Alia Chughtai

Alia Chughtai is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art.
After many years of dabbling in broadcast design, she fused design with storytelling,
to become a Visual Journalist at Al Jazeera English and focuses on long forms,
mixed media narratives and infographics.
Al Jazeera •

Live results: Pakistan Elections 2018

The map above is what’s known as a cartogram. Rather than using the geographic size of a province, hexagons are drawn to represent the 272 contestable seats in Pakistan’s National Assembly. Large provinces with small populations such as Balochistan will appear smaller while very dense provinces such as Punjab and Sindh appear bigger. Read more about this process. Everything you need to know about the elections Home to 207 million people, Pakistan is the world’s sixth-largest country by populat

Pakistan elections 2018: At a glance

Before the vote, key facts and figures from population size and GDP to registered voters and religious demographics. Home to 207 million people, Pakistan is the world's sixth-largest country by population and plays a crucial role in geopolitics in South Asia. The country was founded in 1947 when the Indian subcontinent gained independence from the British. Pakistan has one of the world's largest standing armies and is one of eight declared nuclear-armed nations.

Hajj 2019: An in-depth look at the sacred journey

Al Jazeera examines the religious excursion for nearly two million Muslims and where many pilgrims are coming from. The first day of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is expected to be Friday, August 9, 2019. For Muslims, the Hajj re-enacts the actions of the Prophet Muhammad in his "farewell pilgrimage" in 632 AD. It is a central pillar of the Islamic faith meant to cleanse followers of sin and bring them closer to God. The pilgrimage is obligatory once in a lifetime for all Muslims with the mean

Afghanistan: Who controls what

Nearly 18 years after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the armed group is still active across war-torn Afghanistan. Since the Taliban was removed from power in Afghanistan following an invasion by the United States in 2001, the armed group's control over parts of the country has fluctuated widely. According to a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), as of January 31 last year, 229 districts were under the Afghan government's control, which is about 56.

Face to Face: Saudi Arabia-Iran

An in-depth look at the military spending, the economy and the drivers of growth for the two regional rivals. Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are currently directly or indirectly engaged in a number of Middle East conflicts, as well as opposing sides of the global oil trade. In the past five years, most Middle Eastern countries have been directly or indirectly involved in armed conflicts. About 32 percent of documented weapon imports worldwide are to this region. Saudi Arabia has a sign

Syria's war: Who controls what?

A map of the Syrian war showing who controls what after seven years of fighting. Since March 2011, fighting in Syria has killed an estimated 465,000 people, injured more than one million, and forced about 12 million people - or half the country's pre-war population - from their homes. Forces loyal to the Syrian government have retaken major rebel strongholds, as well as large swaths of territory in the country's south in recent months. Here's a look at who controls what in Syria:

Iraq war map: Who controls what

As fighting in parts of Iraq intensifies, a visual breakdown of the control of territory after years of war. After more than a decade of instability, parts of Iraq still lie in shambles, with several forces and groups fighting for control of large swathes of the country. ISIL, also known as ISIS, no longer holds towns and cities, but its fighters still operate in the desert regions around the Iraq-Syria border. Iraq's military has launched another offensive to target ISIL sleeper cells and po

What's at stake if trading at Strait of Hormuz is disrupted?

When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed the US efforts to block all of Iran's crude oil exports, he neither mentioned the Strait of Hormuz, nor the actions Tehran could take to disrupt trade at the world's busiest oil transit chokepoint, which translates to 30 percent of seaborne global oil exports every day. Rouhani's response was nonetheless interpreted as a threat to the narrow waterway located between Iran and Oman, where at least 18.5 million barrels of oil were transported every d

Yemen: The human cost of war

Three years after a Saudi-UAE military alliance began bombing the country, aid groups say Yemen is hanging by a thread. According to the UN , at least 10,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict. However, analysts say the number hasn't been updated in years and the death toll is likely to be much higher. These attacks have targeted weddings and hospitals, as well as water and electricity plants, killing and wounding thousands. Since March 2015, the Saudi-UAE military allian

Major milestones of Iran's nuclear programme

Since 1957, the United States played a crucial role in the establishment of Iran's nuclear programme. Here's a brief history of Iran's nuclear programme, and its storied relationship with the United States. By 1974, US President Richard Nixon had sent experts to Tehran to help the country build its nuclear reactors. The US also helped train the first batch of Iran's nuclear scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some of them would eventually help modernise Iran's nuclear reactors

Understanding Afghanistan's elections 2018

Afghanistan headed to the polls on October 20 to vote for its third parliament since adopting the 2004 constitution. Afghanistan headed to the polls on October 20 to vote for its third parliament since the country's new constitution was adopted in 2004. It has not been easy for Afghanistan to arrive at this point; the country is wracked with violence as the government fights the Taliban, which controls up to 14 percent of the country's territory. In the past three months, 10 of the 2,565 cand

Pakistan elections 2018: The major political parties

From left to right, mapping the major stake holders in the upcoming general elections on July 25. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), led by Nawaz Sharif, won a landslide victory in Pakistan's last election but has been battling corruption cases and disqualifications. The 2018 poll will see the party, led by Nawaz and his younger brother Shehbaz, fight for survival. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, is a centre-right party that represents the bi

Pakistan elections 2018: How voting works

Understanding the government structure and voting process as Pakistan goes to the polls on July 25. Pakistan's general election on July 25 will see 272 seats filled, forming the parliament in a first-past-the-post system. Two votes will be cast - one for the national assembly, another for the provincial assembly. Sixty seats are reserved for women and 10 for minorities, which are allotted on a basis of five percent proportional representation. Based on the census conducted in 2017, the const

Pakistan's new far right: Mainstreaming the hardliners

Since 2017, a number of far-right religious parties have run credible campaigns in Pakistani by-elections, raising fears that religious hardliners - some associated with armed groups - may enter the political mainstream. Led by firebrand far-right cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan rose to national prominence when it blockaded a major motorway into the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, for three weeks last year, protesting a change to the electoral law that they deemed blasphem

Afghanistan's elections: All you need to know

Afghanistan is set to vote in long-delayed parliamentary elections for the third time since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The polls, which were originally scheduled for early 2015, were last pushed to October 20 due to security fears and reforms in the voter registration process. The Afghan government has striven to assure people that it will be safe to vote, but in a country wracked by violence - largely attributable to attacks by the Taliban armed group - many are still wary. The Taliban
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