For Pakistanis themselves, it's a bit harder to determine, as I'm not able to find reliable population statistics for smaller settlements. However, some contenders are probably Nathia Gali, Chitral, Skardu and Ziarat. All of these towns are in the northern mountainous regions of Pakistan, which don't have as much population density as e.g. the plains of Punjab. They're also fairly popular tourist destinations for Pakistanis who want to take a break from the heat. Ziarat could be especially famous, as Muhammad Ali Jinnah (founder of Pakistan) spent some of his last days in a cottage there. It even appears on the 100-rupee note.
Pakistan also relies heavily on remittances from emigrants working abroad, although unlike Romania, it's not to the extent of causing a population decrease yet. If it were to join an EU-style union (free movement and all) with relatively richer countries, then maybe that'll change.
That bit about not needing a VPN -- I consider it pretty much the only pro of living in such disadvantaged countries, to be honest.
I don't know why anyone (who doesn't have ancestry there) would want to move to Pakistan. Sure, it's not completely undeveloped (otherwise I wouldn't be sending this message lol), but it still has a VEEERRRRRYY long way to go compared to other industrialised countries.
Electricity has become more reliable over the years, but you still have to deal with increasing bills, so that the government can pay off its IMF loans
Piped gas still isn't 24/7, it's off from 10 pm to 6 am
Tap water still isn't drinkable
Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad disproportionately receive the lion's share of development while smaller cities are neglected
Even Karachi can be said to not be as developed as Lahore or Islamabad. When I visited it, I found that it was greatly overpopulated and many apartment buildings were extremely worn-down. Chipping paint for instance. My father says that since Lahore and Islamabad are a comfortable driving distance away from each other, the population is more evenly distributed between the two cities. Hyderabad's near Karachi, but remember, it's not a big three city ...
Even the development in Lahore and Islamabad is not optimal. Mostly relying on private housing projects, not making an effort to make them integrate with the rest of the city
Suboptimal public transport. In Lahore there is a public bus and metro system, but both don't cover too much of the city. For intercity buses, people rely on private companies such as Daewoo Express. And again, the reliance on private housing projects hinders true city-wide planning
Professionals (doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc.) receive very low salaries compared to what they could earn abroad. The devaluation of the rupee is related to it, but only partially. That's why millions of us have moved abroad to literally every other country, and thus why remittances are a big portion of this country's income
Lahore is literally the smoggiest city in the world right now. Did I mention it's one of the three most developed?
Too much non-air pollution as well. There is a culture of littering, partially because people aren't punished for it and thus have adopted a care-free attitude, and partially because there aren't enough outdoor wastebins
I haven't even gotten into the sociopolitical aspects ... I'd be writing a whole book at that point
I'd say I actively use Lemmy and Discord nowadays (as in, I'm making new posts there). Some times I leave a comment under a YouTube video, other times I lurk Reddit just to see what other people have said about XYZ topic.
I used to be a very frequent user of Reddit during much of my adolescence, but got tired of it a few months ago. I'm not exactly sure what caused it, maybe the increased toxicity, or that some subreddits got boring after they reached a certain number of subscribers. ĀÆ(ć)/ĀÆ
FYI the official Mastodon mobile app is pretty limited; you can't even view the global timeline (the web clients are fine). Most Mastodon users prefer using unofficial apps such as Tusky, Fedilab, or Megalodon.
Yeah, that's where I pulled it from.