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About Pakistan
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. Its strategic location at a crossroads of political and religious ideologies has kept it at the forefront of world events. Its culture and history have been enriched by the countless invaders, traders, and settlers who have been a part of the region’s past. The country borders India, Afghanistan, Iran (Persia), China and the Arabian Sea. With around 178 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.
The area of Pakistan has a long history of settlement and civilisation that includes some of the most ancient cultures. The region was invaded by Mongols, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, and Turks before being invaded by the British Raj in the Eighteenth century. Pakistan became independent on 14 August 1947 as one of two successor states to British India. (The other successor state was the Union of India, which became the Republic of India in 1950.) Following independence, Pakistan has seen repeated military coups, the loss of East Pakistan in 1971, 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.
Selected article
Hingol National Park or Hungol National Park (Urdu: ہنگول ) covers about 1,650 km². and is the largest of National Parks of Pakistan and lies on the Makran coast in Balochistan and approximately 190 km from Karachi. The area was for the first time declared reserved in 1988. The park area covers parts of the three districts, namely; Lasbela, Gwadar and Owaran of Balochistan province containing a variety of topographical features and vegetation, varying from arid sub tropical forest in the north to arid montane in the west. Large tracts of the NP are covered with drift sand and can be classified as coastal semi desert. The National Park includes the estuary of the Hingol river which supports a significant diversity of bird and fish species. Currently, 20 staff members including 18 game watchers, two deputy rangers are responsible for the management of the Park under the guidance of the park Manager who reports to the Conservator and the Secretary Wildlife, Forest, Livestock, Environment and Tourism. Hingol is known to support at least 35 species of mammals, 65 species of amphibians and reptiles and 185 species of birds. Some 250 plant species were recorded in the initial surveys including 7 yet undescribed species. Many more species are yet to be collected. The park forms an excellent habitat to wild Sindh Ibex, Afghan Urial and Chinkara Gazelle. Ibex is found in all steep mountain ranges and numerous in the Hinglaj and Rodani Kacho Mountain areas. Total population is estimated over 3000. (More...)
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![Hindu temple malot jhelum district.jpg](https://web.archive.org/web/20161113204834im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Hindu_temple_malot_jhelum_district.jpg/250px-Hindu_temple_malot_jhelum_district.jpg) |
Photograph of the temple and gateway in Kashmiri style at Malot, Jhelum District, taken by Joseph David Beglar in the 1870s. Alexander Cunningham wrote in his report for the Archaeological Survey of India in 1872-3, "The only remains of any antiquity at Mallot are a temple and gateway in the Kashmirian style of architecture. They are built of a coarse sandstone of various shades of ochreous red and yellow, and many parts have suffered severely from the action of the weather, the surface having altogether crumbled away...The temple is a square of 18 feet inside, with a vestibule or entrance porch on the east towards the gateway. The gateway is...a massive building...divided into two rooms...On each side of these rooms to the north and south there are highly decorated niches for the reception of statues, similar to those in the portico of the temple. These niches are covered by trefoil arches which spring from flat pilasters. Each capital supports a statue of a lion under a half trefoil canopy...The roof is entirely gone; but judging from the square shape of the building, I conclude that it must have been pyramidal, outside with flat panelled ceilings of overlapping stones."
Photo credit: Talha
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Did you know
- ... that Hafiz Muhammad Fazal Azim Taha, the famous living Pakistani poet said about Iqbal's work that "He not only dreamed for Pakistan but also got the nation up for their rights". This famous saying is regarded as Iqbal's definition. (14 July, 2014)
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