The Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area (
:) is 3rd largest metropolitan area of Pakistan after
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
and
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...
. It consists Pakistan of the
twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...
of
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
and
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...
, along with several gated suburbs include
Chaklala Cantt and
Rawalpindi Cantt
Covering the
Pothohar platu, the area consists of the colonial city of Rawalpindi and the modern
planned city
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
of Islamabad. The region received a major boom with the construction of Islamabad as the capital city of Pakistan in the 1960s.
Geography
Islamabad and Rawalpindi are located in the
Potohar region of northern
Punjab or Panjistan, against the backdrop of the
Margalla Hills
The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayan foothills. Th ...
.
Economy
Islamabad is a net contributor to the Pakistani economy, as whilst having only 0.8% of the country's population, it contributes 1% to the country's GDP.
Islamabad Stock Exchange, founded in 1989, is Pakistan's third largest stock exchange after
Karachi Stock Exchange and
Lahore Stock Exchange, and was merged to form
Pakistan Stock Exchange
The Pakistan Stock Exchange ( ur, , abbreviated as PSX) is a stock exchange in Pakistan with trading floors in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. PSX was classified by MSCI as a frontier market on 8 September 2021.
The PSX was established on ...
. The exchange had 118 members with 104
corporate bodies and 18 individual members. The average daily turnover of the stock exchange is over 1 million shares.
, Islamabad LTU (Large Tax Unit) was responsible for Rs 371 billion in tax revenue, which amounts to 20% of all the revenue collected by Federal Board of Revenue. Islamabad has seen an expansion in
information and communications technology
Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications ( telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...
with the addition two
Software Technology Parks, which house numerous national and foreign technological and information technology companies. The tech parks are located in Evacuee Trust Complex and Awami Markaz. Awami Markaz houses 36
IT companies while Evacuee Trust house 29 companies.
The economy of Rawalpindi and the
surrounding district has a diverse
industrial base, but remains mainly service based. According to the general survey of industry conducted by Directorate of Industries and Mineral Development Punjab, there are 939 industrial units operating in the district. This district is not famous for industrial goods like other districts. The progress has been mostly in the private sector. The existing industrial units provide employment to about 35,000 people, i.e., about 1.6% of the district's population is directly employed in large, medium and small industrial units. The Technical/Vocational Training Institute operating in the district turns out about 1,974 technicians/artisans annually, trained in engineering, air conditioning, drafting, metallurgy, welding, automated knitting, telecom and commerce, etc. Jinnah Road, formerly known as City Saddar Road, is one of the busiest business markets. It could be considered as the business headquarters of northern Pakistan; including retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers, it comprises daily cash flow of approximately more than 1 billion rupees . The importance of Jinnah Road can be seen by the presence of more than nine banks on the road with more opening soon.
Being an expensive city, the prices of most of fruits, vegetable and poultry items increased in Islamabad during the years 2015-2020
Infrastructure
The metro area is connected by a network of highways to the rest of the country. Within the metro area the
Islamabad Highway
The Islamabad Expressway ( ur, ), sometimes Islamabad Highway) is a major north-south expressway in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. The expressway provides quick access between Islamabad and Rawalpindi, connecting the national capital w ...
and
Srinagar Highway provide the primary link between Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The area is divided by the
Grand Trunk Road
The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...
which connect's the region with
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...
and
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
. The newer,
M2 Motorway contact's the area with
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...
, and through Lahore with the port city of
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
.
The area is also connected to the
Pakistan Railway's national railway network. The area is served by
Islamabad International Airport
Islamabad International Airport () is the international airport serving Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. It is located south-west of the city, and is accessed via Srinagar Highway.
The airport commenced full operations in 6 May 20 ...
which is one of the largest airports in Pakistan, it has a capacity of serving 9 million passengers per year which can be increased to up to 25 million. The Civil Aviation Authority has plans to acquire more land for the development of a third runway. It is the only airport in Pakistan capable of landing the Airbus A380. The
Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus is a 24 km (14.9 mi)
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
system that serves the twin cities of
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...
and Islamabad within the larger metropolitan area. It uses dedicated bus lanes for all of its routes covering 24 bus stations.
Politics
As Pakistan's
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
, Islamabad serves as the seat of the federal government and is the country's political center. Rawalpindi has remained important historically, as it hosts the
headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
of Pakistan's
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
. Rawalpindi also temporarily served as the federal capital when Islamabad was being built in the 1960s, to replace Karachi as the capital.
Demographics
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area
Metropolitan areas of Pakistan
Geography of Islamabad
Rawalpindi District