Why visit Kahuta
Townapedia lists 1 park or trail and 1 place to eat in and around town.
Weather in Kahuta
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Kahuta
Kahuta (Punjabi, Urdu: کہوٹہ) is a census-designated place, city in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab, Pakistan. The population of the Kahuta city is approximately 75,349 at the 2023 census. Kahuta is the home to the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) which was founded to undertake the Kahuta Project as part of the atomic bomb project. Before the Kahuta Project, the site was occupied by retired officers of the Pakistan Army and contained a small public community.
From the Wikipedia article Kahuta (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Parks, trails and playgrounds1
Restaurants and cafes1
Mexico Pizza - Burger and Fried Chicken
Fast food · Burger, Italian Pizza, Pizza · 1.4 km
راولپنڈی - کہوٹہ - آزاد پتن روڈ
Mo-Su 09:00-22:00
History
Kahuta was a small incorporated city until the 1970s when KRL was constructed by the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers under Engineering officer Major-General Zahid Ali Akbar, Director of Project-706. During the 1960s and 1970s, Kahuta was inhabited by retired officers of the Pakistan Army.
In the 1970s, the Ministry of Defence was tasked by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to search for a remote location for carrying out atomic and weapon-testing experiments for the integrated atomic bomb project in 1976. The Uranium Coordination Board (UCB) headed by Ghulam Ishaq Khan financed the reconstruction of the site. Major-General Zahid Ali Akbar and later completed the drawings, surveying and measured the area aerially. Within the week, the whole site was acquired by the Ministry of Defence, and the army truckloads, heavy engineering vehicles arrived the next day to re-build the site. All incoming materials and research equipment were labeled as common items and engineering tools to conceal the true nature of their purpose. Scientists and engineers working and living in Kahuta were censored by the senior military officials. Soon, the site was classified and abandoned with only few allowed to reside. The Engineering Research Laboratories (now KRL) was established by Bhutto as a research government national facility under the Ministry of Defence.
From the History section of Kahuta on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map of Kahuta
2 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Rawalakot Airport (RAZ) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 48 km away.
- Sharifabad 18 km south, about 18 min by car
- Kamra 21 km northeast, about 21 min by car
- Alipur 20 km west, about 20 min by car
- Bhata 21 km southwest, about 21 min by car
- Rawalpindi 31 km west, about 31 min by car
- Saidpur 34 km northwest, about 34 min by car
- Islamabad 35 km northwest, about 35 min by car
- Murree 35 km north, about 35 min by car
- New Mirpur City 60 km southeast, about 1 h by car
- Muzaffarābād 87 km north, about 1 h 30 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB.
Reviews, tips and questions
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Neelum Velly, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, Tahirkhalil, CC BY-SA 4.0
Page built November 3, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.