Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area the larger metropolitan area. It uses dedicated bus lanes for all of its route covering 24 bus stations. As Pakistan's capital city, Islamabad serves as the seat of the federal government and is the country's political center. Rawalpindi has remained important historically, as it hosts the headquarters of Pakistan's army. Rawalpindi also temporarily served as the federal capital when Islamabad was being built in the 1960s, to replace Karachi as the capital. Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area The Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area is Pakistan's third most populous metropolitan area. It consists principally of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, along with smaller
Economy of Islamabad Economy of Islamabad Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and a net contributor to the Pakistani economy. Whilst having only 0.8% of the country's population, it contributes 1% to the country's GDP. The Islamabad Stock Exchange, founded in 1989, is Pakistan's third largest stock exchange after Karachi Stock Exchange and Lahore Stock Exchange. The exchange has 118 members with 104 corporate bodies and 18 individual members. The average daily turnover of the stock exchange is over 1 million shares. As of 2012, Islamabad LTU (Large Tax Unit) was responsible for Rs 371 billion in tax revenue, which amounts to 20%