Lahore

Lahore (/ləˈhɔər/; Punjabi: لہور ALA-LC: Lahor [ləhoːr]; Urdu: لاہور‎ ALA-LC: Lāhor [lɑːhoːr]) is the capital city of the province of Punjab, the second largest metropolitan area in Pakistan and 16th most populous city in the world. It is an important historical centre in South Asia. With a rich history dating back over a millennium, Lahore is a main cultural centre of the Punjab region and Pakistan and is the largest Punjabi city in the world. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains an economic, political, transportation, entertainment, and educational hub of Pakistan.

Lahore successively served as the regional capital of the empires of the Hindu Shahi kingdom in the 11th century, the Ghaznavids in the 12th century, the Ghurid State in the 12th and 13th centuries and the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. From 1802 to 1849, Lahore served as the capital city of the Sikh Empire. In the mid-19th and early 20th century, Lahore was the capital of the Punjab region under the British Raj. The traditional capital of Punjab for a millennium, Lahore was the cultural centre of the northern Indian subcontinent which extends from the eastern banks of the Indus River to New Delhi. Mughal structures such as the Badshahi Mosque, the Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, the mausolea of Jehangir and Nur Jahan, Chauburji Gate, and the walled city are some of the major tourist attractions in the city. Lahore is also home to many British colonial structures built in the Indo-Saracenic style, such as the Lahore High Court, the General Post Office, Lahore Museum, Lahore Railway Station, and many older universities and colleges including the University of the Punjab, Govt College and King Edward Medical University. The Lahore Zoo, thought to be the fourth oldest in the world, is also situated here.

Pakistan

Coordinates: 30°N 70°E / 30°N 70°E / 30; 70

Pakistan (ⁱ/ˈpækᵻstæn/ or ⁱ/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاكستان‎ ALA-LC: Pākistān, pronounced [pɑːkɪst̪ɑːn]), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاكستان‎ ALA-LC: Islāmī Jumhūriyah Pākistān IPA: [ɪslɑːmiː d͡ʒʊmɦuːriəɪh pɑːkɪst̪ɑːn]), is a country in South Asia. It is the sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 199 million people. It is the 36th largest country in the world in terms of area with an area covering 881,913 km² (340,509 sq mi). Pakistan 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, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast respectively. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and also shares a maritime border with Oman.

The territory that now constitutes Pakistan was previously home to several ancient cultures, including the Mehrgarh of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including Hindus, Indo-Greeks, Muslims, Turco-Mongols, Afghans and Sikhs. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Alexander of Macedonia, 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 the subcontinent's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of the Subcontinent 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.

Punjab, Pakistan

Punjab (Urdu, Punjabi: پنجاب, panj-āb, "five waters":  listen ), also spelled Panjab, is the most populous of the four provinces of Pakistan. It has an area of 205,344 square kilometres (79,284 square miles) and a population of 91.379.615 in 2011, approximately 56% of the country's total population. Its provincial capital and largest city is Lahore. Punjab is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir to the northeast and Punjab and Rajasthan to the east. In Pakistan it is bordered by Sindh to the south, Balochistān and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, and Islamabad and Azad Kashmir to the north.

The province comprises most of the fertile Punjab region, which also includes the Indian states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The region was divided during the Partition of India, when the majority Muslim areas became the Pakistani province and majority non-Muslim areas remaining part of India.

Punjab's geography mostly consists of the alluvial plain of the Indus River and its four major tributaries in Pakistan, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers. There are several mountainous regions, including the Sulaiman Mountains in the southwest part of the province, and Margalla Hills, Salt Range, and Pothohar Plateau in the north. Agriculture is the chief source of income and employment in Punjab; wheat and cotton are the principal crops. Since independence, Punjab has become the seat of political and economic power; it remains the most industrialised province of Pakistan. It counts for 39.2% of large scale manufacturing and 70% of small scale manufacturing in the country. Its capital Lahore is a major regional cultural, historical, and economic centre.

Lahore Metro

The Lahore Metro or Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System (LRMTS) (Urdu: لاہور میٹرو‎) is an under constructionrapid transit system (metro train system) for Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistan. First proposed in 1991, funding was not secured, and in 2012 it was abandoned by the Punjab government in favour of the more cost–effective Lahore Metro Bus System which opened in February 2013. However, the Punjab Government decided to restart development on the Lahore Metro as a $1.6 billion project with Chinese assistance. The Orange Line, which will be 27.1-kilometre (16.8 mi) long (25.4 kilometres (15.8 mi) of which will be elevated), will be the first line of the project and is under construction.

History

The system was first proposed in 1991 and was updated in 1993 by Lahore Traffic and Transport Studies, funded by the World Bank. The project was subsequently shelved.

In 2005, the Transport Department of Pakistan revisited the project and carried out a feasibility study and in 2007, the Asian Development Bank provided PKR1 billion to conduct a study on the project. An 82 km (51 mi) long rail network with 60 stations was to be constructed in four separate phases as a part of the project. The first phase involved construction of a 27 km (17 mi) km railway line called green line which would include an 11.6 km (7.2 mi) underground network. This line would carry 250,000–300,000 passengers after construction. The construction was expected to start in 2008 and complete in 2010. However, the new Pakistani government in 2008, shifted its priorities to other projects.

Punjab (region)

The Punjab (ⁱ/ˈpʌndʒɑːb/ or /ˈpʌndʒæb/), also spelled Panjab, panj-āb, "five rivers" (Punjabi: پنجاب (Shahmukhi), ਪੰਜਾਬ (Gurumukhi), Hindi: पंजाब (Devanagari)), is a geographical region in one of the northernmost parts of the Indian subcontinent or South Asia, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northern India.

It has been inhabited by Indus Valley Civilisation, Indo-Aryan peoples and has seen numerous invasions by the Achaemenid Empire, Greeks, Kushan Empire, Ghaznavids, Timurids, Mughals, Afghans, British and others. The people of the Punjab today are called Punjabis and their principal language is called Punjabi. The main religions of the Punjab region are Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Other religious groups are Christianity, Jainism and Buddhism.

In 1947, with the dissolution of British India, the region was partitioned between India and Pakistan.
In Pakistan, it includes the Punjab province, Islamabad, parts of Azad Kashmir (namely Bhimber and Mirpur) and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (namely Peshawar known in the Punjab region as Pishore).