About Pakistan (Geography, Mountains & Culture)

Pakistan is an interesting country, very rich in cultural heritage and human resources. It offers a great variety of scenic beauty, with fairly high altitudes toward the west. The northern region offers wild rivers, wonderful valleys, deep and steep gorges, snow-covered sky-high peaks, wild wastelands, and eternal glaciers. There are dissected uplands and fertile plains in the middle, desolate deserts and plateaus toward the south, sandy silver-white coastal beaches, lagoons, mangrove swamps, and sea in the extreme south.

The landscape in the north is stunning — mountains almost touching the sky. In a radius of forty square kilometers, seven of the world's seventeen highest peaks are located. These peaks are considered the Mecca of mountaineers all over the world. There are more than forty mountain peaks higher than 7,000 meters (25,000 feet) — much higher than all the highest peaks of Europe, Australia, Africa, Japan, the Middle East, and most other Asian countries.

Besides these high mountain peaks, the area is known for the longest and most dreadful glaciers found nowhere else except in the polar regions. In addition to these glaciers, there are scores of lakes, hundreds of streams, and a wild web of mountain-locked valleys. There are thick forests of pine and juniper, and a vast variety of flora and fauna. The combination of all these natural gifts has turned several spots into tourist resorts that are admired, desired, and loved by people from almost all parts of the world.

A Land of Marvelous Contrasts

Situated at the crossroads of history, Pakistan is a land of marvelous contrasts. From its southern desert plains to the terraced green fields of Askole in the north (the last village before K2), Pakistan drenches the senses with mountain majesty and exotic tribal cultures.

Moving north, the endless white sandy beaches of the Arabian Sea give way to the Punjabi plains and vast agricultural lands, then the great gash of the Indus Gorge and countless snow-locked peaks along the borders with China to the north, India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.

Through the ages, many civilizations settled along the banks of the mighty Indus River. The Indus, father of rivers, begins its journey in the remote peaks of the subcontinent. Coursing in rolling fury through the Indus Gorge, the Indus is edged by the fragile ribbon of the Karakoram Highway (KKH). Today, the heirs of these ancient cultures — Baltis, Hunzakuts, Pashtuns, and a host of others — still practice their timeless ways of life along the KKH.

The Roof of the World

Each year, millions flock to the European Alps and thousands visit Nepal. Only a few of the well-informed and adventurously curious are fortunate enough to experience the stunning "Roof of the World" that is Northern Pakistan. Here, four great mountain ranges meet: the Himalaya, Karakoram, Hindukush, and Pamir Mountains.

Embracing many of the planet's highest peaks, the Pamir Knot of Pakistan is the incredible confluence of these four great ranges. Of the fourteen highest peaks on Earth, Pakistan has five — including the sublime pyramid of K2 (8,611m) , the second-highest mountain on Earth, and the most dangerous mountain in the world, Nanga Parbat (8,126m) . In addition, the area contains some of the longest and largest glacier systems outside of the polar regions.

Pakistani hospitality and friendliness are legendary. Far from the civil unrest that occasionally plagues other cities, the mountain people of Northern Pakistan look forward to welcoming you into their midst. Come join them in a world of unparalleled beauty and drama — learn and witness for yourself what so few others have experienced.

Cultural Heritage of Pakistan

The land where Pakistan is situated today has been a seat of the world's leading civilizations from time immemorial. There is plenty of evidence from the prehistoric and historic periods to support this argument — fossil jaws of apes circa 14 million years old found from Pothohar, belonging to a species named Sivapithecus Pakininsis, said to be the ancestor of man. A 2-million-year-old stone hand axe is now on display in Islamabad Museum.

The legacy of our predecessors at the time of independence on August 14, 1947, came to us as a treasure — Pakistan's national heritage. So rich and diversified is this heritage that the Pakistani nation can be proud of its glorious past, whether Islamic, post-Islamic, or pre-Islamic, as far back as prehistoric times.

Indus Civilization

This land witnessed the glorious era of the Indus Civilization about 8,000 BC when the first village was found at Mehrgarh in the Sibi District of Balochistan, comparable with the earliest villages of Jericho in Palestine and Jarmo in Iraq. During the 1980s, French and Pakistani archaeologists excavated mud-built houses of the Mehrgarh people, along with agricultural land known for the cultivation of maize and wheat, polished stone tools, beads, ornaments, painted jars, bowls, drinking glasses, dishes, and plates.

By 7,000 BC, the Mehrgarh people learned to use metal for the first time. From the first revolution of agricultural life, man moved to another great revolution in his social, cultural, and economic life. He established trade relations with the people of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and the Arab world. This early Bronze Age culture spread throughout Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This social and cultural exchange led to the rise of the famous cities of Moenjodaro and Harappa, with the largest concentration of population including artisans, craftsmen, businessmen, and rulers. This culminated in the peak of the Indus Civilization, primarily based on intensively irrigated agricultural land and overseas trade with Iran, Gulf States, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.

The picture of high civilization can be gathered by looking at Moenjodaro, the First Planned City in the World, with streets aligned straight and parallel to each other, with cross streets cutting at right angles. Through these wide streets, wheeled carriages moved about, carrying well-adorned persons seated on them, appreciating the closely aligned houses made of pucca bricks. Through the middle of the streets ran stone-dressed drains covered with stone slabs — a practice of keeping streets clean from polluted water, seen for the first time in the world.

Gandhara Civilization

Pakistan is the land that attracted Alexander the Great from Macedonia in 326 BC, with whom the influence of Greek culture came to this part of the world. During the 2nd century BC, Buddhism was adopted as the state religion, which flourished and prevailed here for over 1,000 years, from the 2nd century BC until the 10th century AD.

During this time, Taxila, Swat, and Charsaddah (old Pushkalavati) became three important centers for culture, trade, and learning. Hundreds of monasteries and stupas were built together with Greek and Kushan towns such as Sirkap and Sirsukh in Taxila. It was from these centers that a unique art of sculpture originated, known as Gandhara Art all over the world.

Today, Gandhara sculptures occupy a prominent place in museums in England, France, Germany, USA, Japan, Korea, China, India, and Afghanistan, along with many private collections worldwide, as well as in the museums of Pakistan. The zenith of this Gandhara Art is the one and only "Fasting Buddha," now on display in Lahore Museum.

Wildlife in Pakistan

The mountainous areas embracing the Himalayan, Karakoram, and Hindukush ranges are rich in fauna and flora compared to other parts of the country. These areas provide excellent habitat for wildlife in the form of alpine grazing lands, sub-alpine scrub, and temperate forests.

Some of the main wildlife species are the snow leopard, black and brown bears, otter, wolf, lynx, Himalayan ibex, markhor, bharal, Marco Polo's sheep, shapu, musk deer, marmots, tragopan, and monal pheasants. The snow partridge and snowcock reside at higher elevations.

Among these, the snow leopard, musk deer, Marco Polo's sheep, and brown bear are endangered. The cheer pheasant is reported to be extinct from within Pakistan's boundaries and is included in the IUCN Red Data Book.

The main threats to wildlife in the northern mountainous regions include competition with domestic livestock for natural forage, increasing human interference, construction of roads, and hunting.

The Indus dolphin (Platanista gangetica minor) is one of the world's rarest mammals, found in the Indus River waters below the Chashma Barrage. It is locally called Bhullan and is a true treasure of Pakistan's wildlife.

Pakistan's coastline of 1,050 km consists of a variety of habitat types, supporting a wide range of animals, of which over 1,000 are fish species. Along the shores, there are four species of marine turtles: the ridley, green, leatherback, and hawksbill turtle.

The wetlands of Pakistan are one of the most important wintering areas and "green routes" of Asia. Important waterfowl include ducks (mallard, pintail, shoveler, pochard, teals), geese (grey lag, bar-headed), coots, flamingoes, pelicans, spoonbills, storks, ibises, plovers, curlews, sandpipers, snipes, and herons.

Spread over an area of 868,591 square kilometers, this magnificent land contains galaxies of towering snow-capped mountains, gigantic creeping glaciers, lush green alpine meadows, rushing white rivers, tumbling waterfalls, quiet lakes, and blossoming fruit orchards in the north — and fertile plateaus, rich alluvial plains, meandering yellow rivers, glowing deserts, and sandy beaches in the south.

The Continental Collision of the three mighty mountain ranges of the world — the Himalayas, the Karakorams, and the Hindukush — in the north gave birth to the thickest cluster of the highest peaks and largest glaciers on Earth.

• 5 of the world's 14 peaks above 8,000 meters are in Pakistan

• 101 peaks are above 7,000 meters

• 50 of the world's 100 highest peaks are in Pakistan

• K2 (8,611m) is the second highest on Earth

• Pakistan's glaciated region covers 12,000 sq km

• The Biafo-Hispar glacial corridor of 116 km is the longest on Earth

• The Indus River is 3,200 km long, merging with the Arabian Sea

• Pakistan's coastline has a sandy beach of over 1,000 km

• Deserts cover 470,000 sq km in Balochistan, Sindh, and Southern Punjab