Pakistan - Libraries and museums

The National Library of Pakistan in Islamabad holds 130,000 volumes. The largest university library in Pakistan is that of the Punjab University at Lahore, with a collection of about 398,000 volumes, including some 20,000 manuscripts. Sizable collections are also found at the University of Kara¯chi (105,000 volumes) and the University of Sindh (244,000 volumes). Other important libraries are the Punjab Public Library in Lahore (259,000 volumes), the Liaquat Memorial Library (147,000 volumes), the Central Secretariat Library (110,000 volumes), and the National Archives (35,000 volumes), all in Karāchi. The International Islamic University in Islāmābād holds 100,000 volumes.

The National Museum of Pakistan (Kara¯chi) contains prehistoric material from the Indus Valley civilization, Buddhist statues and carvings, and material from the Islamic centuries, including the renowned Mughal period. The Peshawar Museum has a splendid collection of Buddhist sculpture of the Gandhara style. The Lahore Museum has an outstanding collection of Greco-Buddhist sculpture. Fine mosques, shrines, and mausoleums of the Islamic centuries are scattered throughout the country. Among the best of the surviving gardens of the Mughal period are those at Lahore, including the Shalimar gardens. There is a museum dedicated to the work of Shakir Ali in Lahore and the Pakistan Army Museum is in Rawalpindi.