REGIONS OF PAKISTAN

regions of Pakistan

Pakistan is divided into five areas: the provinces of Sind, Balochistan, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan (formerly the Northern Areas) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North-West Frontier Province). These provinces roughly correspond with the country's major geographic, ethnic, and linguistic regions. Gilgit-Baltistan is made up of a series of valleys situated in the Karakorum range. Perhaps more spectacular than the Everest and Annapurna Himalayas, the Karokorum mountains are located where India, China, the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Himalayas, Pamirs, and Hindu Kush all come together.

Rugged mountains rise along the borders of Iran and Afghanistan. The main range, the Sulaiman, has peaks over 3,500 meters (11,000 feet high). The other main ranges are the Kirthat and Hindu Kush. Below these huge mountains are foot hills that would be high mountains if they were in any other place. South of the northern mountains is the Potohar Plateau, known for it eroded physical features. South of this is the Salt Range, known for its unusual rock formations and huge salt sediments.

Along the Afghan border, encompassing the Hindu Kush, is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the Northwest Frontier Provinces). In this remote and rarely traveled region you will find wild mountain tribes, Afghan refugees and the Golden Crescent, the largest opium growing and heroin producing region in the world. In western Pakistan, taking up almost a third a country, is Balochistan, a massive desert of boulders and sand that extends to the Iranian and Afghan borders. Much of it lies on a plateau.

The Punjab region, which extends into India, is the breadbasket of Pakistan and the only part of the country you could is say is really green. Huge irrigation project harness the waters of the Indus to grow rice, grain and vegetables in the Punjab and Sindh. Many of these are set up are around canal colonies. Unlike the Punjab in India there are few Sikhs in the Pakistani Punjab. The Sindh occupies the Lower Indus Plain. The unirrigated land is barren and brown. Karachi, Pakistan's most important city and largest port, is located in the Sind. The gray, sandy Sindh Desert in the southeast is an extension of India's Thar Desert.

Punjab

Punjab is split between India and Pakistan and contains the richest agricultural land and is regarded as breadbasket of both countries. Punjab means "Land of Five Rivers" in Persian, a reference to the five rivers that flow out of the Himalayas to join the Indus River: the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The land between these rivers is known as a doab. Each of the five doabs is considered culturally different from the others.

East Punjab in Pakistan and West Punjab in India

The Punjab is mainly a nearly level plain that drops from an elevation of 300 meters in the northeast near the Silwalik range to about 100 meters where the Indus is united with the last if its main tributaries. Above the plain are the Salt Range in Pakistan and the foothills of the Himalayas in India. The entire Punjab covers about 270,000 square kilometers (104,248 square miles), with 205,344 square kilometers (79,284 square miles) in Pakistan and 50,362 square kilometers (19,445 square miles) in India.

Before the British arrived, the Punjab was as almost as dry and dusty as the other parts of Pakistan but through their system of canals and irrigation ditches they made the desert bloom. Canal building not only involved building canals it also involved moving lots of people. Before the British built the irrigation system, flooding was common and towns died when rivers changed course. Under the British new towns sprung up along canals and old ones were abandoned. Canal colonies were established that involved moving the entire population of one region to another.

The main crops of the Punjab are wheat (the staple of the region), rice and sugar. The are two main agricultural season marked by two, prolonged, dry harvest periods: 1) the rabi in April and May; 2) the kharif from September and October. The winter monsoon is light but vital to the wheat crop.

When India and Pakistan were divided in 1947 Pakistan got the larger piece including the city of Lahore which was the center of the Mogul Empire. Parts of traditional Punjab, defined by the five rivers, are located in North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan and Hammu, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh in India.

Deserts and Arid Regions of Southeastern Pakistan

More than two-thirds of Pakistan is arid or semi-arid. In such places rivers, streams, and lakes exist only seasonally. The Thar Desert and Lower Indus Valley, located in the southernmost province of Sindh, consists largely of arid valleys and rocky hills that extend into neighboring India. Farming is only possible in the irrigated areas nearest to the Indus River..

satellite view of the Thar Desert (Western India, Eastern Pakistan)

To the east of the Balochistan plateau region are extensive alluvial plains, through which the Indus and its tributaries flow. This hot and dry region closely coincides with the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, and is bordered to the east by the Thar Desert. The Indus basin is the agricultural heartland of Pakistan thanks to extensive irrigation facilities fed by the waters of the Indus system. A variety of crops, especially wheat, rice and cotton, are cultivated there.

Advances in agricultural engineering have countered the salinity problems associated with farming in the Indus delta. The irrigated areas of the plains are densely populated and home to many of Pakistan's major cities, including Lahore, Faisalabad (formerly Lyallpur), Hyderabad and Multan. Karachi, the nation's chief port, is located to the west of the irrigated land in a location accessible to ocean-going vessels. The higher parts of the plain in the north, such as the area around Lahore, have a more humid subtropical climate. [Source: Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., The Columbia University Press]

There is also a dry region in the northern Chilas-Gilgit area. In addition to long-standing deserts, human-influenced desertification and salinisation have turned areas of Pakistan into deserts that were not deserts before. This is particularly evident in areas that have been subjected to excessive irrigation. Deforestation, topsoil erosion and water shortages have all contributed to desertification. By some estimates, one-third of the country is at risk.

Thal Desert is south of the Salt Range, between the Indus and Jhelum Rivers. The Thar Desert (Cholistan Desert) lies south of the Sutlej River along the Pakistan-India border. Both these Pakistani desert regions are extensions of India's Thar Desert. The arid south ends at the rugged Makran coast and rises to the east into a series of rock-strewn ranges, the Kirthar and the Sulaiman. [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Physical Geography, 2003]

Sindh

The Sindh is an arid province known for its feudal landowners, Sufi saints and irrigation agriculture. Named after the Sanskrit word for the Indus River, it is situated between the Punjab, the Thar Desert, the Arabian Sea and the barren Kirthar region and bordered to the east by the Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat and to the west by Balochistan. The southern half is irrigated with canals from the Indus River. The entire state covers 140,914 square kilometers (54,407 square miles), making it slightly larger than New York state, and embraces Karachi and Hyderabad.

The economy of the Sindh is dominated by agriculture and it in turn is dominated by irrigation. Where there is irrigation, fields of wheat, cotton, rice, oil seeds, sugar and millet and orchards with mangoes, guavas and citrus fruit stretch for miles and miles, with mud-wall shacks here and there occupied by the feudal serfs who work the land. The land is owned by wealthy landlords. There are three main dams: 1) the Ghulan on the Punjab border; 2) the Lloyd; and 3) the Ghulam Muhammad, farthest south

Where there is no irrigation the landscape is dry and forbidding. Sindu also means ocean in Sanskrit. The Aryans gave the Indus that name because they believed the Indus was so large it seemed like the sea. The great Indus Valley city of Harappa was established here 5,000 years ago. During that time the Sindh received more rainfall than it does now and contained more dense vegetation and was the home to tigers and elephants. The remnants of these times are tamarisk, scrub forest that grow around the river banks.

There are three distinct regions: 1) the Thar Desert; 2) Indus River plains; and the Kirthar Range. The Indus River flows in a southwesterly direction through the heart of Sindh. The Sindh’s main agricultural areas and population centers are situated here. To the east of the Indus plains is the Thar or Great Indian Desert. The Kirthar Range, in the west, is a steep wall of mountains rising from 1,220 meters (4,000 feet) in the south to nearly 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) in the north, dividing the rugged hills of Balochistan and the fertile Indus plains.

Balochistan Plateau

The Balochistan Plateau, at an elevation of 914 to 1,219 meters (3,000 to 4,000 feet), is an arid tableland of approximately 350,945 square kilometers (135,000 square miles). It is defined and enclosed by the western mountain ranges along the Afghan border and by those extending southwards from Quetta. The plateau has interior drainage and features a number of dry lake beds. Large natural gas reserves lie beneath it

Covering nearly one-half of Pakistan and roughly coinciding with Balochistan Province, the Balochistan Plateau is largely desert, consisting of arid plains and ridges. with eroded wastelands, sand dunes, and sandstorms. There are relatively wetter conditions in its northern area. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia: Numerous low mountain ranges rise from the plateau, and the Hingol and Dasht rivers are among the largest streams. Large portions of the region are unfit for agriculture, and although some cotton is raised, nomadic sheep grazing is the principal activity. Coal, chromite, and natural gas are found in this area, and fishing and salt trading are carried on along the rugged Makran coast. Quetta, the chief city, is an important railroad center on the line between Afghanistan and the Indus valley. [Source: Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., The Columbia University Press]

Among the mountain ranges that surround the the Balochistan plateau are Central Brahui Range, which extends for 282 kilometers (175 miles) south of Quetta and then divides into the Kjrthar Range that extends southeast, and the Makran Range that reaches to the west as far as the Iranian border. Southeast from Quetta, the Bugti Hills merge into the Sulaiman Range, separating the country's east and west. The highest peaks here are 1,828 to 2,133 meters (6,000 to 7,000 feet) high.

Northern Pakistan and the Great Mountains and Glaciers There

The great mountain ranges of the Karakorams and the Hindu Kush form Pakistan’s northern highlands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ((formerly known as North West Frontier Province) and Gilgit-Baltistan (formerly known as the Northern Areas). Gilgit-Baltistan spread over 72,496 square kilometers. Amidst towering snow-clad peaks with heights varying from 1000 meters to over 8000 meter are the valleys of Gilgit, Hunza and Skardu with towns that bring to mind Shangri-La. The cultural patterns in this region are as interesting as its topography. The people here are different from those found further south and are known for their colorful costumes, folk dances, music and sports like polo and buzkashi.

Northern Areas has five of the world's seventeen highest mountains. It also has such extensive glaciers that it has sometimes been called the "third pole." Nowhere in the world there is such a great concentration of high mountains, peaks, glaciers and passes. Of the world’s 14 peaks over 8000 peaks, four occupy an amphitheater at the head of Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram range. These are: K-2 (8611 meters, world second highest), Broad Peak (8047 meters), Gasherbrum I (8068 meters) and Gasherbrum II (8035 meters). There is yet another which is equally great, that is, Nanga Parbat (8126 meters) at the western most end of the Himalayas. In addition to that, there are 68 peaks over 7000 meters and hundreds which are over 6000 meters.

Northern Pakistan has many narrow gorges, twisting canyons and rugged valleys of which Hunza is particularly well known. The lower Himalayan valleys of Swat, Kaghan and Chitral in the Hindu Kush range equally share the beauty and diverse culture of the Northern Pakistan. Adjacent to Indian-administered Kashmir, the Deosai Plateau is a 3,464 square kilometers (1,337 square mile) upland national park that is a major bear habitat. [Source: Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia, The Gale Group Inc., 2003]

Karakoram Mountains

Pakistan is home to five of the world’s 14 highest peaks, including K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. Nanga Parbat, at 8126 meters (26,660 feet), is Pakistan’s second-highest mountain and the world’s ninth highest. All of the mountains are found in the Karakorum.

The Karakoram Mountain Range is perhaps the world's mightiest and most impenetrable mountain range, more formidable than even the Himalayas themselves, which lie to the east. Of the fourteen 8000 meter (26,246 foot) peaks in the world four of them occupy an amphitheater at the head of the Baltoro Valley in the Karakorams. Among them is K2 (28,253 feet) the second highest mountain on Earth. Altogether there are 20 peaks over 25,000 feet in the Karakoram range. Karakoram means “Black Mountain.”

The world’s greatest concentration of high mountains, including K2, can be found in the remote Karakoram Mountains The Karakoram range is a dense group of mountains and glaciers 480 kilometers (300 miles) long and 240 kilometers (150 miles) wide. The Himalayas are to the east. On the western and northern side of the Karakoram are the three more great mountain ranges: the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, the Pamirs in Tajikistan and the Tien Shen in China, all of which have peaks over 20,000 feet.

Most of the mountain range lies in Pakistan but the northern side of K2 as well as many other mountains are situated in China. Sections of the range slip into Afghanistan, India, the former Soviet Union, and the Karakoram acts act as a natural barrier between these five countries. The most traveled pass between the mountain range is the 4,733-meter (15,530-foot) high Khunjerab Pass. Khunjerab Pass. The famed Karakoram Pass between Ladakh and Yarkand is 5,540 meters (18,176 feet) high.

Rivers of Pakistan

The main rivers of Pakistan are the Indus (2,749 kilometers within Pakistan) and its tributaries: the Chenab (730.6 kilometers), Ravi (680.6 kilometers), Jhelum (611.3 kilometers), and Sutlej (530.6 kilometers). The navigable portions of these rivers are generally small and unconnected as a result of seasonal variations in water flows and the presence of substantial irrigation structures. The short Panjnad River, about 121 kilometers (75 miles) long, is actually the combined input of the "five rivers of the Punjab": the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej. [Source: Library of Congress, February 2005 **]

All of Pakistan's major rivers — the Kabul, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej — flow into the Indus. The upper Indus Basin includes Punjab; the lower Indus Basin begins at the Panjnad River (the confluence of the eastern tributaries of the Indus) and extends south to the coast. In Punjab (meaning the "land of five waters") are the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers. The Sutlej, however, is mostly on the Indian side of the border.

The principal river of Balochistan is the Zhob, running along the southern slopes of the Toba Kakar Range and north into the Gumal River. In southern Balochistan, several minor rivers flow into the Arabian Sea; these include the Dasht, Mashkai, Nal, and Porali. [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Physical Geography, 2003]

Lakes, Wetlands and Coastal Area of Pakistan

Lakes in Pakistan include a variety of natural and artificial lakes. In southeastern Pakistan, Manchhar Lake is one of the country's largest lakes. Historically a freshwater lake covering about 259 square kilometers (100 square miles), it has been affected by water diversion, pollution, and increasing salinity. Other lakes in the lower Indus region include Keenjhar (Kalri) Lake, Haleji Lake, Drigh Lake, Hamal Lake, and Keenjhar Lake, several of which are important wildlife habitats and protected areas. In the Salt Range of Punjab, the Khabbaki, Uchhali, and Jahlar lakes form a wetland complex that provides habitat for migratory birds. In the far north, Snow Lake is a high-altitude glacial basin associated with the Biafo and Sim Gang glaciers and is among the largest glacial basins outside the polar regions. [Source: Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia, The Gale Group Inc., 2003]

Wetlands in Pakistan are rich with life but under stress. Pakistan has sixteen wetlands designated as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. Many are located in the Indus Basin and along the Arabian Sea coast. Notable sites include the Indus Dolphin Reserve, which protects a population of the endangered Indus river dolphin; the Jiwani Coastal Wetland, known for its mangrove forests; and Miani Hor, a shallow coastal lagoon with mudflats and mangroves. Other Ramsar sites include Thanedar Wala in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Taunsa and Chashma barrages in Punjab, which serve as important habitats for migratory and resident bird species. These wetlands face pressures from pollution, habitat alteration, overfishing, and other human activities.

Pakistan's Coastline extends along the Arabian Sea in the northern Indian Ocean for approximately 1,046 kilometers (650 miles). Much of the coast is sparsely populated, although it includes the country's largest city and principal seaport, Karachi. Coastal features include Sonmiani Bay, extensive mangrove forests in the Indus Delta, and the Ormara coast of Balochistan, which provides nesting habitat for sea turtles. Mud volcanoes occur in several coastal areas of Balochistan. Southeast of Karachi, the Indus River forms a broad delta about 210 kilometers (130 miles) wide. Pakistan's principal offshore island is Astola Island (Haft Talar), located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Balochistan coast. Covering approximately 50 square kilometers (19 square miles), the island supports nesting sea turtles as well as diverse bird and reptile populations.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (tourism.gov.pk), Official Gateway to the Government of Pakistan (pakistan.gov.pk), “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 3: South Asia,” edited by Paul Hockings, 1992, National Geographic,, CIA World Factbook, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, Live Science, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated June 2026