Did you know that Pakistan has a whole lotta influence on the world? I kind didn’t. Prior to coming across this thread on Twitter, I had heard of streets and towns being named after people, colleges, historical sites, but never Pakistani cities. Oh boy, was I wrong.
According to this Twitter thread, there are streets named after our cities in Australia.
Streets named after some Pakistani cities in Riverstone area, New South Wales, Australia. pic.twitter.com/SJGDTqlcUh
— Nadeem Farooq Paracha (@NadeemfParacha) August 7, 2018
Above is the thread that started my hunt for towns and streets named after the cities of Pakistan, and the search did not disappoint. To my surprise, I was able to find a decent amount but the search was not easy.
Let’s get started.
I started out by looking up a list of cities in Pakistan and on another tab I looked up a city name accompanied by a search term like ‘road’, ‘street’, ‘avenue’, ‘court’, etc. This process was lengthy but definitely fun.
Here’s what I found:
1. Lahore, Virginia, U.S.A.
This town has existed before Pakistan was even a country, but the town was indeed named after Lahore in Punjab in the 1850’s. It was named by a couple who visited Lahore and were so impressed, they came back and named it after the ancient city.
2. Peshawar Street San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.
There is not much information available about the origins of the name of this street, but during my search, I did find there were a lot of listings for property on this street and it’s a tiny street if that relevant.
3. North Punjab Avenue Clovis, California, U.S.A.
Again not much information on the origins of the name, but there are news articles claiming neighbors are turning against each other over a street sign. Apparently, the street sign for this road keeps getting stolen and neighbors are in war mode. In case the thief is Pakistani, I guess you can take the Pakistani out of Pakistan, but you cannot take Pakistan out of the Pakistani.
4. Kashmir Road Sedona, Arizona, U.S.A.
No information on origins once again, but considering the surrounding streets, there seems to be a theme of influence from around the world. Pretty amazing to see how Kashmir was able to make the cut.
5. Punjab Street Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A.
With Ravi Road being the next street over, maybe its a desi thing?
6. Rawalpindi Place Ralston, Alberta, Canada
Considering Canada is full of us Pakistanis, it does not come as a surprise that this street exists.
7. Karachi Drive Markham, Ontario, Canada
When I found this street in Canada, I did not expect to find another one named Lahore Crescent a little distance away from Karachi Drive. Take a closer look at the bottom right of the picture. Also not so surprisingly, there is even a Cricket Store on Karachi Drive (not visible in the picture above).
8. Pindi Court South Guildford, Western Australia, Australia
*insert ghissi pitti Pindi boi joke*
9. Chitral Terrace South Plympton, Southern Australia, Australia
Definitely wondering why this street was named Chitral Terrace, but it’s a mystery the Internet was not able to solve for me. Do let me know if you know the story behind this!
10. Lahore Street Wairoa, New Zealand
Since it comes off of Lucknow Street, it is safe to assume some desi influence is definitely present.
11. Gilgit Road Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand
Well, well, well. Gilgit made the cut too!
12. Kashmir Road Glen Eden, Auckland, New Zealand
With the number of people that moved to New Zealand from Pakistan, it does not surprise me they have this street.
13. Quetta Street Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand
Another example of worldwide influence in the area with names like Bombay Street and Ottawa Road.
If you know of any more of such places, we would love to learn about them. And if you know about their stories of origin, let us know!
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Cover image via Twitter/@NadeemfParacha