Pakistan is a land of sublime scenery, time-worn shrines and some of the best walking trails on earth. The permanent snowline of the Karakoram and the Hindukush ranges, tumbling flows of Indus Rives, barren beauty of Balochistan, chaotic market place of Karachi and the old world charm of Lahore come together to further beautify this cricket-cheering nation. Though in popular terms Pakistan is considered as a South Asian nation, geographically and culturally it spills over to Central Asia and Middle East too. The cradle of Indus Valley Civilisation and destination by the ancient Silk Route, Pakistan was originally a part of the undivided Indian subcontinent. It suffered, survived and enriched from a series of invasion by Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Moghuls and finally the British. Pakistan emerged as an independent entity from British rule on 14th August 1947 after being partitioned from India along religious lines.
Situated on the western part of the Indian subcontinent Pakistan encompasses all elements of nature in its area of approximately 803,940 square kilometres. From the mighty stretches of the Karakorams in the North, high desert plateau of Balochistan in west-central, desert of southeast to the vast alluvial delta of the Indus River in the South, Pakistan remains a land of high adventure and nature. Today it is a member of the UN, the World Trade Organisation, and Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the Economic Cooperation Organisation, the Commonwealth of Nations and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.