh largest armed forces in the world and is one of eight declared nuclear weapons states.

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Jinnah International Airport previously Quaid-e-Azam International Airport (IATA: KHI, ICAO: OPKC) is Pakistan's largest international and domestic airport. It is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, and is also commonly known as the Jinnah Terminal. The airport is named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was also known as Quaid-e-Azam ("Great Leader"). The existing capacity allows the airport to handle up to 30 aircraft at one time. The facility can handle up to 12 million passengers per year. The airport also provides primary hub for the flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as well as other smaller airlines. The airport is equipped with aircraft engineering and overhauling facilities with Ispahani Hangar for wide-body aircraft. (More...)

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News

• September 2

Pakistan's Favorite blog.(CyberDera)

Pakistan's religious affairs minister escaped with a minor injury in an attack.(CNN)

• September 1

Militants suffer heavy casualties as fighting rages between security forces and militants.(CNN)

• August 26

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan confirms that their former leader Baitullah Mehsud died from injuries sustained during a U.S. drone attack on August 5.

• August 22

Taliban official Hakeemullah Mehsud is selected as the new head of the Pakistani Taliban, a local Taliban commander in Pakistan's federally administered tribal areas confirms. (CNN)

• August 21

A missile fired from a U.S. unmanned plane destroyed a suspected militant hide-out in northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 12 people in a stronghold of a jihadi leader blamed for attacks in Afghanistan. (Associated Press)

• August 17

A bomb explodes on a truck at a fuel station in Charsadda, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan (20 km from Peshawar), killing seven people. (BBC News)

• August 14

Pakistan begins its first international freight train service from Islamabad to Istanbul. (BBC)

Did you know

• ... that Tajammul Hussain Malik headed an unsuccessful coup attempt against Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq in 1980? (22 September, 2009)

• ... that the Pakistan National Congress represented Hindus and other minorities and won 28 seats in the East Bengal Legislature in 1954? (17 September, 2009)

• ... that the Legal Framework Order, 1970, issued by Gen. Yahya Khan, set the rules for the first direct popular elections in the history of Pakistan? (14 September 2009)

• ... that in 1881 in the village of Bakhshali in northern Pakistan, the Bakhshali manuscript, the oldest surviving example of Indian mathematics, was discovered written on birch bark? (1 September, 2008)

• ... that the original images of Lord Swaminarayan at the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Karachi, Pakistan were removed and taken to India during the turbulent times of its partition? (1 September, 2008)

• ... that Saudi Arabia promised to supply 50,000 barrels of free oil per day to help Pakistan if economic sanctions were imposed after its 1998 nuclear tests? (1 September, 2008)

• ... that Pakistani actress Veena Malik has emerged as one of the leading women on Pakistani television with her abilities in improvisational mimicry? (1 September, 2008)

• ... that in a major improvement in bilateral relations in 2008, Pakistan proposed sharing nuclear technology with Bangladesh? (31 August, 2008)

• ... that Ayesha Omar sparked controversy in Pakistan when she painted two semi-nude self-portraits? (31 August, 2008)

• ... that Abdur Rashid Kardar, a pioneer of the Pakistani film industry in Lahore, was a calligraphist who prepared posters for foreign-made films? (11 July 2008)

• ... that the Nigar Awards are the oldest awards of merit in the Pakistani film industry? (10 July 2008)

• ... that Syed Wajid Ali was the longest serving President of the Pakistan Olympic Association with a tenure of 26 years? (7 July 2008)

• ... that the 1948 film Teri Yaad was the first feature film to be released in Pakistan after the partition of India? (06 July 2008)

• ... that almost all Pakistani pop music videos were forbidden to air on local television after Zia-ul-Haq's military coup in 1977? (01 June 2008)

Categories

Provinces and Territories

Things you can do

Pakistan noticeboard

• Layout: Pakistan noticeboard, Geography,
• Peer review:
• NPOV:
• Wikify: Etiquette in Pakistan
• Cleanup: Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad District (Pakistan)
• Merge:
• Pakistan Politics: Allama Mashriqi
• Expand: Ahmad Hasan Dani, Portal:Faisalabad, Portal:Sialkot
• Stubs: Many

This week in history

• 8 October 2005: The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the South Asia earthquake or the Great Pakistan earthquake) of 2005, was a major earthquake, of which the epicentre was the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The earthquake occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC) on 8 October 2005. It registered 7.6 on the richter scale making it a major earthquake similar in intensity to the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Pakistani government's official death toll was 73,276, while officials say nearly 1,400 people died in Jammu and Kashmir and fourteen people in Afghanistan. Most of the affected people lived in mountainous regions with access impeded by landslides that blocked the roads, leaving an estimated 3.3 million homeless in Pakistan.

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