Lahore (Urdu لاہور‎, English Lahore, Z.-Panj. لہور) is the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. According to 2009 estimates, more than 10 million people lived in the urban agglomeration. Lahore is located in the northeast of the country on the left bank of the Ravi River, just a few kilometers from the border with India. Being the capital of the Punjab province, it is the industrial, cultural and transportation center of northeast Pakistan. The textile, food, chemical, metal-working industries, mechanical engineering are developed. Lahore International Airport operates. There is a university, a central museum, a weapons museum. The country’s film industry, Lollywood, is concentrated in Lahore.

Origin
The first reliable mention of Lahore refers to about 982 and is found in the book “Hudud al-alam” found by A. G. Tumansky. But it is possible that he was already mentioned by Ptolemy (2nd century AD) under the name of Labocles. Later, among the Arab-Persian geographers, it was called Lahavur, Lokhavar or Lahanur. Indian sources called it Lavkot or Lohkot (Lava Fortress).
Although the locals consider the founder of the city (and eponymous) to be Lava (son of the god-hero Rama), the first inhabitants of the city were the Rajputs of the Bhati tribe, who built the first clay fortress (kachcha-kot) on the banks of the Ravi.
Many well-known, ancient Punjabi proverb about Lahore says: “He who has not seen Lahore, he was not born!”.

History
Lahore Fort – Shahi Qila (now recognized as a World Heritage Site) finally takes shape in the 12th century. In the XI century. Lahore became the capital of the famous conqueror Mahmud of Ghazni and part of his Ghaznavid Empire. In the XIII century. Lahore became part of the Delhi Sultanate and since that time has been the spiritual center of Islam in the Indian subcontinent.
In Lahore, the active activity of the first Sufi brotherhoods began, which determined the syncretic nature of Islam throughout the Indian subcontinent. The tombs of Sufi saints Data Ganjbakhsh, Miyan Mira and Madho Lal Hussein are considered shrines and places of mass pilgrimage.

From 1524 to 1752, Lahore was part of the Mughal Empire, and during the reign of Akbar the Great and Jahangir – from 1584 to 1598 – was its capital. Many reference monuments of Mughal architecture have been preserved here, including the Pearl the Shah Jahan Mosque, the majestic Badshahi Cathedral Mosque, the magnificent Wazir Khan Mosque and the multi-tiered Shalimar Garden – a World Heritage Site. In the Mughal era, Lahore was surrounded by a city wall with twelve gates, which are partially preserved and are a special architectural feature of the city.
On the outskirts of Shahdar, on the other side of the Ravi, there are mausoleums of padishah Jahangir, his wife Nur Jahan, his brother-in-law Asaf Khan and stepdaughter Ladli Begum. They belong (along with the Taj Mahal) to the best examples of Muslim funerary architecture.
From 1799 to 1848 Lahore was the capital of an independent Sikh state. The architectural masterpieces of the Sikh era include the tombs (samadhi) of the Sikh gurus Arjan Dev and Ranjit Singh, the Khazuri Bagh Baradari park. In 1848, after several Anglo-Sikh wars, British troops annexed Lahore and incorporated it into British India.

Colonial Lahore
During the colonial era, Lahore grew in an easterly direction and was rebuilt by British architects in the so-called Indo-Moorish style. There are many new public buildings (the Supreme Court, the Central Post Office, the Governor’s Palace), squares, residential suburbs, which are being built with modern construction techniques. Among the local architects stands out Bhai Ram Singh, the author of the designs of the famous National Museum and other famous buildings.
The life and work of outstanding Urdu poets and writers of the 20th century are connected with Lahore. Muhammad Iqbal, Faiza Ahmad Faiza, Saadat Hasan Manto, Intizar Hussein. At the same time, an original Lahore school of painting developed, representatives of which were Abdurrahman Chugtai and Shakir Ali.
Rudyard Kipling lived and worked in Lahore for many years. It is also where the action of his novel “Kim” and many early stories takes place.
During the colonial era, the largest educational institutions arose in Lahore, which still operate today: the Government College, the University of the Punjab, the National College of Arts, which was founded by John Lockwood Kipling, the father of the writer.

After section
In 1947, after the division of India into the Republic of India and Pakistan, Lahore, like the entire Punjab, became a territory of acute sectarian strife. The vast majority of Hindus and Sikhs left Lahore, including many cultural figures. Their place was taken by Muslims from the Indian Punjab and Muhajirs.
In the second half of the 20th century, the city was close to the line of conflict between India and Pakistan. In peace talks, both sides agreed to establish a bus service between Lahore and the neighboring Indian city of Amritsar. Air and rail links have now been restored.
Today Lahore continues to be the cultural capital of Pakistan, where international conferences, music and theater festivals, exhibitions, book fairs are held annually.
In 1968, Minar-e-Pakistan was built in the city to commemorate the signing of the Lahore Resolution. The architecture of the minaret reflects a combination of Mughal and modern oriental styles.
In 1974, the Lahore cricket stadium was renamed after Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
On March 30, 2009, the police academy was attacked in the city. As a result of the terrorist attack, 14 people died.

Geography and climate
Lahore lies between 31°15′-31°45’N and 74°01′-74°39’E. In the north and west it borders on the Sheikhupura district, in the south – on the Kasur district. The river Ravi flows in the northern part of the city.
The city is located in the semi-arid climate zone, characterized by rainy, long and very hot summers, dry and warm winters. In May, June and July, the temperature reaches its maximum and can reach up to 40-48 °C. The temperature maximum of 48.3 °C was recorded on May 30, 1944, and the minimum of -1.1 °C on January 13, 1967. The average annual rainfall is about 629 mm, of which about 470 mm falls during the monsoon period. The monsoons start from the last week of June and continue until the end of September. The highest average annual rainfall ever recorded was in 1955, at 1,317.5 mm.

Transport
The city is served by the international airport. Allama Iqbal International Airport, which is located about 15 km from the center of Lahore. As of 2009, the passenger turnover of the airport amounted to 3,192,904 people, there are 3 terminals. Flights are operated to most major cities in Asia and Europe, including: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Bangkok, Amsterdam, Beijing, Tokyo, London (Heathrow), Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Riyadh, etc.
Lahore is the headquarters of the Pakistan Railways.