The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a country located in South Asia and the Greater Middle East, bounded to the far northeast by the People's Republic of China; to the east by India and to the west by Afghanistan and Iran. It has a 1,046 km coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south, and the disputed area of Jammu and Kashmir lies to the north. It controls access to the Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass, the traditional overland routes between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.

The name 'Pakistan' means 'Land of the Pure' in Sindhi, Urdu and Persian. It was coined in 1934 by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, who published it in the pamphlet "Now or Never". Officially, the nation was founded as the Dominion of Pakistan in 1947, and was renamed as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956.

There have recently been a series of attacks and suicide bombings targeted both at the authorities and at locations frequented by foreigners in Pakistan, and visitors should check the security situation before travelling, and avoid all areas where there are ongoing reports of military or militant activity.