Topography of Pakistan
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The topography of Pakistan is divided into seven geographic areas: the northern highlands, the Indus River plain, the desert areas, the
Pothohar Plateau The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...
, Balochistan Plateau,
Salt Range The Salt Range ( pnb, ) is a mountain range in the north of Punjab province of Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt. The range extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River. The ...
, and the
Sistan Basin The Sistan Basin is an inland endorheic basin encompassing large parts of southwestern Afghanistan and minor parts of southeastern Iran, one of the driest regions in the world and an area subjected to prolonged droughts. Its watershed is a sys ...
. All the
rivers of Pakistan This is a list of rivers wholly or partly in Pakistan, organised geographically by river basin, from west to east. Tributaries are listed from the mouth to the source. The longest and the largest river in Pakistan is the Indus River. Around two-t ...
, i.e.
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
Ravi River The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...
,
Chenab River The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...
,
Jhelum River The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Pakistani-administered territory of Kashmir, and then ...
, and
Sutlej River The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...
, originate from the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
mountain range. Some geographers designate Plateau as to the west of the imaginary southwest line; and the Indus Plain lies to the east of that line.


Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Sea level
Highest point: K2 (Mt. Godwin-Austen) 8,611 m


Mountains

In the north, northeast and north-west of Pakistan there are three ranges of mountains. Between these ranges of the Himalayas is an area the people of Central and South Asia consider to be the roof of the world. The Himalayas stretch continuously for about 2500 km from east to west. They are bounded to the north-west by the Hindu Kush mountain range and to the north by the Karakoram. Thus there are three mountain ranges in northern Pakistan: Karakoram, Himalayas and Hindu Kush. The contrast between these ranges is geologically interesting.


The Indus Plain

Land between two rivers is called DOAB in the local language. The name Indus comes from the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word "sindhu", meaning "ocean", from which also come the words
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, and India. The
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
, one of the great rivers of the world, rises in southwestern
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
, only about 160 kilometers west of the source of the
Sutlej River The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...
, which joins the Indus in Punjab, and the
Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...
, which runs eastward before turning southwest and flowing through
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. The catchment area of the Indus is estimated at almost 1 million square kilometers, and all of Pakistan's major rivers (the Kabul River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej) flow into it. The Indus River basin is a large, fertile alluvial plain formed by silt from the Indus. This area has been inhabited by agricultural civilizations for at least 5,000 years. The upper Indus Basin includes Punjab; the lower Indus Basin begins at the
Panjnad River The Panjnad River ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a river at the extreme end of Bahawalpur district in Punjab, Pakistan. The name ''Panjnad'' means "five rivers", from Persian ''panj'' ("five") and Sanskrit ''nadī́'' ("river").The Panjnad River is for ...
(the confluence of the eastern tributaries of the Indus) and extends south to the coast. Punjab means the "land of five waters": the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers.http://countrystudies.us/pakistan/24.htm, Topography and Drainage of Pakistan on countrystudies.us/Pakistan website, Retrieved 15 Aug 2016 The Sutlej river, however, is mostly on the Indian side of the border. In the southern part of the province of Punjab, the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
attempted to harness the irrigation power of the water over 100 years ago when they established what came to be known as the Canal Colonies. The irrigation project, which facilitated the emergence of intensive cultivation despite semi-arid conditions, resulted in important social and political transformations. Pakistan has two major river dams: the
Tarbela Dam Tarbela Dam (, ) is an earth-filled dam along the Indus River in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Located mainly in the Swabi district of the province, The dam is about from the city of Swabi, northwest of Islamabad, and east of Peshawar ...
on the Indus River, near the early Buddhist site at
Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and ...
, and the
Mangla Dam The Mangla Dam ( ur, ) is a multipurpose dam situated on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir. It is the sixth-largest dam in the world. The village of Mangla, which sits at the mouth of the dam, serves as its namesake. I ...
on the Jhelum River, where Punjab borders
Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...
, built as part of the Indus Basin Project. The
Warsak Dam Warsak Dam ( ps, د ورسک بند; ur, ورسک ڈیم) is a mass concrete gravity dam located on the Kabul River in the Valley of Peshawar, approximately 20 km northwest of the city of Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakis ...
on the Kabul River near
Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
is smaller. These dams, along with a series of
headworks Headworks is a civil engineering term for any structure at the head or diversion point of a waterway. It is smaller than a barrage and is used to divert water from a river into a canal or from a large canal into a smaller canal. at Web archive An ...
and barrages built by the British and expanded since the independence of Pakistan in 1947, are of vital importance to the national economy and played an important role in calming the raging floodwaters of 1992, which devastated large areas in the northern highlands and the Punjab plains.


The Desert areas


Cholistan Desert

The
Cholistan desert The Cholistan Desert ( ur, ; Punjabi: ), also locally known as Rohi (), is a desert in the southern part of Punjab, Pakistan that forms part of the Greater Thar Desert, which extends to Sindh province and the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is ...
spans an area of 16,000 square kilometers. The name "Cholistan" is derived from the
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
word "chol," meaning "desert," though the desert is locally known as Rohi. The desert hosts an annual jeep rally, which draws many tourists.


Indus Valley Desert

The Indus Valley Desert is located in the northern area of Pakistan. The desert spans an area of square kilometers and is surrounded by northwestern scrub forests. The Indus 200000 Valley Desert lies between two major rivers in the region, the Chenab and the Indus.


Kharan Desert

The
Kharan Desert The Kharan Desert ( ur, صحرائے خاران) is a sandy and mountainous desert situated in Balochistan province in south-western Pakistan.The desert covers an area of about 36,000 square kilometers, making it one of the largest deserts in P ...
is located in Northeast Balochistan (a Pakistani state). The desert was used for nuclear testing by the Pakistan military, making it the most famous of the five deserts. The desert is in the center of a large empty basin.


Thal Desert

The
Thal Desert The Thal desert (Urdu, Punjabi: ) is situated at 31°10’ N and 71°30’ E in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located near the Pothohar Plateau, the area falls under the Indomalayan biogeographic realm and stretches for a length of approximat ...
is located in northeastern Pakistan between the Indus and Jhelum rivers. A large canal-building project is currently underway to irrigate the land. Irrigation will make most of the desert suitable for farming.


Thar Desert

The
Thar Desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's Li ...
spans a stammering 446 square kilometers and covers large areas of both Pakistan and India. It is the seventeenth largest desert on the planet and the third largest in Asia.


Potohar Plateau

Tilla Jogian Tilla Jogian ( Punjabi and ur, ) is an abandoned Hindu temple and monastic complex located on the summit of the ''Tilla Jogian'' mountain in the Salt Range of Pakistan's Punjab province. The complex was the most important centre for Hindu '' j ...
, second highest peak in Potwar The Potwar Plateau (also Potowar or Potohar) is a plateau in the province of Punjab, Pakistan and the western parts of
Pakistan administered Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompass ...
. The area was the home of the Soanian Culture, which is evidenced by the discovery of fossils, tools, coins, and remains of ancient archaeological sites. The local people speak the
Potwari language The Indo-Aryan language spoken on the Pothohar Plateau in the far north of Punjab, Pakistan, Pakistani Punjab, as well as in most of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and in western areas of India's Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, i ...
. Pothohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the Indus River, on the north by the
Kala Chitta Range Kala Chitta Range (in Punjabi and ur, ''Kālā Chiṭṭā'') is a mountain range in the Attock District of Punjab, Pakistan. Kala- Chitta are Punjabi words meaning Kala the Black and Chitta means the white. The range thrusts eastward acro ...
and the
Margalla Hills The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayas, Himalayan foothi ...
, and on the south by the Salt Range.


Balochistan Plateau

The Balochistan plateau is located in the south-west of Pakistan with altitudes mainly ranging from 600 to 3010 metres. This is an extensive area of 347,190 km2 with a number of distinct natural topographical and drainage features that can be identified as follows: ▪ Basins of Northern Balochistan ▪ Basins of Western Balochistan ▪ Mountain ranges ▪ Coastal areas


Salt Range

The Salt Range is a hill system in the Punjab province of Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt. The range extends from the Jhelum River to the Indus, across the northern portion of the Punjab province. The Salt Range contains the great mines of Mayo,
Khewra Salt Mine The Khewra Salt Mine (or Mayo Salt Mine) is in Khewra, north of Pind Dadan Khan, an administrative subdivision of Jhelum District, Punjab Region, Pakistan. The mine is in the Salt Range, Potohar plateau, which rises from the Indo-Gangetic Pl ...
,
Warcha Warcha ( ur, ), is a village and one of the 51 Union Councils (administrative subdivisions) of Khushab District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), i ...
and
Kalabagh Kalabagh ( ur, ) is a town and union council of Mianwali District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is part of Isakhel Tehsil. It is located on the western bank of the Indus River. It was the seat of the ''nawab'' of Kalabagh, who lived in ...
, which yield vast supplies of salt. Coal of a medium quality is also found. It is believed that the Salt Range was founded by the horses of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
's army.The average altitude of Potohar platue is 300m-600m


Sistan Basin

Balochistan is located at the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau and in the border region between Southwest, Central, and South Asia. It is geographically the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, at 347,190 km2 or 134,051 square miles, and composes 48% of the total land area of Pakistan. The population density is very low due to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of water. The southern region is known as
Makran Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, ...
. The central region is known as Kalat. The Sulaiman Mountains dominate the northeast corner, and the
Bolan Pass Bolān Pass ( ur, ) is a valley and a natural gateway, through the Toba Kakar range in Balochistan province of Pakistan, south of the Afghanistan border. The pass is an stretch of the Bolan river valley from Rindli in the south to Darwāza n ...
is a natural route into Afghanistan towards
Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...
. Much of the province south of the Quetta region is sparse desert terrain with pockets of inhabitable land, mostly near rivers and streams. The largest desert is the Kharan Desert which occupies the most of Kharan District. This area is subject to frequent seismic disturbances because the tectonic plate under the
Indian plate The Indian Plate (or India Plate) is a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian Plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana , began mov ...
collides with the plate under Eurasia as it continues to move northward and to push the Himalayas ever higher. The region surrounding Quetta is highly prone to earthquakes. A severe quake in 1931 was followed by an even more destructive one in
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...
. The small city of Quetta was almost completely destroyed, and the adjacent military
cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...
was heavily damaged. At least 20,000 people were killed. Tremors continue in the vicinity of Quetta; the most recent major earthquake occurred in October 2008. In January 1991 a severe earthquake destroyed entire villages in the
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
, but far fewer people were killed in the quake than died in 1935. A major earthquake centred in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Kohistan District in 1965 also caused heavy damage.


References

{{Pakistan_topics Landforms of Pakistan Geography of Pakistan