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Contemporary and historic architecture in Pakistan

City · Islamabad Capital Territory

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan, a planned city built from 1960 at the foot of the Margalla Hills in the Islamabad Capital Territory, which covers about 906 square kilometres. It was designed on a grid of numbered sectors by the Greek planner Constantinos Doxiadis and replaced Karachi as the capital in 1966.

Read the story Photos of Islamabad

The story of Islamabad

The city is laid out in lettered and numbered sectors, each roughly two kilometres square, with the Margalla Hills National Park forming its northern edge. Faisal Mosque, completed in 1986 to a design by Vedat Dalokay, holds about 100,000 worshippers and is the largest mosque in Pakistan. Rawalpindi, the older garrison city, adjoins it to the south, and the two function as a single metropolitan area.

What to see in Islamabad

  • Faisal Mosque

    Tent-form mosque below the Margallas, completed 1986.

  • Margalla Hills National Park

    Trails 3, 5 and 6 rise to Pir Sohawa at about 1,170 m.

  • Pakistan Monument

    Petal-shaped monument and museum on Shakarparian.

  • Lok Virsa Museum

    National institute of folk and traditional heritage.

  • Saidpur village

    A restored Mughal-era village inside the city limits.

Landscape of Islamabad

Margalla Hills — Islamabad

Margalla Hills

A 12,605-hectare national park at the city's northern edge.

Pir Sohawa — Islamabad

Pir Sohawa

A ridge road at 1,170 m above Daman-e-Koh.

Rivers and lakes of Islamabad

Rawal Lake — Islamabad

Rawal Lake

A reservoir on the Korang river supplying the twin cities.

Food of Islamabad

Saidpur village — Islamabad

Saidpur village

Restored Mughal-era village turned into a food street.

Melody and Aabpara — Islamabad

Melody and Aabpara

Old-sector markets for chaat, halwa puri and kebab.

Hill-top dining — Islamabad

Hill-top dining

Daman-e-Koh and Pir Sohawa look out over the whole grid.

Heritage of Islamabad

Faisal Mosque — Islamabad

Faisal Mosque

Completed in 1986 with a 5,000 m² prayer hall.

Pakistan Monument — Islamabad

Pakistan Monument

Four granite petals for the four provinces, opened 2007.

Saidpur village — Islamabad

Saidpur village

A restored Mughal-era village on the Margalla slope.

Culture and crafts of Islamabad

Truck art — Islamabad

Truck art

Hand-painted trucks and rickshaws, a craft trade worth millions of rupees a year.

Bazaars — Islamabad

Bazaars

Copper, cloth, spice and book markets in every old city.

Festivals — Islamabad

Festivals

Basant, Urs gatherings, Shandur polo and the Kalash calendar.

Wildlife of Islamabad

Markhor — Islamabad

Markhor

The national animal, a wild goat of the northern ranges.

Snow leopard — Islamabad

Snow leopard

Roughly 200–420 remain in the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindu Kush.

Houbara bustard — Islamabad

Houbara bustard

A winter migrant to the deserts of Balochistan and Cholistan.

Read more about this place

Best time to visit

February to April and September to November.

Getting there

Islamabad International Airport, the M-1 and M-2 motorways, and rail via Rawalpindi.

Nearby places

Questions about Islamabad

When did Islamabad become the capital?+

Construction began in 1960 and Islamabad formally replaced Karachi as the capital in 1966.

What is near Islamabad for a day trip?+

Taxila, about 35 kilometres west, and Murree and the Galiyat, about 1.5 to 2 hours north.

Photographs of Islamabad

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