Pakistan (ⁱ/ˈpækɨstæn/ or ⁱ/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.

The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.

Ali Azmat (Urdu: علی عظمت) is a Pakistani who gained recognition as the lead vocalist of the pop/rock band Junoon.

Azmat was born in Abbottabad and grew up in Garhi Shahu, Lahore, which he credits for his unconventional attitude. He went to Sydney, Australia, for his higher studies, but due to financial difficulties, returned to Pakistan before completing university.

His first band 'Jupiters' was known for performing covers at small gigs, such as weddings, in Lahore. While with them, Azmat wrote his legendary hit song Dosti. He later sang and recorded Dosti with Junoon, after which the song gained national fame.

He is a cousin of Mustafa Zahid, the lead vocalist of Roxen.

Junoon was Pakistan's biggest band famous for combining traditional poetry and instruments with rock music. Azmat was the lead vocalist of the band. With Junoon, he toured extensively, doing two North American tours a year since 1992. He performed in Europe, the Middle East and China and at the European rock festival, Roskilde in June 2000. He left Junoon in 2005 to pursue a solo career.

Bushra Ansari (Urdu: بشریٰ انصاری; born 15 May 1956) is a Pakistani television presenter, singer, actress and playwright who started as a child performer in the 1960s and has remained a major TV personality for over four decades.

Born in Karachi, Bushra Ansari is the daughter of eminent journalist and writer Ahmad Bashir. Following studies with Lahore's Lady Griffin School, she completed intermediate education at Lahore College for Women University and received a B.A. from Rawalpindi's Viqar un Nisa College for Women in 1977.

On 11 June 1978 Bushra married TV producer Iqbal Ansari and they became the parents of two daughters, Nariman Ansari, a photographer who focuses on portraiture and photojournalism, and Meera Ansari, a model and painter. Encouraged by her husband to resume the performing career she has pursued since childhood, Bushra has continued to maintain her position as a top personality in Pakistani entertainment industry. Her four siblings have also exhibited considerable accomplishments with sister Neelam Bashir known for writing poetry, and two other sisters, Asma Abbass, who lives in Lahore, and Sumbal Bashir, enjoying careers as actresses. She also has a brother, Humayun Sheikh.

Hadiqa Kiani (Urdu: حدیقہ کیانی; born 11 August 1974) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, and philanthropist.^{[citation needed]}

Kiani rose to fame in 1995 with her debut album Raaz. Kiani received instant fame and was nominated and won numerous awards in Pakistan as well as International awards.^{[citation needed]} Since her debut, she has released five albums, all receiving similar fame. Kiani was named "Best Pop Female Singer" in Pakistan. Her single, Jannan, was the fastest-selling single of 2009/2010 and her album Aasmaan achieved similar success. In 2009, Kiani became a judge on Pakistani reality television shows Pakistan Idol and LG Awaaz Banay Star.^{[citation needed]} She has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

Kiani was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and grew up in Lahore. She is the third of three children to Khawar, a principal of a local government girls school. When she was three years old, her father died from natural causes, and thus the family were left to fend for themselves. Kiani has spoken about the difficult experiences of not having a relationship with a father during her childhood. Her mother, was nevertheless, very brave throughout their upbringing, she added. Khawar began working as the principal of a government all-girl school while Kiani and her older siblings were growing up. After her father's death and the resulting loss of financial support, the family had to use the school as a temporary home. Kiani and both her siblings had a talent for music, and so her mother enlisted her in the Pakistan National Council of the Arts. Kiani then performed in front of a crowd of a thousand people at Liaqat Memorial Pindi Hall.

Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976 in Mumbai, Maharashtra) is an Indian actor and producer. He is the son of Indian actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and is married to actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai.

Bachchan debuted with J.P. Dutta's Refugee (2000), but it was not until 2004 that he achieved success when he appeared in the commercially successful Dhoom and the critically acclaimed Yuva. His work in Yuva received several awards, including his first Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting Actor category, an award he would win for the two next years as well. In 2010, he won his first National Film Award (as a producer) for Paa which won the award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. He has starred in films such as Bunty aur Babli, Guru, Sarkar and Dostana.

Abhishek Bachchan is the son of Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan and actress Jaya Bachchan, his elder sister is Shweta Bachchan-Nanda (b. 1974). His grandfather, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a poet of Hindi literature and professor at the Allahabad University in Uttar Pradesh. The original last name of his family is Shrivastava, Bachchan being the pen name used by his grandfather. However, when his father Amitabh entered films, he did so under his father's pen name. Bachchan is of Kayastha heritage from his father's side,Bengali Kulin Brahmin from his mother's side and Punjabi Sikh from his grandmother's side.