Breathtaking beauty:
K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) above sea level, is the second-highest mountain in the world, after Mount Everest at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft). It is located on the China–Pakistan border between Baltistan in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and Dafdar Township in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China. K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang.
Broad Peak is a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain in the world at 8,047 metres (26,401 ft) above sea level. It was first ascended in June 1957 by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl of an Austrian expedition.
Aansu Lake, shaped like a teardrop is at a height of 16,490 feet in Kaghan Valley. The rooftop
of the world, Trango Tower is the tallest vertical mountain in the world Gilgit-Baltistan along with four of the ten highest peaks of the Planet; make Pakistan the rooftop of the world.
Biafo Glacier is the world’s longest glacial system outside the Polar Regions and that too is in Pakistan. Pakistan has the world’s largest and most scenic railway gradient and the most scenic railway ride in Asia.
The second largest Salt Mines:
The Khewra Mines are Pakistan’s oldest and the world’s second-largest salt mines. The mine is famous for its production of pink Khewra salt, and is a major tourist attraction, drawing up to 250,000 visitors a year. Its history dates back to its discovery by Alexander’s troops in 320 BC, but it started trading in the Mughal era. The main tunnel at ground level was developed by Dr. H. Warth, a mining engineer, in 1872 during British rule.
The world’s largest ambulance Network:
Edhi Foundation is Pakistan’s largest nonprofit social-welfare program. It runs the world’s largest ambulance network in Pakistan. As of March 2016, the Edhi Foundation owns over 1,800 private ambulance vans stationed in areas across Pakistan. The ambulance dispatchers in Karachi, one of the busiest cities in Pakistan, have reported up to 6,000 calls a day, with the average response time for each incident falling within 10 minutes.
The organization also owns two private jets and one helicopter to assist in moving victims from hard-to-reach locations, especially during the event of a natural disaster. In addition to land and air assistance, Edhi Foundation also hosts 28 rescue boats to aid during floods and in cases of shipwrecks and disaster along the Arabian Ocean coast.
The world’s largest man-made forest:
Changa Manga is one of the largest man-planned and man-grown forests in the world. The Changa Manga is a planted forest that includes a wildlife preserve, in the Kasur and Lahore districts of Punjab, Pakistan. It is located approximately 80 kilometers south-west of Lahore. It was once the largest man-made forest in the world but has undergone illegal deforestation at a massive scale in recent times.
Changa Manga is known more widely as “one of the oldest hand-planted forests in the world”, and hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna. The forest is home to 14 species of mammals, 50 species of birds, six species of reptiles, two species of amphibians, and 27 species of insects. Thus, other than producing timber for the local industry, the forest also serves as an important wildlife reserve.
Named after two brother dacoits, the Changa Manga forest was originally planted in 1866 by British foresters. Its trees were harvested to gather fuel and resources for the engines employed in the North-Western railway networks.
Asia’s largest bird sanctuary and the place where time stops:
Pakistan has Hunza Valley where time stops and fairies tread. The valley mostly remains covered under snow in winter but when it melts the sensuous hilly contour and the luxurious vegetation become a magnet to all and sundry. Haleji Lake is another asset. It is Asia’s greatest waterfowl reserve. During winter a hundred thousand birds fly down to Haleji from the cold of Siberia, making it the largest bird sanctuary of the continent.
Fourth smartest people in the world:
According to a poll organized by The Institute of European Business Administration from 125 countries, Pakistanis have been ranked the fourth most intelligent people across the globe.
Pakistan has the seventh largest collection of Scientists and Engineers. The world’s youngest certified Microsoft experts the late Arfa Karim and Babar Iqbal, both hail from Pakistan.
Haroon Tariq, Ali Moeen Nawazish and Moosa Firoz are globally recognized achievers.
The world’s seventh largest standing armed forces:
Pakistani armed forces are internationally ranked as the seventh-largest in the world with manpower of 642,000. Pakistan provides the largest number of troops to serve the UN peacekeeping missions along with this Pakistan has one of the best trained Air Force pilots in the world. During the 1965 war Squadron leader, Mehmud Alam held the world record of downing five Indian Planes in less than a minute.
Gwadar:
Gwadar is a port city on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. Gwadar was an overseas possession of Oman from 1783 to 1958. It is about 120 km (75 miles) southwest of Turbat, while the sister port city of Chabahar in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province is about 170 km (110 miles) to the west of Gwadar.
The area’s potential to be a major deepwater port remained untapped under successive Pakistani governments until 2001 when construction on the first phase of Gwadar Port was initiated. The first phase was inaugurated in 2007 at a total cost of $248 million.
Karakoram Highway:
The Karakoram Highway known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a 1,300 km (810 miles) national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab Pass in Gilgit-Baltistan, where it crosses into China and becomes China National Highway 314. The highway connects the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plus Gilgit-Baltistan with China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The highway is a popular tourist attraction and is one of the highest paved roads in the world, passing through the Karakoram mountain range, at 36°51′00″N 75°25′40″E at a maximum elevation of 4,714 m (15,466 ft) near Khunjerab pass. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
