As a wonderfully interesting country, there are many fun facts about Pakistan- such as the 2nd tallest mountain in the world, K2, being located in the North of the country. However, at YPT we like the super interesting and bizarre, so below are some of the 5 most bizarre fun facts about Pakistan!
5. Pakistan is approximately the size of France and the UK combines, but has a population of 240.5 million people!
Pakistan is an extremely populous country. The cities are busy and often crowded at almost any hour – especially the largest cities such as Lahore, Karachi and Faisalabad. Many visitors feel like they are often surrounded by an incredible amount of people.
However, in regional areas Pakistan can be significantly less dense. In the North near Fairy Meadows, Skardu and just north of Peshawar and Islamabad, the population density is much lower as the mountains disrupt large urban planning.
The population is on a steady increase, however many factors are fueling the high emigration rate – there is an estimated 6 million Pakistanis living overseas – which in its own right is one of many interesting fun facts about Pakistan!
4. Pakistan Makes 80% of the World’s Soccer Balls!
If you have a soccer ball yourself, chances are you may see a ‘Made in Pakistan’ ink stamp on the bottom. Pakistan is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of consumer goods including soccerballs. In a city in Northern Pakistan, 60,000 people work in the manufacturing industry specifically making soccer balls for international distribution. Some large brands use factories in Pakistan to produce their products including Adidas – the Adidas Al Rihla ball which was the official ball of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
Despite this, soccer is not super popular in Pakistan. While some people play soccer, their official sport is actually hockey – and many men are interested in wrestling!
3. The Original Computer Virus Originated from Pakistan
The “Brain,” the first PC computer virus for MS-DOS, appeared in 1986. It infected the boot sector of floppy disks, causing the computer to fail to boot. Created by two Pakistani brothers, the virus was initially designed as a copy protection measure.
Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi, who owned a computer store in Pakistan, grew frustrated with customers making illegal copies of their software. In response, they created the Brain virus in an attempt to stop illegal copies being made. The virus included an address and three phone numbers, along with a message notifying the user that their machine was infected and instructing them to contact the creators for a remedy. The code would show the following message once it was received by PC users:
Welcome to the Dungeon © 1986 Amjads (pvt). BRAIN COMPUTER SERVICES 730 NIZAM
BLOCK ALLAMA IQBAL TOWN LAHORE-PAKISTAN PHONE: 430791,443248,280530. Beware of this VIRUS…. Contact us for vaccination…
As you can imagine, the brothers received many angry phone calls from abroad regarding the message. They were stunned as they had not made the virus with any malicious intent. Maybe not one of the msot fun facts about Pakistan for some, but an interesting one nonetheless!
2. A Pakistani family holds the Guinness World Record for highest number of family members sharing same birthday
There is a family in Pakistan of 9 members who all share the same birthday! A family of nine—comprising the parents and their seven children—celebrate the same birthday on August 1st. The Mangi family, from Pakistan, is headed by Ameer Ali and his wife Khudeja, and all seven of their children share the same birthdate, August 1st. In 1991, Ameer and Khudeja were married on August 1st and were both themselves born on August 1st.
They also have two sets of twins born on August 1st, as well as three other children born on the same special day. The children are now between the ages of 19-30 and the family thanks God for their remarkable Guinness World Record achievement
1. Imran Khan became the Prime Minister for 22 years – but beforehand he was one of their best cricketers!
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Imran Khan was the captain of the Pakistani men’s cricket team but by 2018 he was sworn into office as a Prime Minister. So what happened? Imran Khan was a widely loved cricket player and one of Pakistan’s best. He was popular on and off the field, but popularity is inherently good.
Imran Khan made tremendous changes to Pakistan and tried to reduce corruption, increase Pakistani autonomy and independence in the realm of foreign policy and strengthen relationships with other countries in the region, including fighting Islamophobia.
Imran is currently in prison in Pakistan. He is accused of corruption and is facing 150 charges. He certainly has one of the most interesting and successful cricket players to Prime Minister stories (yes, he is not the only one!)
More Fun Facts About Paksitan
There is a plethoria of fun facts about Pakistan and interesting tidbits – (I personally think that Pakistan is home to the best mangos ever!). This translates to how interesting Pakistan is, and it is often overlooked in terms of a tourist destination!
With the simplified visa process and multiple tours yearly, now is the perfect time to visit!
About Post Author
