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  • Alright, Pakistan!

  • You've probably heard of this guy: Maybe the news, maybe in litterature, maybe in movies.

  • Pakistan is sort of a societal paradox. It's only a little over half of a century old

  • yet it retains history that predates the pyramids of Egypt.

  • There's so much to discover so,

  • Pak your bags and stan-d on this bus ride to Pakistan!

  • (piano jingle) It's-time-to-learn-ge-o-gra-phy! Sheep: NOW!!!

  • Hey everyone I'm your host Barbs

  • Pakistan is kind of like the bridge between the Middle-East and the rest of Asia

  • It is the only nation on the world known to have been established on the basis of religion alone.

  • Bangladesh: What about me??

  • I mean originally kind of yes, but you were like one unit with Pakistan

  • and then you got a second independence based on you. not. liking. Pakistan

  • Bangladesh: Oh yeah that's right! Btw you should really re-do my episode.

  • It's completely outdated and you totally stole that map from JayForeman.

  • Oh I met up with Jay in London.

  • We had a jolly live stream chat and laughed about it.

  • Calm down, he's cool with me.

  • JayForeman: It's true I am cool with it. (deeper) I'm not really cool with it.

  • Anyway, time for Pakistan!

  • (POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY)

  • Pakistan, Pakistan... It's interesting because even the name which means "Pure land"

  • is even an acronym for the five formal regions of British India that joined together:

  • Punjab, Afghania Kashmir, Sindh and BalochiSTAN

  • PAK-STAN!

  • Later the 'i' was add to just help with prononciation.

  • Anyway, the map!

  • Pakistan is located in South Asia surrounded by Iran, Afghanistan, China and India

  • with the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the South.

  • The country is divided into 4 provinces and 3 territories including the capital Islamabad

  • that acts as its own territory.

  • Keep in mind, the Northern territories are administratively operated under Pakistan's government

  • but India still claims parts, or most of them.

  • The country's largest city and former capital though is Karachi in the Sindh province

  • with about 15 million people.

  • It holds the largest and busiest airport: Karachi Jinnah International

  • and the largest shipping port, the Port of Karachi

  • which handles about 60% of the nation's cargo.

  • However, the largest deep seaport in the world is actually here in Gwadar.

  • Recently, it has been going massive renovations and constructions funded by the Chinese

  • as it means to help with access to the Indian Ocean.

  • The nation's second largest city is Lahore in the Punjab province

  • which hold the 3rd busiest airport: Lahore Allama Iqbal International.

  • The country has a vast wide rail network extending from Karachi to Peshawar in the north

  • with branch lines extending to Iran, Afghanistan,

  • and a proposed line that goes up to China.

  • However, it would be very difficult considering that there are incredibly high mountains up further north

  • and today, there is only main road that crosses over from Pakistan into China:

  • The N-35 highway, otherwise known as the Karakoram highway, the world's highest paved road at over 4,000 meters above sea level.

  • This one little road is the life-giving artery on the 523km wide border

  • that gives China access to the Indian Ocean

  • and Pakistan access to the east,

  • circumnavigating around India which otherwise blocks them both.

  • Yeah, I mean it's really not hard to understand why China and Pakistan get along.

  • It's like:

  • Rep. of China: "GIVE ME ACCESS TO THE WEST!! UGH!"

  • British India: "Nope."

  • (Can anyone figure out what's going on here? I have no idea what they are posing about)

  • And now my favourite part of any episode:

  • Territorial ANOMALIES!

  • Yeah, you can see that there is a lot of backstory hidden within the valleys of Pakistan.

  • And it goes waaay back to the very important river

  • which brings us to:

  • (PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY)

  • Pakistan's landscape is incredibly diverse.

  • If you look at Pakistan above, you'll notice it has some prominent and distinctly contrasting features.

  • And it's very interesting how Pakistan used these features to their advantage.

  • For one, Pakistan is kind of precariously situated right at the convergence of of the Indian, Arabian and Eurasian plates zones.

  • This is what has created the dry hilly area known as the Sulaiman Range

  • and the Baluchistan plateau in the southwest.

  • Despite the Baluchistan province, the largest one

  • taking up about 44% of the country's land,

  • only about 6% of the population lives here.

  • This effectively made Baluchistan and Azad Kashmir the "earthquake capitals" of Pakistan.

  • The capital of Baluchistan, Quetta was nearly destroyed in 1935 yet rebuilt.

  • In the north, you can find the tallest peak, K2 or Chhogori, the second tallest mountain in the world,

  • straddling the border within the disputed Shaksum Valley that both India and China claim.

  • Keep in mind, 5 of the 14 tallest peaks in the world known as the "Eight thousanders" club

  • are located in the north of Pakistan,

  • 4 in the Gilgit-Baltistan territory alone.

  • From there going south, you see the one iconic powerhouse lifeline of the entire nation:

  • The Indus River

  • fed by snowmelt from the mountains up north.

  • This is the longest river in the nation that has dozens of branches and tributaries that essentially feed the entire country.

  • In fact, the Indus River basin is the world's largest irrigation system

  • with over 58,000km of canals, cultivating over 230,000km of land.

  • Further south, you find the largest natural lake in the country, Manchar

  • along the edges of the Indus valley that flows into the Indus river delta

  • (DEMOGRAPHICS)

  • Thank you, Noah!

  • Now the weird thing about the entire South Asia subcontinent is that

  • when you look at the people,

  • many of them look exactly alike, and you would just assume they are basically relatives.

  • I mean, you have Pakistani Punjabis and Indian Punjabis.

  • Pakistani Kashmiris, Indian Kashmiris.

  • They have the same languages and same cultural traditions and history and customs.

  • And in most cases, they really are family.

  • But when it comes to nationhood and worldview,

  • the dichotomy makes a clear boundary that splits one side from the other.

  • DPRK: Mmm. "Keep talking, we're listening."

  • (Friend Zone)

  • Now you have to understand, Pakistan was kind of like a constructed state to consolidate religious communities in the former empire.

  • So that means with Pakistan, a lot of their diplomacy depends on strategy.

  • For one, even though they were a former colony,

  • they still have a somewhat neutral-ish kind of amicable relationship with the UK.

  • The UK has the largest population of Pakistanis in Europe, many come from the Mirpur district

  • and you can still see much of the cultural influences in their societly

  • such as cricket and driving on the left.

  • and even go so far to support Azerbaijan's side in the controversial disputes with Armenia.

  • In conclusion: Pakistan may have been formed in the 40s,

  • but you would have millennia of backstory with this place.

  • Pakistan, it is what it is, go for it.

  • Stay tuned, Palau is coming up next

Alright, Pakistan!

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