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Geography
Situated on the
crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia,
Pakistan is a beautiful country with a unique history and cultural
heritage. Pakistan was the site for one of the world's earliest
human settlements: the great prehistoric Indus Valley
Civilization, the crucible of ancient empires, religions and
cultures.
The land of Pakistan ranges from lofty mountains in the
north, the Karakoram and the Himalayas, through dissected plateaus
to the rich alluvial plains of the Punjab. Then follows the
desolate barrenness of Baluchistan and the hot, dry deserts of
Sindh blending into miles and miles of golden beaches of Makran
coast.
Pakistan has three
major geographic areas: northern highlands, Indus River plain, and
Balochistan Plateau. The climate is for the most part
arid. Pakistan has hot summers and cool to cold
winters. Rainfall is not abundant and there are great
variations in temperature from the Arabian Sea coastal areas to
the colder northern regions.
Pakistan is quite
large at 803,943 sq. km. (310,527 sq. mi.), which is almost twice
the size of the state of California in the United States.
The major cities in Pakistan are the capital (Islamabad) with a
population of 800,000, adjacent Rawalpindi (1,406, 214),Karachi
(11,624,219) (2005 est.), Lahore (6,310,888) (2005 est.),
Faisalabad (1,977,246) and Hyderabad (1,151,274).
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