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Founding
Founding of Islamabad
capital city of Pakistan
- 1960
- South Asia
Founding
capital city of Pakistan
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory — with a metropolitan population of over 2.3 million. Built as a planned city along the Margalla Hills in the 1960s and established in 1967, Islamabad replaced Karachi as Pakistan's national capital. It is located in the northern Punjab region, north of the city of Rawalpindi — with which it forms a metropolitan area of over 5.7 million inhabitants. As of 2025, it has a HDI of 0.924. This is the highest HDI of any districts of Pakistan and is comparable to Malta or Japan.
The Greek architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis developed Islamabad's master plan, in which he divided it into eight zones. The city comprises administrative areas, a diplomatic enclave, residential areas, educational and industrial sectors, commercial areas, as well as rural and green areas administered by the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation with support from the Capital Development Authority. Islamabad is known for its parks and forests, including the Margalla Hills National Park and the Shakarparian. It is home to several landmarks, including the country's flagship Faisal Mosque. Other prominent landmarks include the Pakistan Monument and Democracy Square.
Rated as Gamma+ by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, Islamabad has one of the highest costs of living in Pakistan. The city's populace is dominated by both middle- and upper-middle-class citizens. Islamabad is home to more than twenty universities, including Bahria University, Quaid-e-Azam University, PIEAS, COMSATS University, FAST-NUCES, and NUST. It is also rated as one of the safest cities in Pakistan and has an expansive RFID-enabled surveillance system with almost 2,000 active CCTV cameras.
The name Islamabad means 'City of Islam'. It is derived from two words: Islam and abad. The Arabic word Islam means 'submission [to God]' as it refers to the religion of Islam, Pakistan's state religion, and the Persian suffix -abad means 'cultivated place', indicating an inhabited place or city. During the course of the early modern period, the name was used in the Mughal era by the emperor Aurangzeb, who named many towns in the Indian subcontinent after it. According to a history book by Muhammad Ismail Zabeeh, teacher and poet Qazi Abdur Rehman Amritsari proposed the name of the city.
Islamabad Capital Territory, located on the Pothohar Plateau of the northern Punjab region, is considered one of the earliest sites of human settlement in Asia. Some of the earliest Stone Age artifacts in the world have been found on the plateau, dating from 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. Rudimentary stones recovered from the terraces of the Soan River testify to the endeavours of early man in the inter-glacial period. Items of pottery and utensils dating back to prehistory have been found.
Excavations by Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Lone reveal evidence of a prehistoric culture in the area. Relics and human skulls have been found dating back to 5000 BCE that, indicating the region was home to Neolithic peoples who settled on the banks of the Soan and who later developed small communities in the region around 3000 BCE.
The Indus Valley civilisation flourished in the region between the 23rd and 18th centuries BCE. Later, the area was an early settlement of the Aryan community, which migrated into the region from Central Asia. Many great armies, such as those of Zahiruddin Babur, Genghis Khan, Timur and Ahmad Shah Durrani, crossed the region during their invasions of the Indian subcontinent. In 2015–16, the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums, with the financial support of the National Fund for Cultural Heritage, carried out initial archaeological excavations and unearthed the remains of a Buddhist stupa at Ban Faqiran, near the Shah Allah Ditta caves. The stupa was dated to between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE.
When Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the southern port city of Karachi was its provisional national capital. In 1958, a commission was constituted to select a suitable site near Rawalpindi for the national capital, with particular emphasis on location, climate, logistics, and defence requirements, along with other attributes. After extensive study, research, and a thorough review of potential sites, the commission recommended the area northeast of Rawalpindi in 1959 which was used as the provisional capital from that year on. In the 1960s, Islamabad was constructed as a forward capital for several reasons. Karachi was also located at the southern end of the country along the Arabian Sea. Pakistan needed a capital that was easily accessible from all parts of the country. Karachi, a business centre, was also considered unsuitable partly because of the intervention of business interests in government affairs. The newly selected location of Islamabad was closer to the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the Pakistani-administered sectors of the disputed Kashmir in the north.
A Greek firm of architects, led by Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis, designed the master plan of the city based on a grid plan that was triangular in shape, with its apex towards the Margalla Hills. Islamabad was touted by Pakistani legislators as their counterpart to Chandigarh, whose modernism they envied and with which it shares conceptual similarities. The capital was not moved directly from Karachi to Islamabad; it was first shifted temporarily to Rawalpindi in the early 1960s and then to Islamabad when essential development work was completed in 1966.
Islamabad has been a part of Punjab Province ever since, though it is a federally administered capital territory. The latest official political map of Pakistan released in 2020, as well as many older official maps, shows it as part of Punjab Province.
Such world-renowned architects such as Edward Durell Stone and Gio Ponti have been associated with the city's development.
Islamabad has attracted people from all over Pakistan, making it one of the most cosmopolitan and urbanized cities in the country. As the capital city it has hosted numerous important meetings, such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in 2004.
The city suffered damage from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.6. Islamabad has experienced a series of terrorist incidents, including the July 2007 Siege of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), the June 2008 Danish embassy bombing, and the September 2008 Marriott bombing. In 2011, four terrorist incidents occurred in the city, killing four people, including the murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer.
The construction of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus, the region's first mass transit line, began in February 2014 and was completed in March 2015. The Rawalpindi Development Authority built the project at a cost of approximately Rs. 24 billion, which was shared by both the federal government and the provincial government of Punjab.
Islamabad lies about 540 metres (1,770 ft) above sea level at the northern edge of the Pothohar Plateau and at the foot of the Margalla Hills in Islamabad Capital Territory. The modern capital and the ancient Gakhar city of Rawalpindi form a conurbation and are commonly referred to as the Twin Cities.
To the northeast of the city lies the colonial–era hill station of Murree, and to the north lies the Haripur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Kahuta lies to the southeast, Taxila, Wah Cantt, and Attock District to the northwest, Gujar Khan, Rawat, and Mandrah on the southeast, and the metropolis of Rawalpindi to the south and southwest. Islamabad is located 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Muzaffarabad, 185 kilometres (115 mi) east of Peshawar and 295 kilometres (183 mi) northwest of Lahore.
Islamabad covers an area of 906 square kilometres (350 sq mi). A further 2,717 square kilometres (1,049 sq mi) area is known as the Specified Area, with the Margala Hills in the north and northeast. The southern portion of the city is an undulating plain. It is drained by the Kurang River, on which the Rawal Dam is located.
Islamabad has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa), with five seasons: Winter (November–February), Spring (March and April), Summer (May and June), Rainy Monsoon (July and August) and Autumn (September and October). The hottest month is June, where average highs routinely exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F). The wettest month is July, with heavy rainfalls and evening thunderstorms with the possibility of cloudburst and flooding. The coolest month is January.
Islamabad's micro-climate is regulated by three artificial reservoirs: Rawal, Simli, and Khanpur Dam. The latter is located on the Haro River near the town of Khanpur, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Islamabad. Simli Dam is 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Islamabad. 220 acres (89 ha) of the city consists of Margalla Hills National Park. Loi Bher Forest is situated along the Islamabad Highway, covering an area of 1,087 acres (440 ha). The highest monthly rainfall of 743.3 mm (29.26 in) was recorded during July 1995. Winters generally feature dense fog in the mornings and sunny afternoons. In the city, temperatures stay mild, with snowfall over the higher-elevation points on nearby hill stations, notably Murree and Nathia Gali. The temperatures range from 13 °C (55 °F) in January to 38 °C (100 °F) in June. The highest recorded temperature was 46.6 °C (115.9 °F) on 23 June 2005 while the lowest temperature was −6.0 °C (21.2 °F) on 17 January 1967. Light snowfall sometimes happens on the peaks of the hills visible from the city, though this is rare. Snowfall does not occur in the city itself. On 23 July 2001, Islamabad received a record-breaking 620 mm (24 in) of rainfall in just 10 hours. It was the heaviest rainfall in Islamabad in the past 100 years and the highest rainfall in 24 hours as well. Water supply is strained, leading to project proposals like the Ghazi Barotha water supply project.
The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration, generally known as ICT Administration, is the civil administration as well as main law and order agency of the federal capital.
The local government authority of the city is the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) with some help from Capital Development Authority (CDA), which oversees the planning, development, construction, and administration of the city. Islamabad Capital Territory is divided into eight zones: Administrative Zone, Commercial District, Educational Sector, Industrial Sector, Diplomatic Enclave, Residential Areas, Rural Areas and Green Area. Islamabad city is divided into five major zones: Zone I, Zone II, Zone III, Zone IV, and Zone V. Out of these, Zone IV is the largest in area. Zone I consists mainly of all the developed residential sectors while Zone II consists of the under-developed residential sectors. Each residential sector is identified by a letter of the alphabet and a number, and covers an area of approximately 2 km × 2 km (1+1⁄4 mi × 1+1⁄4 mi). The sectors are lettered from A to I, and each sector is divided into four numbered sub-sectors.
Series A, B, and C are still underdeveloped. The D series has seven sectors (D-11 to D-17), of which only sector D-12 is completely developed. This series is located at the foot of Margalla Hills. The E Sectors are named from E-7 to E-17. Many foreigners and diplomatic personnel are housed in these sectors. In the revised Master Plan of the city, CDA has decided to develop a park on the pattern of Fatima Jinnah Park in sector E-14. Sectors E-8 and E-9 contain the campuses of Bahria University, Air University, and the National Defence University. The F and G series contains the most developed sectors. F series contains sectors F-5 to F-17; some sectors are still under-developed. F-5 is an important sector for the software industry in Islamabad, as the two software technology parks are located here. The entire F-9 sector is covered with Fatima Jinnah Park. The Centaurus complex is a major landmark of the F-8 sector. G sectors are numbered G-5 through G-17. Some important places include the Jinnah Convention Centre and Serena Hotel in G-5, the Lal Masjid in G-6, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the largest medical complex in the capital, located in G-8, and the Karachi Company shopping centre in G-9.
The H sectors are numbered H-8 through H-17. The H sectors are mostly dedicated to educational and health institutions. National University of Sciences and Technology covers a major portion of sector H-12. The I sectors are numbered from I-8 to I-18. With the exception of I-8, which is a well-developed residential area, these sectors are primarily part of the industrial zone. Two sub-sectors of I-9 and one sub-sector of I-10 are used as industrial areas. CDA is planning to set up Islamabad Railway Station in Sector I-18 and Industrial City in sector I-17. Zone III consists primarily of the Margalla Hills and Margalla Hills National Park. Rawal Lake is in this zone. Zone IV and V consist of Islamabad Park, and rural areas of the city. The Soan River flows into the city through Zone V.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Islamabad”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.