Abbottabad

Abbottabad or Abtabad  is a quaint city 110Kms north of Islamabad It is the popular for it cleanliness and the prestigious military School known as PMA (Pakistan Military Academy). It is located, at an altitude of 4120 feet (1250 meters) above sea level.

Historically Abbottabad was an important city of British India, the headquarters of Hazara Division (then a district), and named after its founder, Major James Abbott. Abbott settled this district in 1853 after the annexation of the Punjab, and became its first Deputy Commissioner. It was an important military cantonment and sanatorium, being the headquarters of a brigade in the second division of the northern army corps. In 1901 the population of the town and cantonment was 7764[1]. Before leaving Abbottabad, Major Abbott wrote a poem titled "Abbottabad".

Education

With its good weather and beautiful landscape, Abbottabad attracts people from all over Pakistan, some for tourism but many by its educational institutions. Abbottabad (sometimes called "The City of Schools") is home to a number of schools, colleges and training institutes. These educational institutions help to promote a high standard of education in the entire country.

Military Training Institutes like the PMA Kakul, (Pakistan Military Academy) the Regimental Training centers of the Pakistan Army are also located in Abbottabad.

Abbottabad has four Medical Colleges namely Ayub Medical College, Women Medical College, Frontier Medical College and Abbottabad International Medical College. An Institute for higher learning for Information Technology, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology is also located here

Other than that, many private and government school and colleges are located in Abbottabad city which are renowned for their high standard of education. Among these are Army Burn Hall College, Abbottabad Public School, PIPS, Al-Imtiaz Academy, IQRA Academy, Abbottabad Jamia Public School and two Government Colleges.

The Government Postgraduate College offers higher education of Bachelors and Masters level in Literature, Natural Sciences and Exact Sciences. The college attracts students from all over the NWFP.

A few Technical Institutions like Government Polytechnical Institute offer courses for skill-based technical & industrial education e.g Diploma in Associate Engineering. Quite a few Computer Institutes are also functioning in and around Abbottabad. These institutes are generally affiliated with Board of Technical Education, Peshawar.

Tourism

Like much of the mountainous Northern Areas of Pakistan, tourism is one of the important sources of economic activity in Abbottabad, in summer when temperatures in the plains of Pakistan rise to well above 45 degrees Celsius , large number of tourists travel north to Abbottabad to shelter from the blistering heat. The Karakoram Highway, which traces one of the paths of the ancient Silk Road, starts from Havelian 15 km south of the Abbottabad town, and passes through the city. The Karakorum Highway is an attraction for the adventure tourists. Abbottabad is the last big town, the first mild-weather tourist city in Northern Pakistan for the tourists coming from the plains in the south.