Surveying and official mapping of Pakistan are the responsibility of Survey of Pakistan (SP), which was created from Survey of India (SI) after independence in 1947. SP was at first based in Karachi but headquarters are now located in Rawalpindi. Like other countries in the subcontinent mapping systems are derived from standards established during the imperial era by Survey of India. The basic scale is a 1:50,000 scale topographic map using the same sheet lines as earlier SI one-inch mapping and based upon a Lambert conical Conformal projection, Everest ellipsoid. 1:50,000 sheets are photogrammetric maps, cover 15′ quadrangles and metric editions have been published since 1975. A 1:250,000 scale series is complete in 119 sheets and derived from the 1:50,000 map.
A 26-sheet 1:500,000 scale series was completed between 1968 and 1986 on a polyconic projection, and shows relief with hypsometric tints. SP also publishes a number of general maps of the country, including province maps at 1:1,000,000 scale. An atlas of Pakistan was issued in 1990, with mapping at 1:1,000,000 scale and a variety of themes published at 1:5,000,000. Larger scale programs from SP include guide maps to towns and cities.
Soviet military topographic mapping of Pakistan is available at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (10 sheets, complete coverage, published 1957-1990); 1:500,000 (26 sheets, complete coverage, published 1956-1989); 1:200,000 (176 sheets, complete coverage, published 1976-1991); 1:100,000 (589 sheets, complete coverage, published 1967-1990); 1:50,000 (143 sheets, primarily Afghanistani border coverage, published 1983-2000) and city (1:10,000 to 1:25,000) topographic mapping of 20 major cities from Bahawalpur to Sukkur published between 1972 and 1983. These product are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.
The Hydrographic Department in Islamabad is responsible for the publication and maintenance of a range of 34 nautical charts relating to coastal and offshore Pakistani waters.
Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) in Quetta is responsible for the earth science mapping of the country. A 1:50,000 scale program on topographic sheet lines includes about 45 maps published between 1978 and 1986, mostly near to the Afghanistani border in Baluchistan. Overseas agencies have published large scale geological mapping of parts of the country, notably the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the British Directorate of Overseas Surveys (now Ordnance Survey International (OSI)). A 1:1,000,000 scale coverage of the country in four sheets was revised in 1993.
Soil mapping of Pakistan was carried out in the late 1970s by the Soil Survey of Pakistan, including the publication of 1:1,000,000 scale state maps.
The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council has been working on the production of an atlas of agricultural conditions, and by the mid 1990s about 70 mapping plates had been created.
Commercial mapping of the country is issued by Nelles and RV, with a railway map published by Röhr Verlag.
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