What is the capital of Pakistan?

The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad, a purpose-built federal city in the north of the country.

Pakistan originally used Karachi, the major port city on the Arabian Sea, as its capital after independence in 1947. The government later selected a site near Rawalpindi for a new capital, partly because it was more centrally accessible and closer to the country’s northern regions and military headquarters. Islamabad was planned during the 1960s and officially became the capital in 1967.

The city lies at the northern edge of the Pothohar Plateau, beneath the Margalla Hills. Greek architect and planner Konstantinos Apostolou Doxiadis led the master-planning effort, creating a distinctive sector-based layout with broad roads, green spaces, and separate administrative, diplomatic, residential, and commercial zones.

Rawalpindi remains immediately south of Islamabad and served as Pakistan’s interim capital while the new city was being built. The two cities are often called the “Twin Cities,” but only Islamabad is the national capital.