December 2009 Rawalpindi attack

Rawalpindi (; Punjabi, Urdu: راولپنڈی, romanized: Rāwalpinḍī; pronounced [raːwəlˈpɪndi] (listen) ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad, and third populous in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is situated close to Pakistan's capital Islamabad, and the two are jointly known as the "twin cities" because of the social and economic links between them.Rawalpindi is on the Pothohar Plateau, it was founded as a village by Bappa Rawal in 9th century AD and remained a small town of less importance up until 18th century. Potohar region was known for its ancient Hindu and Buddhist heritage, especially in the neighbouring town of Taxila, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1765, the ruling Gakhars were defeated and the city came under Sikh rule, Rawalpindi from a small regional town became an important city within the Sikh Empire based at Lahore. The city's Babu Mohallah neighbourhood was once home to a community of Jewish traders that had fled Mashhad, Persia, in the 1830s. The city was conquered by the British Raj in 1849, and in the late 19th century became the largest garrison town of the British Indian Army's Northern command as its climate suited the British authorities. Britain's army elevated the city from a small town to the third largest city in Punjab by 1921. Following the partition of British India in 1947, the city became home to the headquarters of the Pakistan Army, retaining its status as a major military city.In 1951, the Rawalpindi conspiracy took place in which leftist army officers conspired to depose the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan. Rawalpindi later became the site of the Liaquat Ali Khan's assassination. On 27 December 2007, Rawalpindi was the site of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.Construction of Pakistan's new purpose-built national capital city of Islamabad in 1961 led to greater investment in the city provided by IMF and local banks, as well as a brief stint as the country's capital before the completion of Islamabad. Modern Rawalpindi is socially and economically intertwined with Islamabad, and the greater metropolitan area. The city is also home to numerous suburban housing developments that serve as bedroom-communities for workers in Islamabad. As home to the GHQ of the Pakistan Army and PAF Base Nur Khan, and with connections to the M-1 and M-2 motorways, Rawalpindi is a major logistics and transportation centre for northern Pakistan. The city is also home to historic havelis and temples, and serves as a hub for tourists visiting Rohtas Fort, Azad Kashmir, Taxila and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The General Headquarters (GHQ) is the headquarters of the Pakistan Army and is located within the garrison complex of Rawalpindi, adjacent to the Joint Staff Headquarters.

The College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering (CEME) (Urdu: برقی اور میکانی کالج) is a constituent college of the National University of Sciences and Technology, located in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The campus is on the main Peshawar Road, near the M-2 motorway terminal. The college is the main training institute for the Pakistan Army Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering officers and enlisted ranks.

The Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi (Lat: Dioecesis Islamabadensis-Ravalpindensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan. There is anecdotal evidence that St. Thomas the Apostle passed through Taxila (in this diocese) on his way to India in the first century AD.The diocese has a long history, as it was originally erected in 1887, as the Apostolic Prefecture of Kafiristan and Kashmir. The prefecture was erected from the Diocese of Lahore. In 1947, the Apostolic prefecture was elevated to a full diocese, and renamed the diocese of Rawalpindi. In 1952, Kashmir was lost to the diocese, and a new diocese created from territory in Rawalpindi and Lahore to create the Apostolic Prefecture of Kashmir and Jammu. In 1979, the name was changed to the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lahore. It comprises the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas, Gujrat District of Gujranwala Division, the Rawalpindi Division, and the Sargodha Division. At the time there were only 16 priests to minister to the Catholics in the diocese.The principal church of the diocese is the St. Joseph's Cathedral, Rawalpindi.The Diocese has a population of about 35 million, including 250,000 Catholics many of whom are committed to education (through its more than 70 schools like the Catholic Public High School in Sangota, in the Swat Valley), training institutes and hospitals.In 1920 the Medical Mission Sisters set up the 16-bed St. Catherine's Hospital in Rawalpindi under the auspices of the Diocese. The hospital evolved into the Holy Family Hospital and continued to operate under the Diocese until 1977. In that year the diocese was no longer able to bear the financial burden of running the hospital and handed it over to the Government of Punjab. The Medical Mission Sisters went to work at the Holy Family Hospital, Karachi.In 1996 the Diocese opened Our Lady of Lourdes Minor Seminary which is its preparatory seminary.In 2009, 31 priests served a declining population of 180,000 Catholics. The third largest Catholic diocese of Pakistan is divided into 19 parishes.The former vicar general of Faisalabad diocese, Father Rufin Anthony, was appointed Coadjutor Bishop to Bishop Anthony Theodore Lobo of the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi by Pope Benedict XVI on 4 August 2009. He succeeded Bishop Lobo as Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi upon the acceptance by Benedict of Lobo's resignation on Thursday, 18 February 2010.In August 2010 the heaviest rains in 80 years caused the worst flooding the country has ever seen, affecting much of the Diocese. Catholic Relief Services, Pakistan had to evacuate staff quarters in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region due to the flooding in the province. A team of Caritas Pakistan also travelled to Peshawar to assess the situation and follow up with relief aid. The Sisters of the Daughters of St. Paul congregation also distributed religious as well as food items in Nowshera, one of the 10 districts in Pakistan most severely affected by the floods.In 2016, the Diocese initiated the cause for the beatification of Shahbaz Bhatti making him a Servant of God in the Catholic Church. Bhatti was a Christian politician who dedicated his life to the service of the underprivileged and was assassinated in 2011.In January 2020, the diocese organized a preparatory course to help Catholics enter the civil service. 26 students, mostly women, attended in the course held at St Mary's Cambridge School, Rawalpindi.

The National University of Medical Sciences, commonly referred as NUMS, is a public university located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.

The Pak Emirates Military Hospital Rawalpindi is the largest hospital of the Pakistan Armed Forces, being one of the hospitals in the Pakistan Army with an ISO certification, located in the city of Rawalpindi. Before independence in 1947 it was called the British Indian Military Hospital Rawalpindi.Its commandant/CEO is a serving Major General of Army Medical Corps. It has one deputy commandant with the rank of brigadier and two assistant commandants (administrators) with the rank of Colonel. Its family wing is looked after by a Lady Medical Officer with the rank of brigadier. It is an affiliated hospital of the Army Medical College and Armed Forces Post Graduate Medical Institute, Rawalpindi. It is also a teaching institution for nurses and paramedics. The hospital, established in 1857, has 1200 beds for in-patient treatment. The hospital comprises three medical units, Departments of Surgery, Family Medicine, Dermatology, Pediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, and Department of Intensive Care Units. The bed occupancy rate is about 95 percent.

Cantonment Public Library (Urdu: کنٹونمنٹ پبلک لائبریری) is a public library in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Established in 1891, library's original name was Lansdowne Trust Library. Currently, it has a collection of around 50,000 books and 1500 members.

Odeon Cinema is a historic cinema located in Rawalpindi Cantonment, Punjab, Pakistan.

Rawalpindi Railway Station (Urdu and Punjabi: راولپنڈی ریلوے اسٹیشن) is located in Saddar area of Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. It is one of several major stops on the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line. The nearest Saddar Metrobus Station, part of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus is 20 minutes (1.5 km) walk away. From Rawalpindi Railway Station trains go to various cities of Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta , Peshawar, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Gujarat, Multan, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Jhang, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sukkar, Jehlum, Haripur, Nowshera, Sibi, Attock, Larkana, Kohat, Khanewal, Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhakkar, Gujar Khan, Sialkot, Narowal, Sahiwal, Okara, Mandi Bahauddin and Jacobabad included. Every train stops at Rawalpindi railway station for half an hour.

Rawalpindi features a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) with hot summers, and cool to cold winters. Its climate is classified as very similar to its twin city Islamabad, but the geographical location and extreme urbanization of Rawalpindi has led to weather and climatic conditions that are notably different from its twin. Rawalpindi's weather has historically been known to change rather quickly due to its proximity to Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. These mountains not only influence the weather of the city, but also provide great recreation during the hot months. Furthermore, Its warm comfortable mean annual temperature of 21.3 °C (70 °F) attracts people to live here permanently from all over Pakistan. The average annual rainfall is abundant at 1,346.8 millimetres (53.02 in), most of which falls in the monsoon season. However, frontal cloud bands also bring significant rainfall in the winter. In summers, June is the hottest with record maximum temperature at a blistering 48.3 °C (119 °F) recorded on 13 June 1953. On the other hand, January is the coldest month of the year when temperature can drop to a minimum −3.9 °C (25 °F) in the winter recorded on 17 January 1967. Throughout the year, Rawalpindi and Islamabad experience an average of about 98 thunderstorms, which is the highest frequency of thunderstorms in Punjab province of any plane station. In fact, most rainfall in the city is accompanied by a thunderstorm with peak activity experienced in August. Record rainfall was experienced in the year 2013 at a massive 1,988 millimetres (78.3 in) mostly due to an unusually wet monsoon season. On a typical day, the city hosts breezy afternoons (30 kilometres per hour (19 mph)+), but usually calm to light breeze (Beaufort scale) wind conditions are observed after midnight. The mean annual wind speed of Rawalpindi is roughly 10 kilometres per hour (6.2 mph) at 14 m height. Moreover, just a few kilometers southwest of Rawalpindi, the potential power generation has been identified by U.S. Aid to be between marginal to good (5.4 metres per second (19 km/h) to 7.4 metres per second (27 km/h)) at 50 m height.

Cantonment General Hospital (Urdu: کنٹونمنٹ جنرل ہسپتال، راولپنڈی) is a Pakistan Army hospital in Rawalpindi Cantonment, Pakistan.

Mughalabad (Urdu: مغل آباد) is a village and union council of Jhelum District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is part of Jhelum Tehsil.