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Punjab is Pakistan's second largest province at 205,344 km² (79,284 Square miles) after Balochistan and is located at the eastern edge of the Iranian Plateau and the northwestern edge of the geologic Indian plate in South Asia. The provincial level-capital and main city of the Punjab is Lahore which has been the historical capital of the region. Other important cities include Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi. The province along is home to six rivers: the Indus, Beas, Sutlej, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi. Nearly 60% of Pakistan's population lives in the Punjab. It is the nation's only province that touches Balochistan, North-West Frontier Province, Sindh and Azad Kashmir, and contains the federal enclave of the national capital city at Islamabad. This geographical position and a large multi-ethnic population strongly influence Punjab's outlook on National affairs and induces in Punjab a keen awareness of the problems of the Pakistan's other important provinces and territories. In the acronym P-A-K-I-S-T-A-N, the P is for PUNJAB.
The province is a mainly a fertile region along the river valleys, while sparse deserts can be found near the border with India and Balochistan. The region contains the Thar and Cholistan deserts. The Indus River and its many tributaries traverse the Punjab from north to south. The landscape is amongst the most heavily irrigated on earth and canals can be found throughout the province. Weather extremes are notable from the hot and barren south to the cool hills of the north. The foothills of the Himalayas are found in the extreme north as well.

Punjab experience fairly cool winters, often accompanied by rain. By mid-February the temperature begins to rise; springtime weather continues until mid-April, when the summer heat sets in.
The onset of the southwest monsoon is anticipated to reach Punjab by May, but since the early 1970s the weather pattern has been irregular. The spring monsoon has either skipped over the area or has caused it to rain so hard that floods have resulted. June and July are oppressively hot. Although official estimates rarely place the temperature above 46°C, newspaper sources claim that it reaches 51°C and regularly carry reports about people who have succumbed to the heat. Heat records were broken in Multan in June 1993, when the mercury was reported to have risen to 54°C. In August the oppressive heat is punctuated by the rainy season, referred to as barsat, which brings relief in its wake. The hardest part of the summer is then over, but cooler weather does not come until late October.
Recently the province experienced one of the coldest winters in the last 70 years. Experts are suggesting that this is due to global climate change.

The population of the province is estimated to be 86,084,000 in 2005 and is home to over half the population of Pakistan. The major language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi (which is written in a Perso-Arabic script in Pakistan) and Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group. The language is not given any official recognition in the Constitution of Pakistan. Punjabis themselves are a heterogeneous group comprising different tribes and communities, although the different castes in Pakistani Punjab has more to do with traditional occupations such as blacksmiths or artisans as opposed to rigid social stratifications.
The most important tribes within Punjab include the Muslim Rajputs, the Gakhars, the Gujjars, the Jats (see also List of Jat Clans of West Punjab), the Dogar, the Arain, the Punjabi Shaikhs and the Syeds. Other smaller tribes are the Awans, Rawns, Pukhtuns, Baloch, Afghans and the Maliks. Other smaller ethnic groups in the province include the Siraiki, Hindko, Kashmiris, Sindhis, and Muhajirs. Three decades of bloodshed in neighbouring Afghanistan have brought a large number of Afghan refugees (Tajik, Pashtun, Hazara and Turkmen) to the province.
The population of Punjab (Pakistan) is over 99% Muslim with a Sunni majority and Shia minority. There are small non-Muslims groups of Zorastrians, Bahá'ís, Christians, Sikhs and Hindus communitiy.
The dialects spoken in different regions of the land have a common vocabulary and a shared heritage. The shared heritage also extends to a common faith, Islam. The people of Punjab have also a shared spiritual experience, which has been disseminated by Tassawwaf and can be witnessed on the occasion of the remembrance-fairs held on the Urs of Sufi Saints.

Despite lack of a coastline, Punjab is the most industrialized province of Pakistan; its manufacturing industries produce textiles, sports goods, machinery, electrical appliances, surgical instruments, metals, bicycles and rickshaws, floor coverings, and processed foods. In 2003, the province manufactured 90% of the paper and paper boards, 71% of the fertilizers, 65% of the sugar and 40% of the cement of Pakistan.
Despite its dry climate, extensive irrigation makes it a rich agricultural region. Its canal-irrigation system established by the British is the largest in the world. Wheat and cotton are the largest crops. Other crops include rice, sugarcane, millet, corn, oilseeds, pulses, fruits, and vegetables. Livestock and poultry production are also important. Despite past animosities, the rural masses in Punjab's farms continue to use the Hindu calendar for planting and harvesting.
Punjab contributes about 68% to annual food grain production in the country. 51 million acres (210,000 km²) is cultivated and another 9.05 million acres (36,600 km²) are lying as cultivable waste in different parts of the province.
Cotton and rice are important crops. They are the cash crops that contribute substantially to the national exchequer. Attaining self-sufficiency in agriculture has shifted the focus of the strategies towards small and medium farming, stress on barani areas, farms-to-market roads, electrification for tube-wells and control of water logging and salinity.
Punjab has also more than 48 thousand industrial units. The small and cottage industries are in abundance. There are 39,033 small and cottage industrial units. The number of textile units is 11,820. The ginning industries are 6,778. There are 6,355 units for processing of agricultural raw materials including food and feed industries.
Lahore and Gujranwala Divisions have the largest concentration of small light engineering units. The district of Sialkot excels in sports goods, surgical instruments and cutlery goods.
Punjab is also a mineral rich province with extensive mineral deposits of coal, rock salt, dolomite, gypsum, and silica-sand. The Punjab Mineral Development Corporation is running over a dozen economically viable projects.

Punjab has been the cradle of civilization since times immemorial. The ruins of Harappa show an advanced urban culture that flourished over 5000 years ago. Taxila, another historic landmark also stands out as a proof of the achievements of the area in learning, arts and crafts in bygone ages. In the more moderate era post-9/11, the ancient Hindu Katasraj temple and the Salt Range temples are regaining attention and much-needed repair.
The structure of a mosque is simple and it expresses openness. Calligraphic inscriptions from the Holy Qur’an decorate mosques and mausoleums in Punjab. The inscriptions on bricks and tiles of the mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam (1320 AD) at Multan are outstanding specimens of architectural calligraphy. The earliest existing building in South Asia with enamelled tile-work is the tomb of Shah Yusuf Gardezi (1150 AD) at Multan. A specimen of the sixteenth century tile-work at Lahore is the tomb of Sheikh Musa Ahangar, with its brilliant blue dome. The tile-work of Emperor Shah Jahan is of a richer and more elaborate nature. The pictured wall of Lahore Fort is the last line in the tile-work in the entire world.