List of capitals in Pakistan

This is a list of capital cities, including the legislature or seat of government, of Pakistan and its current and former provinces, territories, and states.

Contents

National capital

Islamabad has been the capital of Pakistan since the 1960s, succeeding the coastal city of Karachi, which had been selected as the capital in 1947 by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan. The legislature was based in Dacca in the province of East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan). Karachi was and still is the largest city and economic capital of Pakistan. It remained the seat of government until 1959, when the military president, Ayub Khan, decided to build a new capital in the north of Pakistan, near the general headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces at Rawalpindi. The main reasons for the new location were that the new capital city would reflect the diversity of the Pakistani people, it would be separated from the business and commercial activity of Karachi, and also it would be easily accessible from all parts of the country.[1] The move to Islamabad was not completed until the late 1960s and for some years several government ministries were based in nearby Rawalpindi.

Regional capitals

The capitals of the provinces and territories of Pakistan have remained the same since the 1970s when the current administrative structure was established. All four provincial capitals are the largest cities of their respective provinces.

Subdivision[2] Status Capital[3] Population
(1998 census)[4]		 Population
(2008 estimate)[5]
Balochistan Province Quetta 565,137 825,889
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Peshawar 982,816 1,344,967
Punjab Province Lahore 5,143,495 6,747,238
Sindh Province Karachi 9,339,023 12,461,423
Federally Administered Tribal Areas[6] Federal territory Miran Shah
Islamabad Capital Territory Federal territory Islamabad 529,180 657,788
Azad Kashmir[7] Autonomous State Muzaffarabad 725,000
Gilgit-Baltistan[7] Territory Gilgit No census

Former provincial capitals

Former state capitals

See also

References

  1. ^ "History of Islamabad". Capital Development Authority. http://www.visitislamabad.net/islamabad/files/file-detail.asp?var=history-of-islamabad. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
    linked from "Visit Islamabad: Islamabad the beautiful". Capital Development Authority. http://www.islamabad.gov.pk/islamabad/default.asp. 
  2. ^ "The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan". National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan. Archived from the original on 2007-12-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20071215012323/http://www.nrb.gov.pk/constitutional_and_legal/constitution/part1.html. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  3. ^ Gwillim Law. "Pakistan Provinces". Statoids.com. http://www.statoids.com/upk.html. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  4. ^ "Population size and growth of major cities". Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan. http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_major_cities/pop_major_cities.html. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  5. ^ Stefan Helders. "Pakistan - largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". World Gazetteer. http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&dat=80&geo=-172&srt=npan&col=aohdqgbeinfc&msz=1500&pt=c&va=&srt=1npan. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  6. ^ "Administrative system". Government of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. http://www.fata.gov.pk/index.php?link=3. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  7. ^ a b "Kashmir and Northern Areas Division". Government of Pakistan. Archived from the original on 2006-12-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20061210084118/http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/divisions/index.jsp?DivID=17&cPath=155. Retrieved 2007-01-03. 

Further reading

External links