Which planned city became Pakistan's capital in 1967?

The planned city that became Pakistan’s capital in 1967 was Islamabad. It officially became the national capital on 14 August 1967, exactly two decades after Pakistan’s independence.

Pakistan initially used Karachi as its capital, but the government wanted a location closer to the country’s geographic centre and less dominated by commercial interests. A new site near Rawalpindi was selected, and Greek architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis led the master planning.

Islamabad was designed with separate zones for government offices, diplomacy, housing, education, commerce, industry, rural land and green space. Its setting beside the Margalla Hills helped give the city its spacious, leafy character.

Rawalpindi is the most common source of confusion. It served as Pakistan’s temporary capital while Islamabad was being built, from 1959 to 1967. Karachi was the first capital after independence and remains Pakistan’s largest commercial city.