The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, or simply said Pakistan, was born on August 14, 1947.
Located in South Asia and bordering India, China, Iran, and Afghanistan, there are so many interesting facts about Pakistan that make it one of the fantastic places on the global map.
If you are looking for reasons you should fall in love with Pakistan, here are some of them.
1- Pakistan is World’s Football Making Hub
The Sialkot city of Pakistan is known for football production and famous for supplying more than 70% of soccer balls to the world. With around 1000 soccer ball factories operating in the city, Pakistan exported more than 37 million footballs ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Pakistan takes pride in being the official football provider for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
2- The World Calls Pakistan a Huge Tourist Attraction
Referring to tourism, Lonely Planet in 2010 titled Pakistan as the “Next Big Thing”. The country is blessed with everything for everyone in the world, and this is why Forbes included it among the 10 coolest places in the world to visit. The British Backpacker Society also declared Pakistan the third-best potential adventure destination for 2020.
And it isn’t just a random comment.
Pakistan boasts five of the world’s highest mountain peaks. It has an 806km long highest trade route called Karakorum Highway (KKH), it gives the world one of the oldest civilizations on earth, the Mohenjdaro, the Buddhist civilization, and Mughal’s remains are a great connection to past centuries, its rich culture and the beautiful north stuffed with mountains, greenest plains, valleys, and blue lakes make it the only place to offer such diversity to tourists.
And this is why the foreign tourist’s footprint surged from half a million in 2015 to over two million in 2020.
Read: Shigarthang Valley In Skardu: An Unexplored Tourist’s Heaven
3- The Three Highest Mountain Ranges of the World converge in Pakistan
Another amazing thing in the list of interesting facts about Pakistan is that three of the world’s mightiest mountain ranges – the Karakoram, Himalaya, and Hindukush – merge at a single point at Juglot, a town 45KM southeast of Gilgit on Karakorum Highway in the north of Pakistan.
The Karakorum and Hindu Kush mean the “killer of Hindus,” featuring some of the world’s dangerous mountains. The second highest peak in the world, “K2,” is a part of the Karakorum range. The 8,611-meter-high mountain is also part of the Gilgit Baltistan region in Pakistan.
Karakorum range spreads across Pakistan, India, and China, whereas the Hindu Kush, the 800 km long-range, spreads through Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. Its highest peak, “Tirich Mir” (7,708 meters above sea level), stands in the Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan).
The Himalayas, known as the ‘Home of Snow’, stretch across Pakistan, Bhutan, China, Nepal, and India like an arc and spread across 2400 km. The mountain range boasts Mount Everest, the highest in the world at the border of Nepal and China, but in Pakistan, its highest peak is Nanga Parbat standing tall at 8,126 meters above sea level – 9th highest in the world – near Diamer District of Gilgit Baltistan region.
4- Pakistan Has the Most Glaciers on Earth – The Longest Ones
Outside the polar region, Pakistan has the most glacier ice on earth in its northern regions, both Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. All three huge mountain ranges feature the longest glaciers in this part of the world.
Abruzzi, Baltoro, Biafo, Bilafond, Chogo Lungma, Passu, Malanguti, Siachen, Thalo, and several others are among some of the largest glaciers on earth outside the polar region.
The 63 km long Baltoro in the Shigar (Gilgit Baltistan) is the longest outside the polar regions and runs through parts of the Karakorum mountain range.
5- UNESCO Features 6 Pakistani Sites in World Heritage List; More in Process
UNESCO has inscribed 6 Pakistani sites in the World Heritage List, and there are 26 more in the process of consideration.
The ruins of Moenjodaro city tops the list that dates back to 2500 BC and one of the oldest civilizations lying along the Indus river bank 28 Km from Larkan city in Sindh province.
Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi, Lahore Fort, Shalamar Garden Lahore, Historical Monuments at Makli, Tahatta, Rohtas Fort, and archaeological remains in Taxila are the remaining five.
However, thousands of other worth visiting archaeological sites spanning the entire country, mainly in Sindh and KP provinces. One of them is certainly the thousands of years old Katas Raj temple, a sacred site for Hindus.
6- World’s First PC Virus Born in Pakistan
This also one of the interesting facts about Pakistan because this is how the world started to know about Viruses.
Two software engineers and brothers also, Basit Alvi and Farooq Alvi, developed the world’s first PC virus in 1986, almost a decade before cellular signals on Pakistani soil. The virus named “Brain” replaced the bootloader of the 5.2” floppy disk with a code and displayed a warning to whoever illegally copied their software.
The virus was an effort to remind people of the copyrights, and it didn’t corrupt the computers.
Today, Brain is the name of their family-owned telecom company that provides tons of IT services to Pakistanis, including fiber-to-home high-speed internet service.
7- First Muslim Nuclear Power
Pakistan is the first Muslim country to have become a nuclear power back in 1998 when it responded to India’s nuclear tests by demonstrating its nuclear capability in Baluchistan province and became the world’s 7th nuclear power.
8- Pakistan Has 10th Most Powerful Military on Earth
China tops the world ranking when it comes to the number of active personnel in any army, but Global Firepower ranking shows it at number 3 after the US and Russia regarding overall military power the organization calculates based on 50 individual factors.
Pakistan stands at number 10 position with a score of 0.2073 ahead of Turkey, Italy, Iran, and Germany. The lesser the score, the higher is the name on the power index list.
Pakistan army also enjoys the title of being 6th largest military by the number of personnel. As of 2021, approximately 651,800 people serve different segments of Pakistan’s military.
9- PIA Helped Launch Emirates
The launch of Emirates in 1985, the national air carrier of Dubai, couldn’t have been possible without PIA’s massive assistance and involvement.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, first chairman and CEO of the airline and the son of Dubai’s former ruler, asked PIA to help them build the airline. In return, PIA wet-leased the Emirates its first two aircraft, 737-200, along with the crew and financial assistance. The aircrafts were returned to PIA in 1987 when Emirates stood on its own feet.
Emirates’ first flight flew from Dubai to Karachi and retired Capt. Fazal Ghani Mian from Pakistan was the first pilot to start its operation.
10- World’s Highest ATM in Pakistan
Pakistan broke the Indian record in 2016 by installing an ATM at the highest altitude possible in the World – 15,397 feet above sea level. National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) installed this ATM at Khunjerab Pass (Pakistan – China border) on September 6, 2016. The machine is operative 24 hours and does not run out of power supply for being supported by Solar and Wind energy.
It is closely monitored by a nearby Sost Post and maintained by the bank since it falls on the CPEC route, the first banking interaction after the border.
NBP got itself registered in the Guinness Book of Records for this, making it one of the amazing facts about Pakistan.
Earlier Union Bank of India held the record for the ATM it installed at Nathu-La Pass in 2007 at 14,300 feet above sea level.
11- Pakistan is World’s 5th Most Populace Country
As of 2021, Pakistan is World’s 5th most populated country with 238 million inhabitants, among them majority lives in Punjab Province.
As per the US and World Population Clock, China, India, and United States grab the first, second, and third place, respectively.
According to United Nations, Pakistan’s population has increased by six times during the last 70 years.
Pakistan is currently ahead of Brazil, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.
12- Pakistan Connects China to The World Through Fiber Optic Cable
Pakistan carries one of the fiber optic cables that run through it from Khunjerab to Gwadar, connecting China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region to the rest of the World, including Europe and Africa.
The fiber optic project is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China for creating digital supremacy over the US and Europe through the spread of digital infrastructure.
The cable that was laid in association with Chinese companies also provides an alternative digital route for Pakistan that was earlier dependent on Indian-based submarine cables.
13- MM Alam Destroyed Most Fighter Planes
Muhammad Mahmood Alam of Pakistan Air Force holds this record of downing 5 Indian aircraft in less than a minute is still unbeaten. The four of them were destroyed within 30 seconds.
In total, air commodore MM Alam brought down 9 Indian fighter planes in the war of 1965 while he piloted an F-86 Sabre fighter. He was also nicknamed “little dragon” for this brilliant flying and fighting skills.
14- Pakistan Plans to Build World’s Biggest Cricket Stadium
The plan is still in infancy, but the government of Pakistan wishes to build Asia’s largest cricket stadium in Islamabad. Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the concerned departments to lay out a plan.
PCB’s director Nadeem Khan shared with the media the stadium will be the largest in Asia. If the word’s to be believed, the existing largest in Asia is Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India that also holds the title of World’s largest cricketing space would become number.
We still await more info on the development of the project before it becomes a reality.
This article continues, and we will keep including amazing facts in the list of interesting things about Pakistan.
If you know some worth sharing interesting facts about Pakistan, you can also help us by mentioning what we should include in our list in the comment area below.
