Faisalabad, (Urdu فیصل آباد) formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has risen from 9,171 in 1901 to 979,000 in 1951 and to 1,977,246 in 1998.^[2]

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Nicknamed the Manchester of Asia, Faisalabad remains an important industrial city west of Lahore. The city-district of Faisalabad is bound on the north by the districts of Hafizabad andChiniot, on the east by Nankana Sahib, on the south by Sahiwal, and Toba Tek Singh and on the west by Jhang.

The city is at a road and railway junction, which has played an influential role in the development of Faisalabad’s trade and economy. The surrounding countryside, irrigated by the Lower Chenab River, has seen expanded production of cotton, wheat, sugarcane, vegetables, and fruits, which form 55% of Pakistan’s exports. The city is an industrial centre with major railway repair yards, engineering works, and mills that process sugar, flour, and oil seed. Produce includessuperphosphates, cotton and silk textiles, hosiery, dyes, industrial chemicals, beverages, apparels, pulp and paper, printing, agricultural equipment, and ghee (clarified butter). Faisalabad is the site of the prestigious University of Agriculture, founded in 1909.