Travel the World - Pakistan

I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world. By the end of 2021, I'd virtually traveled to 145 countries and plan to complete my journey to all 195 countries by visiting the last 50 this year.

This week's country is...

Pakistan

Pakistan is a highly populated country in Southern Asia. It shares a border with Afghanistan to the northwest, China to the north, India to the east, and Iran to the west. It also has a coastline along the Arabian Sea to the south.

The terrain in Pakistan is mountainous in the north and northwest, with the rest of the country mostly made up of flat plains and plateaus.

The highest mountains in the world, including the Himalayas, are located in Pakistan.

The ATM at the world's highest elevation belongs to the National Bank of Pakistan and sits in the Khunjerab Pass, in Gilgit-Baltistan. It was established in November 2016 and is 15,397 feet above sea level.

The city of Karachi, Pakistan, is the fifth most populous city in the world.

Pakistan is about one-tenth the size of the continental United States, a bit smaller than twice the size of California.

Pakistan is also home to the highest road in the world. The Karakoram Highway is an eye-watering 15,397ft above sea level.

Pakistan has been ranked the fourth smartest country in the world and has the seventh largest number of engineers and scientists.

Unusually, English is the official language of Pakistan, whilst Urdu is the national language of Pakistan. There are over 60 languages spoken in Pakistan in total.

The ‘Khewra Salt Mine’ in Pakistan is the second largest and oldest salt mine in the world.

Sialkot, located in Pakistan, is the world’s largest producer of handsewn footballs (in the US we call them soccer balls). Local factories in the region produce 40-60 million footballs a year, which is roughly 50-70% of the world’s total production.

Pakistan’s Edhi Foundation is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the biggest volunteer ambulance organization within the world. 

The world's largest canal-based irrigation system is in Pakistan.

Pakistan is home to the world's largest deep sea port.

Pakistan has the only fertile desert in the world – the Tharparkar desert – located in Sindh province.

Forty of the world's fifty tallest mountain peaks are in Pakistan.

Only 15% of Pakistan's population uses the internet.

Pakistan grows rice, wheat, cotton and sugarcane and produces milk.

Sugarcane juice is the national drink of Pakistan.

The Indus river dolphin is the world's rarest animal. This endangered species of Dolphins is found in a small area of Indus river in central Pakistan. 

Weddings in Pakistan are a serious deal, with preparations starting months before. After all, most local weddings last anywhere from three to six days. 

The country’s industry consists of beverages, food processing, construction materials, textiles and apparel. Pakistan exports textiles, rice, carpets and rugs, sports goods and leather.

My inspiration for this week's card is based on this fact about Pakistan... Its population is steadily growing. In fact, a baby is born every 7 seconds in Pakistan.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: Stampin' UP! Wonderful Moments stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Marker

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White, Recollections Black, and SU Pear Pizzazz CS and DP from my scrap file

Dies: Gina K Master Layouts 1 and Simon Says Sentiment Labels

Embellishments: Enamel Dots from an unknown vendor