Punjab

Punjab (population 127 million) is Pakistan's demographic and economic center of gravity—the second-most populous subnational entity in the world (after Uttar Pradesh, India). Covering 205,344 km² (25.8% of Pakistan's landmass), Punjab contributes 60.58% of national GDP and dominates federal politics through sheer electoral weight. Lahore, the provincial capital with 11 million residents, served as capital of the broader Punjab region since the 17th century and remains Pakistan's cultural and intellectual center. The province's agricultural productivity—wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane—depends on the extensive canal irrigation system that the British built to transform desert into farmland. Industrial cities like Faisalabad (textiles), Sialkot (sports goods, surgical instruments), and Gujranwala (manufacturing) form the backbone of Pakistani exports. The property sector has expanded 23-fold since 2001, particularly in Lahore's housing developments. Major urban centers—Rawalpindi (twin city to Islamabad), Multan, Bahawalpur—create a distributed urban network unlike Sindh's concentration in Karachi. Punjab's political dominance generates resentment from smaller provinces who accuse it of capturing disproportionate federal resources—a tension that shapes Pakistani federalism.