Current Time in Abbottabad, Pakistan

Abbottabad lies in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan, occupying the wide green bowl of the Orash valley at around twelve hundred metres above sea level. Pine-covered ridges of the Sarban hills enclose the town on all sides, and higher mountains rise beyond towards the Galyat resorts and the Karakoram. The altitude gives Abbottabad pleasantly cool summers and crisp winters with occasional snow, which has made it a favourite retreat from the heat of the plains for well over a century.

The city has a population of roughly two hundred and fifty thousand. Its economy rests on education, the military, government administration, tourism, trade and agriculture in the surrounding valley, where maize, wheat, vegetables, apricots and walnuts are grown. Hospitals, colleges and the flow of travellers heading north give the town a busy, prosperous feel, and remittances from the large Hazara community working abroad are also significant.

The valley has been inhabited since ancient times and lay within the Gandhara cultural sphere, with Buddhist remains scattered through the district. The modern town was established in 1853 and named after Major James Abbott, the first British administrator of Hazara, who laid out its streets and planted the avenues of trees that still shade them. It developed as a garrison and hill station with churches, clubs, bungalows and a cool climate that suited colonial officials, and after independence it retained both its military role and its educational reputation.

Abbottabad is widely known in Pakistan as the city of schools, and its academic institutions are its most distinctive feature. The Pakistan Military Academy at nearby Kakul trains officers for the army and holds impressive passing-out parades, while Ayub Medical College, a large engineering and technology university campus, cadet colleges and long-established schools attract students from across the country.

Visitors enjoy the shaded lanes of the cantonment, the colonial-era St Luke's Church, the Ilyasi Mosque built over a natural spring at Nawanshehr, the busy bazaars and the parks and viewpoints on the surrounding hills. Shimla Hill above the town offers panoramic views of the valley, and Thandiani, a high forested ridge an hour away, looks out towards the snow peaks of Kashmir. The town is best known, however, as a base for the mountains, with the hill stations of Nathia Gali, Ayubia and Murree close by, and the Karakoram Highway leading north past the Kaghan valley, Naran and eventually to the high passes towards China.

Local culture is Hindko and Pashto speaking, hospitable and family centred, with tea houses, kebab shops and fruit stalls on every street. The region is known for its trout, chapli kebab, honey, pine nuts and dried fruit, and for handicrafts including embroidered shawls and carved woodwork.

Buses, minibuses and taxis run constantly to Islamabad, less than three hours away by motorway, and to the northern valleys.

Abbottabad is popular as a cool, green educational city and as the gateway to the mountains of northern Pakistan.