The Princess of Hope (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' hoodoo or "fairy chimney" and which could fancifully be construed (see mimetolith) as resembling a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

ed and

skirt A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts ar ...

ed female figure looking toward the horizon. It is situated approximately from the

financial hub A financial centre (British English, BE), financial center (American English, AE), or financial hub, is a location with a concentration of Global financial system#Participants, participants in banking, asset management, insurance or financial ...

Karachi, Pakistan 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 approximately from the provincial capital,

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

The curiously shaped rock pinnacle is located in the

Hingol National Park Hingol National Park or Hungol National Park ( ur, ) is the largest national park in Pakistan, located in the Makran coastal region. The park covers an area of about and is located 190 km from Karachi in the three districts of Gwadar, Lasbe ...

in the

Lasbela District Lasbela District (Urdu and bal, , Sindhi Lasi: لسبيلو) is a coastal district of Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is also called Sassi-Punnu Garh () among localites. History Alexander the Great passed through Lasbela on his way ...

of the province of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, the mountainous landscape of which is riven with picturesque gorges and features unusual formations of mud and rock, shaped into their present forms by the forces of

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

. Lasbela District forms part of the coastal strip known as the Makran, which also takes in certain coastal regions of Iran. The formation was given the name Princess of Hope by Hollywood actress

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

, who visited Pakistan - including the Hingol National Park - in the year 2002 as a UN

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

. The name (conceived by Jolie on the spot as a spontaneous, personal reaction to the form of the monolith) stuck, having evidently appealed to then-current local sensibilities. Pakistan Natural Sphinx, Balochistan - (1)

Pakistan Natural Sphinx, Balochistan - (1)

Not far from the "Princess" stands another natural rock formation of

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

-like form, the so-called "Balochistan Sphinx" (known also as the "Lion of Balochistan" or Abul-Hol) which is visible from the Buzi Pass section of the

Makran Coastal Highway The N-10 or National Highway 10 (Urdu: ) is a 653 km national highway in Pakistan which extends along Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast from Karachi in Sindh province to Gwadar in Balochistan province. It passes the towns of Ormara and Pasni. ...

References

{{reflist Rock formations of Pakistan Landforms of Balochistan (Pakistan)

See also

References