The Capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad, is located in northern Pakistan, near Rawalpindi. Islamabad was officially made the capital in 1967, and work in the city was completed by the mid-1970s. The city of Islamabad is divided into eight largely self-contained zones. Notable structures in Islamabad include the National Assembly Building, designed by Louis I Kahn and Quaid-i-Azam University. Among buildings worth seeing, are the new Prime Minister's Secretariat, Assembly Building, the Awami Markaz, Diplomatic Enclave and the Faisal Mosque.

A twin city to Islamabad, Rawalpindi is a bustling city with a population of around two million. It serves as the Head Quarters of the Pakistan Army. The bazaars of Rawalpindi are no less in flavour than any Oriental bazaar, quite like the Weekend market in China! The popular Raja Bazaar can take a couple of leisurely days to be properly explored.

This commercial hub is situated in north-western Pakistan, near the entrance to Khyber Pass. Industries in Peshawar include handicrafts and the manufacture of processed food, footwear, silk, and cotton textiles. Do not miss the Peshawar Museum, which houses important collections of sculpture of the ancient Gandhara civilisation. Purushapure is a well known ancient trading centre here.

Situated in southern Pakistan, Karachi is the capital of Sind Province. The hub of a sprawling metropolitan area, Karachi is the nation's largest city and its chief transportation, financial, commercial, and manufacturing centre. The city has a strong infrastructure with major highways and railroads and a modern airport that serves as a stopover and refuelling point for many intercontinental flights. Karachi manufactures steel, textiles, chemicals, refined petroleum, footwear, machinery, handicrafts, and processed food. A landmark destination for any tourist in Karachi is the tomb of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan. Karachi was an old settlement, a fishing and trade centre when it was captured by the British in 1839 and annexed three years later. Since its independence Karachi has grown rapidly as the chief port and industrial centre of West Pakistan.

The capital of the province of Punjab, the ancient city of Lahore is a seat of learning with important educational institutions. It has bustling bazaars where traditional trades ply and also some of the most beautiful mosques in the Islamic world, including the Badshahi Mosque, built during the rule of the sixth Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb Alamgir. Other places of tourist interest are the Lahore Fort and the Shalimar Gardens.

The commercial and banking centre of the Punjab Province of Pakistan, Lahore is set on the Ravi River. A lively, noisy and fast-paced city, with a total strength of about 10 million people, Lahore is definitely the busiest city in Pakistan. Heavily industrialised, the city produces textiles, metal products, chemicals, machinery, glassware, leather and rubber goods. The city is vibrant and a haven for shoppers, what with the glorious bazaars on full display!

Lahore is also an educational and cultural centre, which houses the University of the Punjab, the oldest university in Pakistan, and the University of Engineering and Technology. The city is also known for its atomic energy research centre, and is home to some of the architecturally significant buildings and monuments, many dating from the Mughal Empire. The Lahore Museum, which is the largest in the country, is worth a visit.

An ancient city near Harappa, Multan is located on river Chenab. It is a major trading centre for handicrafts and is famous for the quality of hand-made products that find their way into its bazaars, including exquisite silk, soft cotton cloth, exquisitely woven fine carpets, glazed pottery and artefacts beautifully embellished with enamel work.  Local produce includes wheat, sugar, indigo and oil seeds. Bahauddin Zakariya University is the main educational institution in the city that is a part of the Punjab province.

Dancing Girl

A bronze statuette of a slender-limbed "dancing girl" found in Mohenjodaro changed historic perceptions of art in the West, since it pre-dated Greek artistic tradition, and is an exquisite, realistic representation of the female form.

The Indus Valley Civilisation flourished in this region in from 2600-1900 BC. The ruins of these important cities were excavated in the 1920s and they show planned cities laid out in grids, well contrived sanitation systems and covered drains. Common features in these and other sites discovered later suggest a high level of development and prosperity.

Gandhara region had once been the hollowed center of Buddhism - Taxila remained famous as a center of learning for the Ghandhara art of sculpture, architecture, culture, art, education and Buddhism in the days of Buddhist glory. Its temples, monasteries and beautiful sculptures tell us a stunning tale of the city that once used to be a crowded by the students from the West, China and Central Asia. Mardan, Hazara and Gilgit were the areas most influenced by this civilisation.

In winter, Pakistan's history is re-lived in the fertile plains of the south, along the banks of the mighty Indus river. One can explore the ruins of the Indus valley civilisation; revel in the splendour of the mighty Mughals, enjoying the sentinels and shrines, flowers and fountains, painstakingly centuries ago; visit the abode of the Islamic sufis and saints, and participate in the vibrant festivals that whirl you into the world of miracles dervishes. Or, one can ride on camels aside nomadic caravans in the deserts of Baluchistan and Cholistan; float down the Indus in local fishing boats, race with the unique fresh water blind dolphin; drive a jeep into the land of the lost river, and rediscover abandoned fortresses and shrines.

For nature lovers, Pakistan offers abundance of spectacles of sheer scenic beauty with beseeching valleys that shrine with fruit laden orchards, flower filled slopes, meandering rivers and tumbling streams. Whereas the blend of towering peaks of mountain ranges, creeping glaciers, impressive landscapes, deep gorges, meandering water falls and gleaming, tumbling and scintillating streams of unpolluted water of quiet lakes, hot sulphur springs known for their healing abilities from migraines and sterility - makes the region an unspoiled paradise, holding an aura of peace and tranquillity for the visitors, giving them a feeling about this land - an unmatched master piece of God.

A paradise for trekkers, most of Pakistan's trekking routes lie in the northern mountains of the Hindukush, the Karakorams and the Himalayas. Trekking season is between May to October, with three designated zones for trekking; open, restricted and closed. Foreigners may trek anywhere in the open zone without a permit or services of a licensed mountain guide.

For trekking in a restricted zone, foreigners must pay a fee of US$ 20 per person per trek to obtain a trekking permit from the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad. It also requires to hire a licensed mountain guide; buy a personal accident insurance policy for the guide and the porters and to attend mandatory briefing and de-briefing at the Ministry of Tourism, upon the beginning and at the end of the trekking trip. No trekking is allowed in closed zones, which are areas near Pak-Afghan border and near the Line of Control with Indian-held Kashmir.

Northern Pakistan has the greatest concentration of the highest peaks of the world. It has five peaks over 8,000 metres including the world's second highest, K-2 (Chogori, 8611 m), 29 peaks of over 7,500 metres and 121 of over 7,000 metres.

All peaks/routes for mountaineering have been designated as open zone or restricted zone. Permits for climbing peaks in open zone, are issued by the Ministry of Tourism, within 24 hours of the receipt of application. However, for peaks/routes in restricted zone, permit is issued within 14 days form the date of receipt of the application in Ministry of Tourism, Government of Pakistan (Operation Section) Pakistan Sports Complex.

The wild and surging streams and rivers of the Northern Pakistan possess great potential for white and wild water sports. The rapids of these streams and rivers provide the ultimate adventure and thrill in mountain water sports and lend themselves to canoeing, Kayaking and white water rafting.

The rivers of Pakistan are spread like a net through its length and breadth. Right from the heights of Karakoram, Himalayas and the Hindukush, Pakistani rivers change courses and flow until they meet the mighty Indus. These rivers are ideal for all kinds of water sports like rafting, canoeing, boating and sailing.

Following rivers in Northern Pakistan are open for water sports besides the Indus, the Ravi, and Chenab, in NWFP, Punjab and Sindh provinces: Indus (from Jaglot to Thakot), Kunhar (from Naran to Kaghan), Swat (from Bahrain to Saidu Sharif), Pankora (from Dir to Batkhela) and Hunza (from Aliabad to Gilgit).