Draw Pakistan's Outline and Province Boundaries

Object Drawing Lessons

This lesson copies Pakistan's national outline and provincial boundaries from one dated official political-map reference onto a measured grid; it does not invent geographic coordinates. The NSDI catalogue lists the Political Map of Pakistan 2020 (5th Edition), an official dated edition that should be identified as the 2020 map rather than called current: NSDI catalogue entry for the 2020 fifth edition. A later publication, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics National Census Report 2023, includes a political map credited to Survey of Pakistan. Choose one dated source and record its full title and year; if you need the latest administrative depiction, check the NSDI catalogue and PBS GIS page for a newer edition before drawing. PBS lists Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh as provinces, with Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan shown separately. Topographic detail, city maps, and neighboring-country outlines are outside this task. All grid dimensions are hypothetical.

Practice materials: Printable downloads are not available for this lesson yet. Use the instructions and four exercises below.

Reference illustration

Use the stated measurements and conventions for each exercise.

Set up the grid and the line convention

Choose one dated official political map and keep it visible beside your paper. The NSDI 2020 fifth edition is a dated reference, not automatically the current edition; record the title and year you actually use. If recency matters, check the official catalogue for a later edition before copying. For a four-province practice map, label Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh. Do not label Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, or Gilgit-Baltistan as provinces; use the categories shown by the source map.

Draw a hypothetical 12-column by 8-row grid with 2 cm squares, making a 24 cm by 16 cm drawing area. Label columns A to L from left to right and rows 1 to 8 from bottom to top. The grid is a copying aid: mark the north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, and northwest turning points by looking at the official map, then add intermediate points wherever the coastline or border changes direction.

Choose one line convention: a solid national outline, dashed internal provincial boundaries, and short perpendicular sea-side ticks only if you need coastline markers. Keep all marks inside the grid and note the map title and date in the margin.

1. Open a dated official political map and record its title and year.
2. Draw the 12 by 8 grid and label columns and rows.
3. Transfer the eight broad direction anchors and then the visible turning points from the map.
4. Use solid outline, dashed province boundaries, and a written legend.

Place national outline points by grid coordinates

Copy the country outline in one direction around the edge, starting at a point you can identify on the reference. Place the broad north, east, south, and west extents first, then mark intermediate turns from the official map. Use the grid to keep relative positions consistent; do not reuse coordinates from an unrelated practice polygon as if they described Pakistan.

Join the points in order with short straight strokes, smoothing only where the official outline visibly curves. Close the national outline at the starting point and compare its overall proportions and major bends with the source map. If you change the grid scale, keep the country shape proportional rather than stretching one axis.

1. Mark the broad north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, and northwest extents from the chosen reference.
2. Add intermediate points at visible changes in the coastline and land border.
3. Join adjacent points with the solid outline convention.
4. Close the outline and compare its proportions with the official map.

Add province boundaries and coastline markers

Add the provincial boundaries by copying their actual routes from the same official map. Label Balochistan in the west and southwest, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest, Punjab in the east and center, and Sindh in the southeast, checking each placement against the reference. Boundary lines should meet the national outline or another boundary where the map shows them meeting; do not draw a line across open space just to make an even-looking partition.

Use dashed lines for provincial boundaries so they remain distinct from the solid national outline. If you add coastline ticks as a drawing aid, place them only on the seaward side of the coast and keep them short and consistent. The map source, not a guessed grid coordinate, determines the geographic location of every boundary.

1. Copy the four provincial boundaries from the same dated map as the national outline.
2. Label the four provinces in the locations shown by the reference.
3. Check that boundary endpoints meet the outline or another boundary where appropriate.
4. Keep the provincial lines dashed and the national outline solid.

Check the drawing with simple arithmetic

Check the grid arithmetic separately from the geography. With 2 cm squares, 12 columns give 24 cm of width and 8 rows give 16 cm of height. Compare the widest and tallest spans of your traced outline with the map in the same orientation; the grid should help you preserve relative proportions, not create fictional coordinates.

Count the four province labels and check each against the official reference. Confirm the line key is consistent: solid for the national outline, dashed for provincial borders, and optional short ticks for the seaward coast. Record the source title and date so another reader can identify which boundary map you copied.

1. Multiply columns and rows by the square size to verify the drawing area.
2. Compare the outline's broad proportions and turning points with the official map.
3. Check that all four province names and placements match the reference.
4. Review the line key and record the source title and date.

Worked example

Use the NSDI Political Map of Pakistan (2020, fifth edition) as a dated reference, or choose another dated official political map and record its title and year. On a 12 by 8 grid with 2 cm squares, transfer Pakistan's outline, then label the four provinces and give one arithmetic check.

Four practice exercises

Common mistakes

• Joining outline points in the wrong order, which creates crossing lines. Work clockwise from one starting point and number the points before joining. Check that the line returns to the start without crossing itself.
• Letting province boundary lines stop in open space. Extend each boundary line until it meets the national outline or another boundary, then recount the endpoints.
• Using the same line style for the national outline and province boundaries. Apply the convention: solid for the national outline, dashed for province boundaries, short ticks for coastline. Recheck each line type.
• Placing coastline ticks on inland boundaries. Add ticks only where the outline meets the sea, on the seaward side, and keep them evenly spaced.

Self-check rubric

• National outline is copied from a named official map and forms a closed shape.
• Four provinces are labeled and placed according to the selected reference.
• Provincial boundaries follow the map and meet the outline or another boundary at the shown junctions.
• The grid dimensions and square size are consistent.
• Solid and dashed line conventions are distinct and used consistently.
• The map source title and date are recorded.

Questions and answers