MAP STORIES · REAL EXAMPLE
Punjab across the proposal models.
Punjab is a useful example because it is large enough that every model shows a different administrative scale. The population does not change; the way districts are grouped for discussion changes.
Published 18 September 2026 · Subay Pakistan · Example using Census 2023
These are administrative models only. They do not change people’s identity: Punjabi communities remain Punjabi, just as Sindhi, Pashtun, Baloch and other communities keep their cultural and regional identity in every model.
The starting point
In the current model, Punjab is one province in this census snapshot: 36 district entries, Lahore as capital, and a combined population of about 127.69 million people.
In the proposal models, the same Punjab districts are arranged into regional administrative groupings. This is the simplest way to understand the website: no one disappears from the census, and no district population is rewritten. The question is where each district is grouped, what capital is suggested, and how large each proposed unit becomes.
Punjab across the models
| Model | Punjab-side units in the model | Example capitals | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 1 unit | Lahore | All Punjab districts remain in one provincial government. |
| 12 provinces | 4 Punjab groupings | Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan | Punjab is shown through broad north, northeast, centre and south regional groupings. |
| 18 provinces | 6 Punjab groupings | Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur | Lahore is shown as its own region, while southern Punjab is represented with more detail. |
| 24 provinces | 8 Punjab groupings | Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur | Administrative centres are spread more widely across Punjab. |
| 36 provinces | 12 Punjab groupings | Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jhang, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Lahore and others | This is the most localised model and would require the most new administrative capacity. |
A person in Gujranwala would see the change clearly
Gujranwala stays inside Punjab today, with Lahore as the provincial capital. In the 12-province model, Gujranwala is still grouped with Lahore in a larger Northeastern Punjab unit of about 36.50 million people.
In the 18, 24 and 36 models, Gujranwala becomes the suggested capital of its own Northeastern Punjab grouping. That is the kind of practical change the site is built to show: not just a new colour on the map, but a different administrative centre for the same district.
What this example cannot prove
A smaller administrative unit on a map does not automatically mean better schools, faster services or cleaner government. It may bring some offices closer, but it also creates transition costs, new assemblies, new departments, staffing needs and political questions.
That is why Subay Pakistan treats the models as discussion tools. The map helps people ask sharper questions: which districts are together, what population is being served, where is the capital, and what trade-offs would need serious study?
These proposals are unofficial. The figures are a census-based snapshot, not a legal or financial feasibility study.
Try it yourself
Follow Gujranwala in the explorer, compare it with Lahore, or open the full map and switch between the models.