Administrative areas and cities

Geography of Pakistan · The land of Pakistan. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Pakistan has four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. It also has other administrative areas: the Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The former tribal areas (FATA) were joined to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.

Balochistan is the largest province in area but has the fewest people. Punjab has the most people. Only Sindh and Balochistan have a coast.

You must be able to place the named cities on a map. Learn each one by its province and by something near it, such as a river, a coast, a border or a range of hills.

Rules to remember

Common mistake

Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir are often called provinces. They are administrative areas, and there are only four provinces.

Worked example

Put these cities in order from west to east: Lahore, Quetta, Gwadar, Multan.

  1. Gwadar is on the Makran coast near Iran, so it is furthest west.
  2. Quetta is in northern Balochistan, east of Gwadar but west of the Indus.
  3. Multan is in southern Punjab, east of the Indus.
  4. Lahore is close to the eastern border, so it is furthest east.

Answer: Gwadar, Quetta, Multan, Lahore.

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