Country · Asia
Pakistan
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Pakistan is a country in Southern Asia. Its capital city is Islamabad. About 212.2 million people live there, in an area of 881 912 square kilometres.
Picture credit: Khoso Saifullah (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Afzaal Shafi (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Abkr123 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Tahsin Shah (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Aleem Yousaf (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Pakistan?
Pakistan lies in Southern Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 3 340 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 1 046 km long.
It shares a border with 4 countries: Afghanistan, China, India and Iran.
How big is Pakistan?
Pakistan covers 881 912 square kilometres.
That is about 8.6 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 33rd largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 240.6 people on every square kilometre.
Who lives in Pakistan?
About 212.2 million people live in Pakistan.
That is the 5th biggest population in the world.
People here speak English and Urdu.
They pay with the Pakistani rupee (₨).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 61 years.
The land of Pakistan
The land in Pakistan sits on average 900 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 1 046 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 52 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Pakistan different?
A dish the country is known for: Biryani and Nihari.
Websites from here often end in .pk.
Pakistan and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 28 live in Pakistan.
It takes up about 0.66 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Asia it is the 8th largest of 46 countries, and the 4th most populated.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Pakistan and its neighbours
China, its largest neighbour, is about 11 times bigger.
China has more people: 1.4 billion against 212.2 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 1 live wild in Pakistan: Snow leopard. The highest mountain we cover here is K2, at 8 611 metres. The longest river is the Indus, running 3 180 km from source to mouth.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Pakistan?
The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Pakistan?
About 212.2 million people live in Pakistan, which makes it the 5th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Pakistan?
Pakistan borders Afghanistan, China, India and Iran — 4 neighbours in total.
How big is Pakistan?
Pakistan covers 881 912 square kilometres, making it the 33rd largest country in the world. That is about 8.6 times the size of Iceland.
Which continent is Pakistan in?
Pakistan is in Asia, in the part called Southern Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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