Sixty one years ago, Pakistan emerged on the map of the world when the Muslims of India under the dynamic leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah were successful in achieving a separate homeland for themselves at the end of British rule in India.

Pakistan has come a long way since that historic day on August 14, 1947. At the time of its creation, Pakistan had little resources to run a new country and feed its people. Today it is a dynamic nation of 160 million proud people working hard to make their country attain new heights, to achieve social cohesion and economic stability, to build democratic institutions and to establish a social order based on equality, understanding and tolerance.

Pakistan features some of Asia’s most magnificent landscapes as it stretches from the Arabian Sea, its southern border, to some of the world’s most spectacular mountain ranges in the north. Pakistan is also home to sites that date back to the world’s earliest settlements rivaling those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Located in South Asia, Pakistan shares an eastern border with India and a north-eastern border with China.

Iran makes up the country’s south-west border, and Afghanistan runs along its western and northern edge. The Arabian Sea is Pakistan’s southern boundary with 1,064 km of coastline.

The country has a total area of 796,095 square kilometres - smaller than British Columbia but with a population that is forty times more than that of B.C.

Pakistan is a land of many splendors. The scenery changes northward from coastal beaches, lagoons and mangrove swamps in the south to sandy deserts, desolate plateaus, fertile plains, dissected uplands in the middle and high mountains with beautiful valleys, snow-covered peaks and eternal glaciers in the north.

Pakistan boasts the largest share of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Its own highest peak, the famed and dreaded K-2, is the second highest in the world, being just some ‘ropes’ short of Mount Everest in Nepal. With due respect to Everest, K-2 is regarded as far more formidable to climb. Three of the mightiest mountain systems - the Hindukush, the Karakorams and the Himalayas - adorn the forehead of Pakistan. The second highest peak of the Himalayas in Pakistan, is the Nanga Parbat, which literally means the "Naked Mountain."

In fact, Pakistan has seven of the 16 tallest peaks in Asia. The statistics are simply astounding: 40 of the world’s 50 highest mountains are in Pakistan; in Baltistan over 45 peaks touch or cross the 20,000-foot mark; in Gilgit within a radius of 65 miles, there are over two dozen peaks ranging in height from 18,000 to 26,000 feet. There are a total of 14 main peaks soaring above 8,000 metres in the world; of these, eight are located in Nepal, five in Pakistan and one in China.

The strength of Pakistan lies in its people either living in the country or abroad who are peace loving, hard working and imbued with love for their homeland. Their continued support and active involvement is pivotal for reaching new heights, for creating a just, equitable and tolerant social order in the country and for making Pakistan a modern, developed and a progressive Islamic state.

The people of Pakistan are one of the most friendly and hospitable on the face of earth. Their traditions of warm welcome for outside guests are legendary. In order to get the true flavor of the beauty of Pakistan and the welcome ways of its people, visit Pakistan to experience it firsthand.