Wiki Loves Monuments: Top 10 pictures from Pakistan

370 Pakistani photographers submitted 11,000 photographs, of which 10 will go onto the international round.
Published October 11, 2016

You may remember the Wiki Loves Monuments annual photography competition that has been taking place in Pakistan for the last two years.

This year's competition was supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, a California-based nonprofit organisation that runs Wikipedia, for the third time. It is also supported by Unesco through its Unite4Heritage campaign, launched to create a global movement to safeguard heritage.

Pakistan became the country with the seventh-largest number of submissions and participants, as 370 photographers participated and 11,000 photographs were submitted (70 per cent of them by Ibn-e-Azhar, an MBA graduate). For the global 2016 edition, 10,500 contestants from 43 countries submitted 265,000 photos throughout the month of September.

The competition aims to improve illustrations in Wikipedia articles about Pakistani cultural and historically significant properties. It helps preserve the world's cultural heritage sites by encouraging people to take their photographs and upload them to Wikipedia under a free license.

The international winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 are yet to be announced, but the top 10 pictures to represent Pakistan as decided by Pakistan’s jury are below:

Noor Mahal in Bahawalpur. — Photo by Usama Shahid
Noor Mahal in Bahawalpur. — Photo by Usama Shahid

Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore. — Photo by Tahsin Shah
Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore. — Photo by Tahsin Shah

Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore. — Photo by Shahbaz Aslam
Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore. — Photo by Shahbaz Aslam

Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. — Photo by Ali Mujtaba
Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. — Photo by Ali Mujtaba

Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore. — Photo by Waqas Afzal
Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore. — Photo by Waqas Afzal

Pakistan Monument in Islamabad. — Photo by Muhammad Ashar
Pakistan Monument in Islamabad. — Photo by Muhammad Ashar

Rohtas Fort in Jhelum. — Photo by Hassan Tahir
Rohtas Fort in Jhelum. — Photo by Hassan Tahir

Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. — Photo by Muddiii
Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. — Photo by Muddiii

Derawar Fort in Bahawalpur. — Photo by Tahsin Shah
Derawar Fort in Bahawalpur. — Photo by Tahsin Shah

Tomb of Bibi Jawindi in Uch Sharif. — Photo by Usama Shahid
Tomb of Bibi Jawindi in Uch Sharif. — Photo by Usama Shahid