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| Allama Iqbal Tomb Sialkot |
Sialkot Beautiful Historic Famous CityThe city of Iqbal Sialkot District is in Punjab Province of Pakistan is an export oriented city of Pakistan, the per capita income of Sialkot is more than US$ 1200, which is the highest in Pakistan.
Geography
Sialkot District lies southeast of Gujrat District it stretches from Ravi valley on the South East to the Chenab River on the North West.Gujranwala District is situated to the west. Sialkot is located in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foot of Kashmir hills. The city is about 125 km (78 mi) north-west of Lahore. The Northern portion is very fertile and the Southern portion is less fertile.
Sialkot district is spread over an area of 5,354 square kilometers comprising the following four tehsils:
Daska, Pasrur, Sambrial, Sialkot
com.jpg "Sialkot District Punjab Province of Pakistan") |
| Sialkot City |
History
The recorded history of Sialkot covers thousands of years. Sialkot has, since its foundation, changed hands from Hindu, Buddhist, Persian, Greek, Afghan, Turk, Sikh, Mughal and British rule to that of present day Pakistan.
The legendary history of the District is connected with Raja Salivahan, the reputed founder of the town of Sialkot, and his famous son Rasalu. Pasrur is also an ancient place. At an early date the District fell to the Rajas of Jammu, and under the Mughals formed the Rechna Doab sarkar of the Subah of Lahore. Under Shah Jahan the sarkar was entrusted to Ali Mardan Khan, the famous engineer, who dug a canal through it to bring water from the Chenab river to the imperial gardens in Lahore. On the decline of the Mughal empire Ranjit Singh Deo, a Rajput hill chief, extended his sway over the lowlands, owning a nominal allegiance to Delhi. In 1748 he transferred his allegiance to Ahmad Shah Durrani, who added Zafarwal and two other parganas to his fief. Before his death in 1773 Ranjit Deo had secured possession of the whole District, except the Sialkot town and its dependencies, which were held by a Pathan family.
In 1930, the tehsils of Raya, Daska and Pasrur were split up and parts of these were amalgamated into Gujranwala District. In 1991, the tehsils of Narowal and Shakar Garh (which was tehsil Shankar Garh of Gurdaspur district before partition) were split up and formed into the new Narowal District.
Climate and soil
Sialkot is hot and humid during the summer and cold during the winter. June and July are the hottest months. The maximum temperature during winter may drop to -2 °C. The land is generally plain and fertile. The average annual rain fall is about 1000 mm. Over 25.82% of the population of the district is urban.
Natural Resouces
The main crops grown in the district are wheat and rice, the main fruits are guava and citruses – vegetables cultivated include potatoes, turnips, garlic, cauliflower, peas, and onions. The district has 15,078 acres (61.02 km2) of forest.
There are 14 flour mills, 57 rice husking units, one sugar mill, one vegetable ghee unit and one fruit juice unit already working in the district. However, there exist good prospects for rice bran oil, rice husk briquettes, maize products, daal mills, etc.
There are number of major factories which are contributing to make the economy stronger.
Livestock
The annual availability of hides and skins is estimated at 536 thousand pieces. In the district of Sialkot there are 92 tanneries, 244 leather garments/products manufacturing units, and more than 900 leather sports goods manufacturing units. There exists a scope for dairy farms, animal/poultry feed and cattle/sheep/goat fattening farms.
Economy
Sialkot is the fourth largest economic hub in Punjab after Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala. It is commercially linked with the Lahore Stock Exchange through its Sialkot branch, known as the Sialkot Trading Floor (STF). The State Bank of Pakistan and the Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan have branch offices in Sialkot. After Karachi, Sialkot is Pakistan’s second largest source of foreign exchange earnings through its exports and remittances from the overseas manpower.
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| Football Industry |
Industry
District Sialkot is traditionally a centre of sports goods, surgical instruments, leather goods/garments, cutlery and musical instruments industries. Sialkot is the world’s largest producer of hand-sewed footballs, with local factories manufacturing 40~60 million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 70% of world production. There is a well-applied child labour ban, the Atlanta Agreement, in the industry since a 1997 outcry.
There are also various types of plastic- and metal-based industries. In view of the existing industries, there exists a good scope for material testing laboratory, forging, electroplating unit, hospital furniture, disposable syringes, hospital gloves, steel furniture, cast iron pipe, steel pipes/tubes, galvanized iron pipe, industrial gloves, and special thread for sports goods industries.
Sialkot is also providing Dental Instruments, Surgical Instruments, Beauty Instruments and other all sorts of Hospital Equipments. Other important industries in Sialkot include Leather Tanneries, Leather Garments, Musical Instruments, Surgical and Dental Instruments, Sportswear including Martial Arts wear, Gloves, Badges, Seat and Walking Sticks, Cutlery, Hunting Knives, Air Guns and Shotguns. These are all export-oriented businesses and earn billions of dollars every year in foreign exchange. There are several other allied industries which are working day and night as vendors for the automobile industry of Pakistan. Sialkot has also a rich tradition of producing wooden and steel furniture, rubber products, cooking utensils, bicycles, their tyres and tubes and shoes.
Parks
Sialkot has three main parks, Khayaban-e-Iqbal Park, Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park on Parsur Road and Garrison Park on Kashmir Road. More than a century old Company Garden (Khayaban-i-Iqbal Park) is located on Ghazanvi Road in the Sialkot cantonment. Some of the other famous and historic places are the Talab Maula Bakhush and Ram Talai. Talab Maula Bakhush is the place where, in May 1944, the historic Sialkot Convention of the All India Muslim League was held. It was also attended by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan. Both sites have been converted to mini stadiums for traditional wrestling (Kabadi) and volleyball matches and also for political rallies.
Several famous squares
There are several famous squares in the city as Beri Wala Chowk, Rang Pura Chowk, Dara-Araian, Imam Sahib Chowk, Shahab Pura Chowk, Sublime Chowk, Hansa Chowk and Anwar Khawaja Chowk. Famous markets (bazaars) are Bazar Kalan, Trunk Bazar, Tehsil Bazar, Lahai Bazar and Saddar Bazar. On the Paris Road is located the American Christian Mission Hospital which was established in 1880. Also located there is the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the branches of many multi-national banks.
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| Marala Headworks Sialkot District |
Marala Headworks
Marala Headworks is located on the Chenab River about 20 km from Sialkot. Two major water canals originate at the Marala Headworks – the Marala-Ravi Link Canal and the Upper Chenab Canal. Planning of the Mangla-Marala Link Canal is in the pipeline. The area around the Marala Headworks Lake is also a picnic spot. The Bajwat Wildlife Sanctuary includes a complex of natural river habitats along the Chenab River and two of its tributaries, extending up to the border with India with a total area of 5400 hectares providing protection to waterfowl, as well as a variety of mammals including Hog Deer and Nilgai.
Location
Sialkot is about two hours from Lahore and four hours from Islamabad. It is linked with the National Highway N-5 through Gujranwala and Wazirabad. A dual carriage-way is available between Sialkot and Wazirabad. A new bridge on the Chenab River, the Shahbazpur Bridge, is available in the north-east of Gujrat. it connect Sialkot to N-5 at Gujrat. The Sialkot Lahore Motorway (M-11) is also under construction. All the bus and commuter coach stations are on the Jail Road. A bus service operated by Daewoo Express is available from Sialkot to Larkana, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan.
Sialkot International Airport
Sialkot International Airport is the first-ever private-sector airport of Pakistan managed by the Sialkot International Airport Limited (SIAL) consortium. It is near Sambrial and is noted for having the longest runway in Pakistan. Direct flights are available from
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| Sialkot International Airport |
Sialkot International Airport to Karachi, Islamabad, Sharjah, London, Muscat, Kuwait, Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh. Pakistan International Airlines now start non-stop flights from Sialkot to Manchester and Barcellona. Hajj flights started in 2009.
A small Sialkot Cantonment Airport, located in the Sialkot Cantonment, is used by the aviation wing of the Pakistan Army. This airport has been used as a public airport by Pakistan International Airlines for operating a helicopter service from Sialkot to Islamabad.
Dry Port
Sialkot Dry Port carries the honor of being the first-ever private-sector dry port in Asia. It was established in 1986 near Sambrial, about 20 km from Sialkot city under the control of the Sialkot Dry Port Trust.
com.jpg "Railway track Sialkot District Punjab Province of Pakistan") |
| Railway Track |
Sialkot Railway
The Sialkot Railway Station is situated on the Railway Road near the Iqbal Chowk. Sialkot is served by Pakistan Railways through the Sialkot Junction. Sialkot used to be a junction in the British era with trains leaving for Jammu and Gurdaspur. Plans are under consideration to open the border for an international train between Sialkot and Jammu. Express trains to and from Narowal, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur and Karachi are available daily. The station is in the center of the city. Other suburban train stations are Ugoki and Sambrial.
Sports
The Sialkot Cricket Team is known as the Sialkot Stallions. They are National Champions and have won The Quaid-i-Azam Trophy during the 2008-2009 season and were also national champions in 2005-2006 when they won The Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Golden League.
Sialkot annually hosts the Allama Iqbal Open Golf Championship at the Sialkot Golf Club. The Sialkot Hockey Stadium is located at Pasrur Road adjacent to the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park Sialkot. The Sialkot Sports Complex is under construction at Daska Road with Tartan track facility for track running events.
Sialkot have own identity…..
Yes… Sialkot is the name of peaceful,hardworking & loving people.