About Pakistan

Official name of the state is "Islamic Republic of Pakistan". It covers exactly 8,03,940 Square
kilometers of land. Pakistan has well defined seasons; Winter (December - February), Spring
(March - April), Summer (May - September) and Autumn (October - November). It's a Muslim
majority country with 97% Muslim population, Hindus 1.5%, Christian 1% and several other
minorities.

The name Pakistan literally means “Land of the Pure” in Urdu and Persian. It comes from the
word pāk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto while the word istān is a Persian word meaning
place of; it is a cognate of the Sanskrit word sthān.

It was coined in 1933 as Pakistan by Choudhry Rehmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist,
who published it in his pamphlet Now or Never, using it as an acronym (“thirty million Muslim
brethren who live in PAKSTAN”) referring to the names of the five northern regions of the
British Raj: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan.

Pakistan’s National language is URDU. Pakistan is an Islamic republic with its capital at
Islamabad. It has four provinces: Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtoon Khoa (KPK), Punjab and
Sindh. Their respective capitals are Quetta, Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi. In addition to
provinces, are the Federal Administered Northern Areas (F.A.N.A) and Federal Administered
Tribal Areas (F.A.T.A). Pakistan has a federal structure.

After independence from the partition of India in 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the President
of Muslim League, became nation’s first Governor-General as well as first President-Speaker
of the Parliament. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s founding fathers agreed upon appointing Liaquat Ali
Khan, the secretary-general of the party, nation’s first Prime Minister.

A dominion status in the Commonwealth of Nations, Pakistan was under two British monarchs
when George VI relinquished the title of Emperor of India to become King of Pakistan in 1947.
After George VI’s death on 6 February 1952, Elizabeth II became the Queen of Pakistan who
retained the title until Pakistan becoming the Islamic republic in 1956.

Parliament consists of National Assembly and the Senate. Members of the National Assembly
are directly elected on the adult franchise base and their term of office is five years. The National
Assembly determine the major policy issue and passes annual budget and legislation. It elects the
Prime Minister from among its members. The Prime Minister forms his / her cabinet from among
members of the Assembly and Senate. Provinces have their own elected legislative Assemblies
and Chief Ministers. Majority of the members, of the upper house are elected by the Provincial
Assemblies.

Map of Pakistan

 
 

Official websites of Pakistan:

 Government of Pakistan: www.pakistan.gov.pk

 Government of Punjab: www.punjab.gov.pk
 Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: www.khyberpakhtunkhwa.gov.pk
 Government of Sindh: www.sindh.gov.pk
 Government of Baluchistan: www.balochistan.gov.pk
 Government of Gilgit Baltistan: www.gilgitbaltistan.gov.pk
 Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir: www.ajk.gov.pk