This is a list of

capital cities A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and its current and former provinces, territories, and

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

National capital

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

officially became the capital of Pakistan on 14 August 1967, exactly 20 years after the country's independence. The first capital of Pakistan was the coastal city of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, which was selected by

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

. Karachi was and still is the largest city and economic capital of Pakistan. It remained the seat of government until 1959, when the military president,

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

, decided to build a new capital,

in the north of Pakistan, near the general headquarters of the

Pakistani Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...

which is in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. During this process,

was the interim capital. It is believed the name of ''Islamabad'' was influenced from the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

name of the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

i port city of

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

which was Islamabad. In 1962,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

was made the legislative capital of the country due to

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

's high population. The reasons for relocating the capital from Karachi are that it would reflect the diversity of the Pakistani people, it would be separated from the business and commercial activity of Karachi, and also it would be easily accessible from all parts of the country.
linked from The move to Islamabad was not completed until the late 1960s and for some years several government ministries were based in nearby Rawalpindi.

Regional capitals

The capitals of the provinces and territories of Pakistan have remained the same since the 1970s when the current administrative structure was established. All four provincial capitals are the largest cities of their respective provinces.

has a total population of 207,774,520 according to the 2017 census estimate.Population shoots up by 47 percent since 1998
/ref>

Former regional capitals

Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province) The Chief Commissioner's Province of Baluchistan was a province of British Raj established in 1876. Upon the creation of Pakistan it acceded to the newly formed state. It was part of the Baluchistan Agency. It was dissolved to form a united p ...

(1947–1955):

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

(1947–1971):

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Federally Administered Tribal Areas The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the ...

(1947-2018):

Miranshah Mīrānshāh ()() is a main town in the region that is the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Miranshah lies on the banks of the Tochi River in a wide valley surrounded by the foo ...

Parachinar Parachinar (; ) is a city and the capital of the Kurram District in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Parachinar is situated on the west of Peshawar, that juts into the Paktia, Logar and Nangarhar provinces of Afghanistan. With ...

Federal Capital Territory A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

(1947–1960): no specific capital but theoretically

Saddar Saddar (), also known as Saddar Bazaar, is a neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan. The locality was developed as the primary commercial district during the period of British-era rule in Karachi. As a result, Saddar contains the large concentratio ...

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

(1955–1970):

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

;Princely states *

Amb (princely state) Amb () or the State of Amb was a princely state in the present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. Together with Phulra, it was known as Jagir, Feudal Tanawal ruled by Tanoli tribe. A Ruling class, Royal Tenure start from Timurid Empire ...

(1947–1969): Amb **

Phulra Phulra or the State of Phulra () was a Muslim princely state in the days of British Raj and ruled by the Tanoli tribe, located in the region of the North West Frontier to the east of the nearby parent princely state of Amb (Tanawal). T ...

(1947–1950): no specific capital but theoretically Amb *

Bahawalpur (princely state) State of Bahawalpur was a State (polity), state in the Punjab, Punjab region of South Asia that existed as a sovereign state, sovereign polity from 1748 to 1833 and as a princely state, under subsidiary alliance with British India and later ...

(1947–1955):

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

city *

Baluchistan States Union The Baluchistan States Union or Balochistan States Union (BSU) was an administrative division of Pakistan that existed between 3 October 1952 and 14 October 1955 in the southwestern part of West Pakistan. It was formed by the four princely st ...

(1952–1955):

Kalat Qalat, Qelat, Kalat, Kalaat, Kalut, or Kelat, may refer to: * Qalat (fortress), a fortified place or fortified village Afghanistan * Qalat, Afghanistan, capital of Zabul Province * Kalat, Badakhshan, a small village in the Kuran wa Munjan Dist ...

city **

Khanate of Kalat The Khanate of Kalat, also known as the Brahui Confederacy, was a Brahui Khanate that originated in the modern-day Kalat region of Pakistan. Formed in 1666 due to the threat of Mughal expansion in the region,"Baluchistan" ''Imperial Gazet ...

(1947–1955):

city **

Kharan (princely state) The State of Kharan () was an autonomous princely state in British India covering what is part of the present-day province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan, in the southwest of Pakistan. On 17 March 1948, Kharan acceded to Pakistan and o ...

(1947–1955):

Kharan Kharan can refer to: * Kharan, Pakistan, city in Balochistan. * Kharan District, district of Balochistan, Pakistan * Kharan (princely state), former princely state * Kharan Desert * The upper Halil River Halīl River or HalīlRood (also ''Halir ...

city **

Las Bela (princely state) Las Bela () was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with British India (later a princely state of Pakistan) which existed until 1955. The state occupied an area of in the extreme southeast of the Balochistan region, with an extensiv ...

(1947–1955):

Bela Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal *Bela, Janakpur, ...

Makran (princely state) Makran (), also mentioned in some sources as ''Mecran'' and ''Mokrān'', is the southern coastal region of Balochistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in the Balochistan province in Pakistan and in Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. I ...

(1947–1955):

Turbat Turbat (Urdu and ) is a city in the southern region of Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is the administrative centre of Kech District. Turbat is the second-largest city in Balochistan after Quetta and the 35th largest city in the coun ...

Chitral (princely state) Chitral or Chitrāl () was a princely state in alliance with British Raj, British India until 1947, then a Princely states of Pakistan, princely state of Pakistan until 1972. The area of the state now forms the Upper Chitral District, Upper a ...

(1947–1972):

Chitral Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...

city *

Dir (princely state) Dir was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with the British Raj, located within the North-West Frontier Province. Following the Partition of British India, Dir remained independent and unaligned until February 1948, when the Dominio ...

(1947–1969):

Dir (city) Dir (Urdu, ) is a city in the Upper Dir District of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is sometimes known as Dir Khas (Proper Dir) to distinguish it from the district's name, Dir (Upper and Lower). It lies along the Dir River, a tri ...

Gilgit Agency The Gilgit Agency () was an agency within the British Indian Empire. It encompassed Hunza, Nagar and the governorships of Yasin, Koh Ghizer, Ishkoman, Punial and the tribal areas of Gor, Darel, Tangir, the district of Chilas and the Gilgit teh ...

(1947–1974):

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

Hunza (princely state) Hunza (, ), also known as Kanjut (; ), was a Burushaski, Burusho princely state in the present-day Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. Although under the suzerainty of the Kashmir (princely state), Jammu and Kashmir (princ ...

(1947–1974):

Baltit Karimabad (), formerly known as Baltit, is the capital of the Hunza District in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. Etymology Karimabad was named in honour of Karim Aga Khan, the late spiritual leader of the Shi ...

Nagar (princely state) Nagar (, ''Riyasat Nagar'') was a Burushaski, Burusho princely state, princely salute state, state located in the northern region of present-day Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. Although under the suzerainty of the Kashmir (princely state), Jammu ...

(1947–1974): Nagarkhas *

Junagadh State The State of Junagadh or Junagarh was a princely state located in Gujarat, It was ruled by the Muslim Babi dynasty since 1654 by first Nawab of Junagarh, Nawab of Junagadh even within the Maratha Confederacy and later British India. which, aft ...

(1947–1948):

Junagadh Junagadh () is the city and headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state. It i ...

city *

Khairpur (princely state) The State of Khairpur (also transliterated as Khayrpur, was a princely state of British India on the Indus River in northern Sindh, modern Pakistan, with its capital city at Khairpur, Pakistan, Khairpur. History Khairpur was established by the ...

(1947–1955):

Khairpur Khairpur ( Sindhi, ) is a city and the capital of the Khairpur Mirs District of Pakistan's Sindh province. History The Talpur dynasty was established in 1783 by Mir Fateh Ali Khan, who declared himself the first ''Rais'', or ruler of Sindh, a ...

city *

Swat (princely state) State of Swat () commonly known as the Yusufzai State of Swat was a state established in 1849 by the Muslim saint Saidu Baba, also known as ''Akhund of Swat'',Fredrik Barth, ''Features of Person and Society in Swat: Collected Essays on Pat ...

(1947–1969):

Saidu Sharif Saidū Sharīf (Pashto/Urdu: ) is the capital of the Swat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The city also serves as the capital of the Malakand Division. It was named after Saidu Baba, a prominent leader of the former state of Swat. Sa ...

References

External links

Official Website of the Government of Gilgit Baltistan
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Capitals In Pakistan

Capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

National capital

Regional capitals

Former regional capitals

See also

References

External links