History UsefulNotes / Pakistan

The emblem was adopted in 1954 to symbolize the ideological foundation, the basis of the economy, the cultural heritage and the guiding principles of the country.

[[AC:The Pakistan national anthem]]

->جانِ استقبال!

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pakistan_flag_7058.png

[[AC:Coat of arms of Pakistan]]

** Speaker of the National Assembly: Asad Qaiser

----

* General Pervez Musharraf - Called [[FanNickname The Commando]] for his stint in the Pakistan special forces, he was Pakistan's 4th military dictator and harbinger of the 3rd military era of Pakistan. His supporters consider him a Pakistani Mustafa Kemal Ataturk or George Washington. His critics put him somewhere between GeneralRipper and MilesGloriosus. His tenure is most noted for his involvement in the WarOnTerror as a close ally of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. Was later forced to resign and go into exile following his ouster of the Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court in 2007, his fate later sealed by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto later that year. Eventually came back to run in the 2013 elections, only to be subsequently arrested and put on trial for treason. Mostly because he thought he was still popular based on ''facebook likes''.

[[caption-width-right:330: Land of the Pure [[note]] Kinda looks like a dog, isn't it? [[/note]] ]]

[[caption-width-right:330: Land of the Pure]]

In contrast to its bad relations with its two biggest neighbors, Pakistan is becoming close to its other neighbor: UsefulNotes/{{China}}. China has invested billions of dollars into Pakistan as part of its Belt and Road initiative and, to Pakistan's relief, is neutral about the Kashmir Question. Pakistan in turn supports China's position in world disputes, which controversially includes avoiding the subject of UsefulNotes/{{Xinjiang}}. China is currently Pakistan's main import partner and has grown significantly as its

In contrast to its bad relations with its two biggest neighbors, Pakistan is becoming close to its other neighbor: UsefulNotes/{{China}}. China has invested billions of dollars into Pakistan as part of its Belt and Road initiative and, to Pakistan's relief, is neutral about the Kashmir Question. Pakistan in turn supports China's position in world disputes, which controversially includes avoiding the subject of UsefulNotes/{{Xinjiang}}.

The origin of UsefulNotes/PakistanisWithPanters.

The Indus River, which gave India its name, is mostly located in Pakistan. As a result, Pakistan is site of the Indian subcontinent's oldest civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization. Mohenjo-daro and Taxila, both important IVC cities, are located in the country. Due to its location at the doorstep of Central and West Asia, it was also the site of countless wars between India and its invading power. The Indus was the eastern extremity of UsefulNotes/TheAchaemenidEmpire and later UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat's Macedonian empire. In the 7th century, the Indus was also the easternmost extent of the first three Islamic caliphates (from the 650s to the 860s), making it the first region of the subcontinent to be Islamized.

The above separation, combined with the central government's heavy-handed measure to bring Eastern Pakistan to submission, fed anger into the native Bengalis. Following a terrible relief efforts towards a 1970 cyclone that hit East Pakistan, resulting in over 500,000 deaths and $86 million in property damage, the east's independence movement truly began. The West infamously responded by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities a state-sponsored massacre]] (or genocide depending on how you look at it) in 1971. East Pakistan declared independence, with India's help, through the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War Bangladesh Liberation War]], after which West Pakistan became just Pakistan and East Pakistan became Bangladesh.

Pakistan's relations with UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} have also been consistently frosty, popularly seen as beginning with the Afghan civil war but actually dates back earlier. Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, called the Durand Line, was carved in 1893 and separates the ethnic Pashtuns who live on both sides of the border. Needless to say, the Pashtun-dominated Afghan government wasn't happy about this and tried multiple times to cross over the Line and occupied the Pashtun-populated provinces. [[CurbStompBattle It didn't end well]]. The Afghans eventually relented in 1976, just a few years before their civil war pitted the American and Pakistani-backed Mujahideen (formed from religious schools of Afghan refugees in Pakistan; during the [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan Soviet invasion]], about three million refugees fled to Pakistan) against the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. Since the removal of the Taliban, successors of the Mujahideen, from Afghanistan in 2001, the latter has accused Pakistan of harboring the militant group with the implicit goal of destabilizing Afghanistan. Pakistan, in turn, accuses Afghanistan of harboring an unrelated militant group (Tehrik-i-Taliban) who has staged deadly attacks on Pakistani soil.

Relations with the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates have seen its up and downs. Pakistan joined the West during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, which prevented the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] from having a warm water port. However, the US increasingly started to question the relationship come the brutal response to Bangladesh's independence movement, followed by Pakistan researching and developing nuclear weapons to catch up with India. The 9/11 attacks and subsequent invasion of Afghanistan energized the relationship, with Pakistan providing the West with information and bases to attack al-Qaeda. It turned sour again when America became more critical of Pakistan's supposedly total unhelpful actions and allegations that they housed the Taliban and other militant groups. It eventually reached its nadir when UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden was killed on a city located less than 150 km away from Islamabad and just a few blocks away from a military outpost ([[DiggingYourselfDeeper and subsequent revelations confirmed]] that he had been living in Pakistan undisturbed for ''several years''). Granted, current relations are not as tense as they were in 2011, but it's still a long way to go before it can be normalized.

The plan to divide the continent along religious lines [[OlderThanTheyThink was not a new one]]; the British tried to divide Bengal into a Hindu and Muslim part in 1905, mostly [[DivideAndConquer to distract the Bengalis]] from doing their independence activism at that time. However, it wasn't until after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII that the plan eventually came to fruition. It was a highly impractical task: the plan to create a united country composed of the Raj's Muslim-majority provinces meant that West Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the North West Frontier (West Pakistan) had to come together with East Bengal (East Pakistan), and they were not close by a long shot. As in, they were geographically separated by ''2000 km'' of India. The plan also didn't account for Muslims who lived nowhere near the provinces, because Hindus and Muslims did and do coexist (UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi famously fasted to near-death trying to prevent the partition from happening) and the latter are spread throughout the subcontinent. As a result, India currently hosts some 200+ million Muslim minority, which is roughly comparable to West Pakistan's entire population. During the height of the partition, India and Pakistan performed mass population transfers of Hindus and Muslims, which at times descended into violence and even total bloodbaths (particularly in Punjab).

The above separation, combined with the central government's heavy-handed measure to bring Eastern Pakistan to submission, fed anger into the native Bengalis. Following a terrible relief efforts towards a 1970 cyclone that hit East Pakistan, resulting in over 500,000 deaths and $86 million in property damage, the east's independence movement truly began. The West infamously responded by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities a state-sponsored massacre]] (or genocide depending on how you look at it) in 1971. East Pakistan declared independence, with India's help, through the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War Bangladesh Liberation War]], after which West Pakistan became just Pakistan and East Pakistan became UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}.

Pakistan's relations with UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} have also been consistently frosty, popularly seen as beginning with the Afghan civil war but actually dates back earlier. Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, called the Durand Line, was carved in 1893 and separates the ethnic Pashtuns who live on both sides of the border. Needless to say, the Pashtun-dominated Afghan government wasn't happy about this and tried multiple times to cross over the Line and occupied the Pashtun-populated provinces. [[CurbStompBattle It didn't end well]]. The Afghans eventually relented in 1976, just a few years before their civil war pitted the American and Pakistani-backed Mujahideen (formed from religious schools of Afghan refugees in Pakistan; during the Soviet invasion, about three million refugees fled to Pakistan) against the Soviets. Since the removal of the Taliban, successors of the Mujahideen, from Afghanistan in 2001, the latter has accused Pakistan of harboring the militant group with the implicit goal of destabilizing Afghanistan. Pakistan, in turn, accuses Afghanistan of harboring an unrelated militant group (Tehrik-i-Taliban) who has staged deadly attacks on Pakistani soil.

Relations with the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates have seen its up and downs. Pakistan joined the West during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, which prevented the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] from having a warm water port. However, the US increasingly started to question the relationship come the brutal response to Bangladesh's independence movement, followed by Pakistan researching and developing nuclear weapons to catch up with India. The 9/11 attacks and subsequent invasion of Afghanistan energized the relationship, with Pakistan providing the West with information and bases to attack al-Qaeda. It turned sour again when America became more critical of Pakistan's supposedly total unhelpful actions and allegations that they housed the Taliban and other militant groups. It eventually reached its nadir when UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden was killed on a city located less than 150 km away from the capital and just a few blocks away from a military outpost ([[DiggingYourselfDeeper and subsequent revelations confirmed]] that he had been living in Pakistan undisturbed for ''several years''). Granted, current relations are not as tense as they were in 2011, but it's still a long way to go before it can be normalized.

Pakistan ('''Urdu:''' پاکستان Pākstān), officially known as The Islamic Republic of Pakistan ('''Urdu:''' اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاكستان‎, Islāmī Jumhūriyah-yi Pākstān), is a nation in South Asia that was formed from the Muslim majority provinces of UsefulNotes/TheRaj. What is now Pakistan was the site of many important cities in the Indus Valley Civilization, including Mohendro-Daro and Taxila. The Persians, the Greeks under Alexander the Great, the Arabians, the Mughals, the British, etc have ruled and made their mark over Pakistan. At the time of its formation, it consisted of two halves (East and West Pakistan) separated by 2000 miles of UsefulNotes/{{India}}. Following the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities genocide committed by the Pakistani Army]] in 1971, East Pakistan declared its secession, and, with India's help, gained independence through the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War Bangladesh Liberation War]], after which West Pakistan became just Pakistan and East Pakistan became UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}.

The province is part of "Pashtunistan", an area that stretches into UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} and inhabited by the Pashtuns, like their Kurdish cousins in the Middle East, known for their ProudWarriorRaceGuy tendencies, tribal structures, and, curiously enough, one of the nicest and friendliest personalities on the planet according to many people who have visited. Their language, Pashto is spoken by up to 60 million people worldwide, making it the largest surviving member of Eastern Iranian language family by a wide margin (the next largest, Ossetian, has less than a million speakers). Pashto as spoken in KP has two major dialects: Central (incl. Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu) and Northern (incl. Mingora and Peshawar). Many Pashtuns have given a middle finger to the border that separates their homeland and have waged a long, long struggle against both governments in an attempt to preserve their homeland. Until recently, the province was infamous for being a terrorist hotspot (thanks to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban) and was once considered even more violent than the longtime ButtMonkey Balochistan. After 2014 and Operation Zarb-e-Azb however, violence has been significantly reduced and the province is slowly regaining its pre-2004 top tourist destination status.\\

The larger of the two territories of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Pakistan's northernmost first-level administrative division. The Himalayas/Karakoram cross the region and thus, mountains, glaciers, and harsh winters, are common sights/occurrences; five "eight thousanders" are found here, including the second-highest mountain in the world, K2. As can be inferred from its name, it is made of two distinct regions: Baltistan, surrounding Skardu and home of the Balti, a Tibetan people; and Gilgit, where the state capital is located. Gilgit itself can be divided into two cultural areas: the territory surrounding the titular city, which is inhabited by the Shina (an ethnic group close to Kashmiris); and Hunza Valley, home of the Burusho, who speak a language isolate called Burushaski. North of Hunza is the Khunjereb Pass, the location of a highway to UsefulNotes/{{China}}.

* General Pervez Musharraf - Called [[FanNickname The Commando]] for his stint in the Pakistan special forces, he was Pakistan's 4th military dictator and harbinger of the 3rd military era of Pakistan. His supporters consider him a Pakistani Mustafa Kemal Ataturk or George Washington. His critics put him somewhere between GeneralRipper and MilesGloriosus. His tenure is most noted for his involvement in the WarOnTerror as a close ally of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. Was later forced to resign and go into exile following his ouster of the Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court in 2007, his fate later sealed by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto later that year. Eventually came back to run in the 2013 elections, only to be subsequently arrested and put on trial for treason. [[WhatAnIdiot Mostly because he thought he was still popular based on ''facebook likes'']].

'''Examples of the following'''

* ArchEnemy: India, ever since its founding (but even more so since India [[EnemyMine helped Bangladesh gain independence]] from Pakistan in a war in 1971). The never-ending Kashmir conflict ensures this will continue for some time.
* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: Pakistan has some of the least taxation in the world, but operates several loss-making public enterprises, does not operate them well, and depends on foreign aid to pay the bills. All the while the politicians and the military both spend like kings. The public, at least in response to such stories in local media, is not amused.
* BoomTown: Karachi, Pakistan's MegaCity[=/=]MerchantCity and main port, is also one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world. Mind, prior to independence, the city was a relatively sleepy port town.
* TheCityVsTheCountry: A big component of Sindhi politics, rightly or wrongly, thanks to the ethnic makeup within Karachi being vastly different from Sindh where it resides and the power dynamics between the two. Plays out more generally with the rest of Pakistan in terms of politics since, in the countryside, only the tribal landlords have any power to get things done while in the city, it's more (but not completely) egalitarian.
* TheClan: This is the Pashtuns' ''raison d'être''. There's a reason why the "Federally Administered Tribal Areas" is titled like that, or the fact that the Pashtuns as a whole are unbelievably hard to be controlled/ordered, be it in Pakistan or in Afghanistan. Fraternity is just too valuable for them to discard in exchange for some petty nationalism.
* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: It was one of the fronts of the conflict, on the side of the West, to prevent the Soviets from getting a warm water port and the ability to seal the Gulf. It also was instrumental in opening ties between the United States and China during the 1970s.
* CommonTongue: The official language, Urdu, as well as the formerly also official English. Noteworthy that both aren't spoken as a significant mother language percentage wise, even Urdu, which is brought to attention with the immigrants arriving during the Partition (the core region of Hindustan, from where Urdu emerged and the immigrants mostly hailed, is located wholly in India, so the language was not spoken natively in Pakistan pre-1947). Instead, they're picked to avoid prioritizing languages that do see major use, such as Punjabi.
* DealWithTheDevil:
** Many Pakistanis are not overly fond of the country's alliance with the United States and angry protests about American involvement in Pakistan are routinely held in major cities. Conversely, Pakistan's support for the Taliban generates mixed feelings -- sure they were religious loons, but they were able to keep Afghanistan stable and, more importantly, ensure that millions of refugees don't escape to (and overwhelm) Pakistan as what had happened when the Soviets invaded.
** Likewise, this was the West's general attitude towards Pakistan for most of the alliance's history, even though India was backed by the Soviets. The Bengali Genocide just was where it got too obvious to be ignored.
* [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons The Deadliest Mushroom]][=/=]NuclearOption: Pakistan is quite proud of its nuclear arsenal, seeing it as the best guarantor of national security. Needless to say, Indian (and American) policymakers are not thrilled about this, especially the prospect of [[EmptyQuiver the stockpile being unsecured]].
** Further compounded that it is [[YouCanPanicNow currently the fastest growing arsenal of nuclear warheads in the world]].
** It should be noted that historically, Pakistan only ever became involved in nuclear weapons ''after'' India started making tests and developing them.
* DeathMountain: Pakistan has some of the most dangerous mountains to climb in the world. K2, while not the highest, is very difficult to trek thanks to being nigh-symmetrical and being located far away from any civilization; for the record, it has never been climbed during winter (whereas Everest has). Then there's Nanga Parbat...locals nickname it the "Killer Mountain" due to the steep cliffs and glaciers that can and will kill people if they aren't careful. And if you think that natural hazard is enough, the mountain is also infamous for having hidden some remnants of the [[ChurchMilitant Tehrik-i-Taliban]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Nanga_Parbat_massacre who once attacked climbers in 2013]].
* DefeatMeansFriendship: With Bangladesh, who fought tooth and nails to gain independence from Pakistan. Fast forward to thirty years later and the countries could not have been closer in relationship. Basically, they work well as [[AmicableExes divorcees]] than [[DestructiveRomance spouses.]]
* DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas: The winter of Gilgit-Baltistan routinely blocks roads and tunnels and freezes lakes and rivers; they usually don't get much contact with the outside world for over eight months within a year.
* DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere: Pakistan is the ancestral homeland of all cetaceans, starting from the humble ''Pakicetus'', and its many, many descendents.
* EnforcedColdWar:
** The relationship between the US and Pakistan has devolved into this due to the War in Afghanistan... mostly since the death of Bin Laden.
** The conflict between India and Pakistan has likewise degenerated into this. On one hand, both sides are nuclear powers and there is the risk of Mutually Assured Destruction; on the other virtually every return to open hostilities by the Pakistanis has led to them being curb stomped by the Indians.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: For years Pakistanis were indoctrinated into the belief that anything even mildly critical of Pakistan is, in fact, the work of certain elements hostile to Pakistan, such as a [[ConspiracyTheorist conspiracy]] hatched by a "[[UsefulNotes/{{India}} foreign]] [[UnusualEuphemism hand]]" or, more specifically, a "CIA-RAW-Mossad Nexus"[[note]]Obviously alluding to the international intelligence agencies of America, India and Israel, respectively[[/note]]. This is still the case, but the internet and the very active Pakistani press have made the excuses much harder to swallow.
* FightingForAHomeland:
** Pakistan's reasons for supporting Kashmiri militants, at least in public. Also true of Baloch militants.
** Contrary to popular perception, Pakistan was created simply ''from'' the Muslim-majority provinces of The Raj, not ''for'' every Muslims of the Raj. This explains why India still hosts a large Muslim minority (189 million) within its borders. Still, the theory of it being a "Muslim homeland" does creep in at times, especially as the 1947 Partition did degenerate to rather nasty religious conflicts in some places.
* FunWithAcronyms: Pakistan's name (written using the letters P-A-K-S-T-A-N of Urdu) an acronym of the nation's constituent territories: '''P'''unjab, '''A'''fghania (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), '''K'''ashmir, '''S'''indh and Baluchis'''tan'''. The '''i''' was added to allow for easy pronunciation. It also coincides with the Urdu word for "land of the pure".
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The population, as of 2017, number 212 million. Its neighbor, Iran, despite having twice as much area, has 1/3 of the population. Geography contributes a lot; Iran has a lot less fertile plains and rivers and a lot more mountains.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Many Afghans are quick to point out that most of the insurgencies currently happening in their country (mainly from the Taliban) can be traced back to Pakistan's doings, and this is the reason why they're beginning to turn over to India nowadays. Needless to say, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment things are still hotly debated]].
* NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: Legally, the National Assembly and Senate have supreme authority to do essentially whatever they please. However, partisan politics, personal rivalries/vendettas, incompetence, corruption, and, above all, fear of the powerful Pakistan Army (whose first coup back in the 1950s was caused by the other aforementioned factors) prevents them from actually exercising it, to the detriment (and sometimes benefit) of the public.
* ObstructiveBureaucracy[=/=]{{Beleaguered Bureaucra|t}}cy: The civilian governments are infamous for either being carelessly incompetent or grossly self-serving. It is the largest reason why the Army has been able to successfully launch three coups, each lasting roughly a decade. Because of this history, the local media tend to [[StrawCivilian disparage ALL Pakistani politicians in the same brush]], with varying degrees of accuracy.
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: Generally known in Pakistan as the "Establishment", it is said to consist of the military, its clandestine agencies, and (mentioned less often) certain influential politicians and businessmen. It is widely considered [[ThePowersThatBe to be the true power behind the government]], be it military or civilian. Opinions vary greatly as to its effect, purpose, moral stance and competence. The same trope is also applied to the top generals in the Pakistan Army, whenever they have a Corps Commanders meeting.
* OurFounder: Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
* PatchworkMap: Due to straddling the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan is a real life version of this with desolate wasteland to the west, lush farmland to the east, the MegaCity of Karachi and the sea shore to the south, snowcapped mountains to the north, and the purpose-built capital of Islamabad. Of course, if you only follow the Western media it is all desert.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Pashtun inhabitants of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and other northern regions. Also to a lesser extent Punjabis.
* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: Islamabad.
* {{Qurac}}:
** Though not actually a Middle Eastern nation, it is often portrayed that way by Western news and entertainment media, simply because it is a Muslim state. This trope gets most Pakistanis really really really angry. Even worse is when some clueless individuals call Pakistanis Arabs, and their language Arabic. In reality, Pakistan is at the crossroads of the Indian and Iranian cultural spheres, so their culture is a mixture of those two (to be more precise, deep down Indian with an Iranian twist). The languages spoken by the majority are akin to those found in India, while some have Iranian roots; they are by no means Arabic, which is generally only taught in religious schools, though the Arabic script does see active use. Also, being a former British colony, English is the primary language of businesses and the government — after all, in a country with over seventy languages, opting for their old colonial masters' language is a better alternative to being accused of favoritism for a local language or two.
** As noted above, Pakistan is frequently the victim of ArtisticLicenseGeography in western media, which, either deliberately or not, portrays the country as an entirely dusty, haphazard, squalor-infested desert hellhole. To be fair, there ''are'' places where that is TruthInTelevision (Karachi is often stereotyped as this by Pakistanis themselves). Portraying Islamabad like that, however, is [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/ALI_MUJTABA_WLM2015_FAISAL_MOSQUE_DSC_1542_m.jpg less]] [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Faisal_Mosque%2C_Islamabad_III.jpg wise]].
* TheShangriLa: Gilgit-Baltistan (or more specifically, just Baltistan) has been known as "Little Tibet" since ancient times. The whole area is a Buddhist pilgrimage site, and the indigenous people, the Baltis, are really Tibetans who converted to Shia Islam in the 16th century, but otherwise retain their ancestral culture intact. The mountainous scenery helps as well (the Deosai Plain has been called a condensed form of Tibet).
* SitcomArchnemesis:
** Israel. Due to its status as a Muslim nation and also in an effort to maintain brotherly relations with the Arab world, Pakistan has long declared itself to be an enemy of Israel and has often backed any international legal actions against it. However, in practice, Pakistan isn't particularly active in its emnity with Israel since the 70s.
** Strangely, Pakistan also has an incredibly terrible relationship with ''Armenia'', of all places. It officially does not recognize Armenia as a country. This is however regarded as simply lip service in favor of Azerbaijan, as the two countries have otherwise been relatively ambivalent towards each other.
* StateSec: the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Pakistani English, yes, but still English. While its official status has been repealed recently, it's not going anywhere anytime soon. [[BilingualBackfire Bilingual Backfires]] are not uncommon, especially when there are foreigners.
* UrbanSegregation: Of the ethnic variety within Karachi, which sometimes leads to flare-ups.
* VetinariJobSecurity: The Pakistan military's tactic of choice whenever they run afoul of the public during their stints in power. And also used with politicians with regards to the perks they enjoy as an organization.
* TheWarOnTerror: With Afghanistan to the north and terrorists attacking its borders, Pakistan is one of the lynchpin states in this conflict and features a lot in related news, more so when UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden was killed by a covert US mission in Abbottabad, a military city 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Islamabad.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Aside from al-Qaeda, the country is home to quite a few militant and/or Islamist groups (Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Balochi separatists and others). Opinions vary widely on them.

* DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere: Pakistan is the ancestral homeland of all cetaceans, starting from the humble [UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals ''Pakicetus'', and its many, many descendents].

* DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere: Pakistan is the ancestral homeland of all cetaceans, starting from the humble [UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals ''Pakicetus'', and its many, many descendents]].

* DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere: Pakistan is the ancestral homeland of all cetaceans, starting from the humble [UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals ''Pakicetus'', and its many descendents.]]

Pakistan ('''Urdu:''' پاکستان Pākstān), officially known as The Islamic Republic of Pakistan ('''Urdu:''' اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاكستان‎, Islāmī Jumhūriyah-yi Pākstān), is a nation in South Asia that was formed from the Muslim majority provinces of UsefulNotes/TheRaj. At the time of its formation, it consisted of two halves (East and West Pakistan) separated by 2000 miles of UsefulNotes/{{India}}. Following the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities genocide committed by the Pakistani Army]] in 1971, East Pakistan declared its secession, and, with India's help, gained independence through the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War Bangladesh Liberation War]], after which West Pakistan became just Pakistan and East Pakistan became UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}.

* TheManBehindTheMan: Many Afghans are quick to point out that most of the insurgencies currently happening in their country (mainly from the Taliban) can be traced back to Pakistan's doings, and this is the reason why they're beginning to turn over to India nowadays. Needless to say, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment things are still hotly debated]].

Pakistan is nominally TheFederation, though in practice its more like TheRepublic (and to its detractors, TheEmpire) consisting of the four major provinces:

* '''Punjab''', the industrial and agricultural heartland and most populated of the provinces. Punjabis, the titular people of the province, are the largest ethnic group in the country and dominate the culture, particularly in the musical and cinematic sectors. Punjab was one of the rare regions literally split in half during the 1947 Partition and suffered immensely from it; as of today, Pakistani Punjab is virtually 100% Muslim, whereas Indian Punjab is virtually 100% not-Muslim (although this can be attributed more to East Punjab being devolved into three different states, as it caused what is left of its Muslim minority to be assigned in another state, Haryana). Pakistan's cultural center, Lahore, is its capital.
* '''Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)''', the smallest province by land area. It is geographically divided into two parts: a highly rugged north (part of the Hindu Kush-Karakoram mountain ranges) and comparatively low and fertile south. It is known for its [[SceneryPorn natural beauty]], with one particular area, the Swat Valley, earning the moniker "Switzerland of the East". It is part of "Pashtunistan", an area that stretches into UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} and inhabited by the Pashtuns, like their Kurdish cousins in the Middle East, are known for their ProudWarriorRaceGuy tendencies, tribal structures, and, curiously enough, one of the nicest and friendliest personalities on the planet according to many people who have visited. The Pashtuns celebrate Nowruz, the Iranian New Year and in Pakistan, they speak Pashto and sometimes Urdu (in neighboring Afghanistan, they speak Dari, a dialect of the Persian language). The Pashtuns as a whole have given a middle finger to the border that separates their homeland and have waged a long, long struggle against both governments in an attempt to preserve their homeland, hence the various afflictions in the province, including the various Islamist militias and the drones that have come to hunt them. Peshawar is its capital.
** '''Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)''', the one part of Pashtunistan that is even wilder than KP, being only nominally under the control of Islamabad since colonial times. This region was governed under the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulations, which among other things denied its citizens the right to appeal to normal courts and handed out punishments to entire tribes for the wrongs of one. In 2018, the cabinet proposed a bill to merge the territory with KP. The bill successfully passed through the National Assembly, the Senate, and the Regional Assembly of KP. The estimated time for the completion of the merger is two years, during which time the territory will be governed under an interim regulation that replaced the FCR.
* '''Balochistan''', the largest province by land area and the smallest by population, it also happens to be the most resource-rich. The province is a plateau barricaded by mountains to the east and west, making it very dry and hot. The greater Balochistan area stretches into Afghanistan and UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}, and all of them are mainly populated by the Baloch. Sadly, the province is riddled with conflict, the main one being an insurgency to get the province to secede from Pakistan, but also sectarian conflict in the form of anti-Shia militias preying on Shia pilgrims en route to Iran, and ethnic tensions between the Baloch and the Pashtuns who have settled in the northern areas of the province. The Baloch also celebrate Nowruz and speak Baloch, an Iranian language. Quetta is its capital.
* '''Sindh''', home of Pakistan's largest city and business hub, the provincial capital UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}. The eastern part of the province blends in with the Thar Desert, the subcontinent's largest. The province is primarily inhabited by the Sindhis, though Karachi's status as a cosmopolitan city attracts other ethnic groups as well. Also the second most populous of the provinces.

* '''Islamabad Capital Territory''', sandwiched between the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces and containing the purpose-built Pakistani capital of Islamabad. It is the smallest first-level administrative division of Pakistan.

* '''Azad Kashmir''', the smaller of the two territories of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, with the capital at Muzaffarabad and largest city at New Mirpur City. The province's name translates to "Free Kashmir", though some people might challenge that title, since freedom is carefully controlled and still an extremely sensitive issue. Despite being a part of the Kashmir region, ethnic Kashmiris make up very little of the province's demography (they are mainly found in India's share of the region); instead, Punjabis predominate. One interesting fact about the region is that it has the largest share of the Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom: the Mirpuri Punjabis, who make up about 70% of British Pakistanis.
* '''Gilgit-Baltistan''', the larger of the two territories of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Pakistan's northernmost first-level administrative division. The Himalayas/Karakoram cross the region and thus, mountains, glaciers, and harsh winters, are common sights/occurrences; five "eight thousanders" are found here, including the second-highest mountain in the world, K2 as well as a highway to UsefulNotes/{{China}}. Probably has Pakistan's weirdest grouping of languages: the majority language is the Indo-Aryan Shina, which is alien-sounding to other speakers of Indo-Aryan languages; the second largest (and spoken by the province's titular people), Balti, is actually an archaic dialect of the ''Tibetan'' language; and the third largest is Burushaski, a language isolate. Gilgit is the capital, while Skardu is the largest city.

* Nawaz Sharif - TheRival to Benazir Bhutto and leader of his own faction of the Pakistan Muslim League. Started out as a steel magnate, and got into politics when his family's business became one of the victims of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's nationalization schemes. Credited for attempting peace with India ([[FailureIsTheOnlyOption before Kargil ruined it]]) and for detonating the world's first "Islamic nuke". Currently Pakistan's only PM to have more than two terms under his belt, although his third term was cut short by the Panama Papers corruption scandal. The subsequent trial barred him from participating in politics for good.

* {{Qurac}}: Though not actually a Middle Eastern nation, it is often portrayed that way by Western news and entertainment media, simply because it is a Muslim state. This trope gets most Pakistanis really really really angry. Even worse is when some clueless individuals call Pakistanis Arabs, and their language Arabic. In reality, Pakistan is at the crossroads of the Indian and Iranian cultural spheres, so their culture is a mixture of those two (to be more precise, deep down Indian with an Iranian twist). The languages spoken by the majority are akin to those found in India, while some have Iranian roots; they are by no means Arabic, which is generally only taught in religious schools, though the Arabic script does see active use. Also, being a former British colony, English is the primary language of businesses and the government — after all, in a country with over seventy languages, opting for their old colonial masters' language is a better alternative to being accused of favoritism for a local language or two.

** Strangely, Pakistan also has an incredibly terrible relationship with ''Armenia'', of all places. It officially does not recognize Armenia as a country. This is however regarded as simply lip service in favor of Azerbaijan, as the two countries have otherwise been relatively ambient.

The origin of UsefulNotes/PakistanisWithPanters

* '''Gilgit-Baltistan''', the larger of the two territories of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Pakistan's northernmost first-level administrative division. The Himalayas/Karakoram cross the region and thus, mountains, glaciers, and harsh winters, are common sights/occurrences; five "eight thousanders" are found here, including the second-highest mountain in the world, K2. Probably has Pakistan's weirdest grouping of languages: the majority language is the Indo-Aryan Shina, which is alien-sounding to other speakers of Indo-Aryan languages; the second largest (and spoken by the province's titular people), Balti, is actually an archaic dialect of the ''Tibetan'' language; and the third largest is Burushaski, a language isolate. Gilgit is the capital, while Skardu is the largest city.

* '''Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)''', the smallest province by land area. It is geographically divided into two parts: a highly rugged north (part of the Hindu Kush-Karakoram mountain ranges) and comparatively low and fertile south. It is known for its [[SceneryPorn natural beauty]], with one particular area, the Swat Valley, earning the moniker "Switzerland of the East". It is part of "Pashtunistan", an area that stretches into UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} and inhabited by the Pashtuns, like their Kurdish cousins in the Middle East, are known for their ProudWarriorRaceGuy tendencies, tribal structures, and, curiously enough, one of the nicest and friendliest personalities on the planet according to many people who have visited. The Pashtuns as a whole have given a middle finger to the border that separates their homeland and have waged a long, long struggle against both governments in an attempt to preserve their homeland, hence the various afflictions in the province, including the various Islamist militias and the drones that have come to hunt them. Peshawar is its capital.

* '''Balochistan''', the largest province by land area and the smallest by population, it also happens to be the most resource-rich. The province is a plateau barricaded by mountains to the east and west, making it very dry and hot. The greater Balochistan area stretches into Afghanistan and UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}, and all of them are mainly populated by the Baloch. Sadly, the province is riddled with conflict, the main one being an insurgency to get the province to secede from Pakistan, but also sectarian conflict in the form of anti-Shia militias preying on Shia pilgrims en route to Iran, and ethnic tensions between the Baloch and the Pashtuns who have settled in the northern areas of the province. Quetta is its capital.

* '''Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)''', the smallest province by land area. It is geographically divided into two parts: a highly rugged north (part of the Hindu Kush-Karakoram mountain ranges) and comparatively low and fertile south. It is known for its [[SceneryPorn natural beauty]], with one particular area, the Swat Valley, earning the moniker "Switzerland of the East". It is part of "Pashtunistan", an area that stretches into UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} and inhabited by the Pashtuns, known for their ProudWarriorRaceGuy tendencies, tribal structures, and, curiously enough, one of the nicest and friendliest personalities on the planet. The Pashtuns as a whole have given a middle finger to the border that separates their homeland and have waged a long, long struggle against both governments in an attempt to preserve their homeland, hence the various afflictions in the province, including the various Islamist militias and the drones that have come to hunt them. Peshawar is its capital.

* General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan - Ayub's [[ReplacementScrappy successor]], he ruled from 1969 til 1971. Presided over what was to be Pakistan's first free and fair elections...that subsequently led to political deadlock and forced him to choose sides, eventually causing the disasterous 1971 war that broke Pakistan in two and caused him to resign in disgrace. Also served with UsefulNotes/KiplingsFinest prior to independence.

* '''Punjab''', the industrial and agricultural heartland and most populated of the provinces. Punjabis, the titular people of the province, are the largest ethnic group in the country and dominate the culture, particularly music and films. Pakistan's cultural center, Lahore, is its capital.
* '''Khyber Pakhtunkhwa''', the smallest province by land area, it's known for its [[SceneryPorn natural beauty]] (being located so close to the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush) and one particular area, the Swat Valley, was described by UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen herself as the "Switzerland of the East". It is part of "Pashtunistan", an area that stretches into neighboring UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} and inhabited by the Eastern Iranian Pashtuns, known for their ProudWarriorRaceGuy tendencies, tribal structures, and, curiously enough, one of the nicest and friendliest personalities on the planet. The Pashtuns as a whole have given a middle finger to the border that separates their homeland and have waged a long, long struggle against both governments in an attempt to preserve their homeland, hence the various afflictions in the province, including the various Islamist militias and the drones that have come to hunt them. Peshawar is its capital.
* '''Balochistan''', the largest province by land area and the smallest by population, it also happens to be the most resource-rich. The province is a plateau barricaded by mountains to the east and west, making it very dry and hot. The greater Balochistan area stretches into neighboring Afghanistan and UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}, and all of them are mainly populated by the Baloch, a Western Iranian ethnic group (Pakistan's predominant peoples are the Indo-Aryans). Sadly, the province is riddled with conflict, the main one being an insurgency to get the province to secede from Pakistan, but also sectarian conflict in the form of anti-Shia militias preying on Shia pilgrims en route to Iran, and ethnic tensions between the Baloch and the Pashtuns who have settled in the northern areas of the province. Quetta is its capital.
* '''Sindh''', home of Pakistan's largest city and business hub, the provincial capital UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}. The eastern part of the province blends in with the Thar Desert, the subcontinent's largest. The province is primarily inhabited by the [[CaptainObvious Sindhis]], though Karachi's status as a cosmopolitan city attracts other ethnic groups as well. Also the second most populous of the provinces.

Pakistan also has two federally administered territories:
* '''Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)''', the one part of Pashtunistan that is even wilder than Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, being only nominally under the control of Islamabad since colonial times. Again, it's mainly inhabited by the Pashtuns, who make daily crossings into neighboring Afghanistan over a border they do not recognize as legitimate. Keep in mind that the Pakistani government can''not'' protect anyone here, so extreme caution should be exercised for anyone brave enough to enter this area.
* '''Islamabad Capital Territory''', sandwiched between the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces and containing the purpose-built Pakistani capital of Islamabad. It's the smallest first-level administrative division of Pakistan.

And its two disputed holdings in the Kashmir Region (which are a cross between a protectorate, a puppet state, and a province). Note that these two have not been fully integrated into Pakistan, in pursuant to UN-mediated talks. In other words, the people here are not entitled to the same rights as Pakistani citizens, and thus cannot vote, elect members to the Federal Assembly, or have self-governance, at least ''de facto'' (officially, there are separate governments, but their functions are mostly symbolic):
* '''Azad Kashmir''', the smaller of the two territories of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, with the capital at Muzaffarabad. The province's name translates to "Free Kashmir", though some people might challenge that title, since security is very tight here and curfews are common. Despite being a part of the Kashmir region, ethnic Kashmiris make up very little of the province's demography (they're mainly found in India's share of the region); instead, Punjabis predominate. One interesting fact about the region is that it has the largest share of the Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom: the Mirpuri Punjabis, who make up about 70% of British Pakistanis.

* Nawaz Sharif - TheRival to Benazir Bhutto and leader of his own faction of the Pakistan Muslim League. Started out as a steel magnate, and got into politics when his family's business became one of the victims of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's nationalization schemes. Credited for attempting peace with India ([[FailureIsTheOnlyOption before Kargil ruined it]]) and for detonating the world's first "Islamic nuke". Currently Pakistan's only PM to have more than two terms under his belt.

* ArchEnemy:
** India, ever since its founding (but even more so since India [[EnemyMine helped Bangladesh gain independence]] from Pakistan in a war in 1971). The never-ending Kashmir conflict ensures this will continue for some time.
** Strangely, Pakistan also has an incredibly terrible relationship with ''Armenia'', of all places. Officially, it's because it supports Azerbaijan's claim over Nagorno-Karabakh, but that doesn't explain its choice [[DisproportionateRetribution not to recognize Armenia as a country]]...when Azerbaijan itself does.

* CommonTongue: The official language, Urdu, as well as the formerly also official English. Noteworthy that both aren't spoken as a significant mother language percentage wise, even Urdu, which is brought to attention with the immigrants arriving during the Partition (the core region of Hindustan, from which Urdu emerged and from where the immigrants mostly hailed, is located wholly in India, so the language was not spoken natively in Pakistan pre-1947). Instead, they're picked to avoid prioritizing languages that do see major use, such as Punjabi.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The population, as of 2017, number 197 million. Its neighbor, Iran, despite having twice as much area, has 1/3 of the population. Geography contributes a lot; Iran has a lot less fertile plains and rivers and a lot more mountains.

* PatchworkMap: Due to straddling the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan is a real life version of this with desolate wasteland to the west, lush farmland to the east, the MegaCity of Karachi and the sea shore to the south, snowcapped mountains to the north, and the purpose-built capital of Islamabad. Of course if you only follow the Western media its all desert.

* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: Islamabad. It's akin to naming your town "Christiansted" or "Jewstown"[[note]]the "-abad" part is actually a Persian cognate (and we mean, real, genetic cognate; they're from the same Proto-Indo-European root) of the English "abode", so doing a transliteration word-by-word would net "Islamabode", i.e. Abode of Islam[[/note]].

* TheShangriLa: Gilgit-Baltistan (or more specifically, just Baltistan) has been known as "Little Tibet" since ancient times. It's not hyperbole either; the whole area is a Buddhist pilgrimage site, and the indigenous people, the Baltis, are really Tibetans who converted to Shia Islam in the 16th century, but otherwise retain their ancestral culture intact. The mountainous scenery helps as well (the Deosai Plain has been called a condensed form of Tibet).
* SitcomArchnemesis: Israel. Due to its status as a Muslim nation and also in an effort to maintain brotherly relations with the Arab world, Pakistan has long declared itself to be an enemy of Israel and has often backed any international legal actions against it. However, in practice, Pakistan isn't particularly active in its emnity with Israel since the 70s.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Indian English, yes, but still English. While its official status has been repealed recently, it's not going anywhere anytime soon. [[BilingualBackfire Bilingual Backfires]] are not uncommon, especially when there are foreigners.

Pakistan ('''Urdu:''' پاکستان Pākstān), officially known as The Islamic Republic of Pakistan ('''Urdu:''' اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاكستان‎, Islāmī Jumhūriyah-yi Pākstān), is a nation in South Asia that was formed from the Muslim majority provinces of UsefulNotes/TheRaj. At the time of its formation, it consisted of two halves (East and West Pakistan) separated by 2000 miles of UsefulNotes/{{India}}. Following the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities mass murder and rape committed by the Pakistani Army]] in 1971, East Pakistan declared its secession, and, with India's help, gained independence through the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War Bangladesh Liberation War]], after which West Pakistan became just Pakistan and East Pakistan became UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}.