Pakistan is the 36th largest nation by total area. It has a 1,046km (650mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. Pakistan is bordered by Afghanistan, Iran, India, and China. Pakistan is also very close to Tajikistan, separated by the Wakhan Corridor. Pakistan is strategically located between the regions of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. This prime location – combined with varied natural resources, a diverse geography, and interesting environment – make Pakistan a noteworthy country.
Geography
Pakistan is one of few countries in the world to have every kind of geological structure. The geography of Pakistan is a blend of landscapes. You’ll find plains, deserts, forests, hills, and plateaus. There are coastal areas along the Arabian Sea and mountains of the Karakoram Range in the north part of Pakistan. There are green mountains and dry mountains, land rich for cultivating, and waterfalls. Geologically Pakistan overlaps the Eurasian, Iranian, and Indian tectonic plates.
Karachi Coast and Indus Delta, credit NASA
The three primary geographical regions are the northern highlands, the Indus River plain, and the Balochistan Plateau. The northern highlands include the famous K2, Mount Godwin Austen. At 8,611 meters, it is the second highest peak in the world. Pakistan is currently working to develop areas for tourists and trekking sites.
The Indus Plain is home to parts of the great river Indus. The catchment area of the Indus is almost one million square kilometers. All of Pakistan’s major rivers flow into it. The Indus River basin is a large, fertile alluvial plain. The high-quality silted land and extensive irrigation projects have made the area an agricultural destination for thousands of years.
Climate
Pakistan’s climate ranges from tropical to temperate. In the coastal south you’ll find arid conditions. Pakistan does have a monsoon season with adequate rainfall, and a dry season with less rainfall. A cool, dry winter runs from December to February. Spring from March to May is hot and dry. Summer from June to September is rainy. October and November are the retreating monsoon period.
Environment
The diversity of Pakistan’s landscapes and climates allows for a wide variety of plant life. Forests have coniferous alpine, subalpine (spruce, pine, and deodar cedar), deciduous (mulberry), palms (coconut and date), juniper, and tamarisk trees. You’ll also find coarse grasses and scrub plants. Mangrove forests form much of the coastal wetlands in the south.
Animal life is diverse as well. The southern plains are home to crocodiles. Boars, deer, porcupine, and rodents are common. In the north Marco Polo sheep, Urial sheep, Ibex goats, Himalayan bears, and snow leopards have been found. Sandy scrublands are home to jackals, hyena, wild cats, panthers, and leopards. Occasionally an Asiatic cheetah is spotted (no pun intended).The Markhor, a goat, is Pakistan’s national animal.
Pakistan’s Indus River Dolphin reserve in Sindh protects the rare blind dolphin. Recently several wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves have been started to protect animals from overhunting. In the cropland of the Indus flood plains you’ll find jackal, mongoose, jungle cats, civet cat, and anteaters. Hog deer are found in ravine tracts.
Many of the birds in Pakistan are migratory. Crows, sparrows, myna, hawks, falcons, and eagles are commonly found. Partridges are supported by crop residues and wild growth.
Pakistan’s geography, climate, and environment have shaped life in this country. Be sure to read more about Pakistan’s Natural Resources and if you’re visiting read What to Buy in Pakistan.
This is very helpful
Your comment..very meaning full article
hay y’all thanks for helping me on my country report thanks \_.._/smiley face
Good afternoon Pakistan is a very beautiful country . I Have a friend in Islamabad . Greetings Maria ”Amina”
yolo hi\_.._/smily face
Briliant notes
Our beloved country is heaven in this world, with all variety of climates, geographical, geological and full of biodiversity.
Plz Care about it, It is big bless from Allah.
nice
i went to pakistan and it never rains in june it was 52 degrees celcius ive ben to pakistan 5 times
East or West Pakistan is the Best. Love you Pakistan. Inshallah we will rule the world soon.
InshAllah
Mining in Pakistan
Mining is an important industry in Pakistan. Pakistan has deposits of several minerals including coal, copper, gold, chromite, mineral salt, bauxite and several other mierals. There are also a variety of precious and semi-precious minerals that are also mined. These include peridot, aquamarine, topaz, ruby, emerald, rare-earth minerals bastnaesite and xenotime, sphene, tourmaline, and many varieties and types of quartz.[1]
The Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation is the responsible authority for the support and development of the mining industry. Gemstones Corporation of Pakistan looks after the interests of stake holders in gem stone mining and polishing as an official entity. Baluchistan is the richest province in terms of mineral resources available in Pakistan. While recently Sindh discovered coal dposits in Thar. Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa is rich in terms of gems. Most of the mineral gems found in Pakistan exists here. Apart from oil, gas and some mineral used in nuclear energy purposes which comes directly under federal control mining of other minerals is provincial issue. Currently around 52 minerals, minned and process in Pakistan
Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, which is also the country’s industrial center, is more humid than Islamabad but gets significantly lesser rainfall. Only July and August average more than 50 millimetres (1.97 in) of rainfall in the Karachi area; the remaining months are exceedingly dry with little rainfall. The temperature is also more uniform in Karachi than in Islamabad, ranging from an average daily low of 13 °C (55.4 °F) during winter evenings to an average daily high of 34 °C (93.2 °F) on summer days. Although the summer temperatures do not get as high as those in Punjab, the high humidity causes the residents a great deal of discomfort.
Most areas in Punjab experience mild winters, often accompanied by rainfall. Woolen shawls are worn by women and men for warmth because few homes are centrally heated. By mid-February the temperatures rise; springtime weather continues until mid-April, when the summer heat sets in. The onset of the southwest monsoon is anticipated to reach Punjab by May, but since the early 1970s the weather pattern has been irregular, marked as an effect of global warming by many. The spring monsoon has either skipped over the area or has caused it to rain so hard that heavy floods have resulted in a large number of deaths. June and July are oppressively hot. Although official estimates rarely place the temperature above 46 °C (114.8 °F), newspaper sources claim that it reaches 52 °C (125.6 °F) and regularly carry reports about people who have succumbed to the heat. Heat records were broken in Multan in June 1993, when the mercury was reported to have risen to 54 °C (129.2 °F). In August the oppressive heat is punctuated by the rainy season, referred to as barsat, which brings relief in its wake by providing heavy rainfall. The hardest part of the summer is then over, but cooler weather does not come until late October.
Thanks for the valuable information. I really appreciate that!
AOA,THIS ARTICLE IS WONDERFULL.STILL THERE ARE MANY THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PAKISTAN.MALLIONS OF GREAT STORIES AND SCENES ARE WAITING FOR US IN EVERY CORNER OF OUR COUNTRY.
GOD BLESS PAKISTAN.
Azeem, I shall try my best to bring up as much as possible. If you or anyone else want to contribute, shoot me an email at info@insider.pk with what you can do and I shall get back to you on how we can get that done.
Aoa Hassan,
very attractive work y hv done ..fantastic web development ,easy to read,and beautiful articles,i found this link from Facebook..and i am glad to see this..may Allah gives you alots of blessings and happiness…pakistan is a miracle country . it is a wall of ummah…i love pakistan..proud to be a pakistani.. i am goona suggest and promoto this website to all my foreigner friends.. thank you
Walaikum Assalaam,
Thanks a lot. I appreciate that!
Keep in touch as we are going to add more content soon.
May Allah bless us all.
Faisal, I am glad to know that you liked the article. We are going to add many more like these so stay in touch.
Insider.pk hopes to encourage, motivate, and inspire Pakistanis so we can try and come out of all the problems that we are in at the moment.
Its really good to see this article about PAKISTAN our country which is very much neglected by many angles by its citizens those are now just interested to their personal related issues but not for their country and this attitude is one of the reasons of chaos in our country.
I love Pakistan and proud to be a Pakistan. I accept that I am the responsible for all the good and bad things thus it is my responsibility to make the change.
Thank you very much for this informative and dynamic simple article.