Rawalpindi, colloquially known as Pindi, is the third-largest city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, serving as the principal commercial and industrial hub of northern Punjab. It is the fourth-most populous city in Pakistan and ranks as the world's third-largest Punjabi-speaking metropolis (after Lahore and Faisalabad). Located along the Soan River in north-western Punjab, Rawalpindi lies adjacent to Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, and the two are jointly known as the "twin cities".

Located on the Pothohar Plateau of northern Punjab — a region known for its ancient heritage, for instance the city of Taxila, a UNESCO World Heritage Site — Rawalpindi was founded in 1493 and remained a small town of little importance, with local Punjabi Muslim tribes indirectly ruling it for larger empires, up until 1765 when it was captured by the Bhangi Misl. During the Sikh era, Rawalpindi transitioned from a small regional town into one of the major Punjabi cities, becoming a hub of trade and military. The city also became a cosmopolitan hub, housing various ethnic minorities as immigrants and refugees alongside the native Punjabi majority.

Following Punjab's annexation by the East India Company in 1849, Rawalpindi — located close to Murree, the newly-established summer capital of Punjab — became the largest garrison town of the Northern Command of the British Indian Army with the establishment of the Rawalpindi Cantonment. The city was established as the headquarters of the Rawalpindi Division of British Punjab, and granted municipal status in 1867, elevating its status to one of the largest metropolitan centres in colonial Punjab. Rawalpindi experienced one of Punjab's worst communal riots prior to Partition, with most of the city's non-Muslim population fleeing following the partition of Punjab on 17 August 1947; and them being replaced by Muslim migrants fleeing East Punjab. With Pakistan's independence, the city became home to the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army.

Since Pakistan's independence, Rawalpindi has been at the center of many historic events, including an unsuccessful communist plot to overthrow the federal government in 1951; assassinations of two prime ministers, namely Liaquat Ali Khan in 1953 and Benazir Bhutto in 2007; the 1979 execution of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, overthrown in 1977; and the Ojhri Camp disaster in 1989 when an ammunition depot in Rawalpindi Cantonment, housing ammunitions for the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War, exploded. The city has served as the focal point for all three successful military coups in Pakistan's history. It has also served as the de-facto federal capital of Pakistan, under Ayub Khan, from 1959 until Islamabad's establishment in 1967.

The construction of Islamabad, the country's new purpose-built national capital city, in the 1960s led to greater investment in adjacent Rawalpindi, provided by the International Monetary Fund and local banks. Modern Rawalpindi is socially and economically intertwined with Islamabad, and the greater metropolitan area. The city is also home to numerous suburban housing developments that serve as bedroom-communities for the twin cities. As home to the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army, the Joint Staff Headquarters (JS HQ) of the Pakistan Armed Forces, and Nur Khan Airbase of the Pakistan Air Force, and with connections to the M-1 and M-2 motorways, Rawalpindi serves as a major logistics and transportation centre for northern Pakistan. The city is home to historic havelis and temples, and serves as a hub for tourists visiting Rohtas Fort, Azad Kashmir, Taxila and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Previously known as Fatehpur Baori, the city fell into decay during the Mongol invasions of the fourteenth century. Afterwards, the ruined city came in hand of the Gakhars and a chief named Jhanda Khan restored it naming it Rawalpindi in 1493, literally meaning the "Village of Rawal" in Punjabi. Some accounts propose that a group of ascetics named Rawals arrived in this area and established the town.

The region around Rawalpindi has been inhabited for thousands of years. Rawalpindi falls within the ancient boundaries of Gandhara, and is thus in a region containing many Buddhist ruins. In the region north-west of Rawalpindi, traces have been found of at least 55 stupas, 28 Buddhist monasteries, 9 temples, and various artifacts in the Kharoshthi script.

To the southeast are the ruins of the Mankiala stupa – a second-century stupa where, according to the Jataka tales, a previous incarnation of the Buddha leapt off a cliff in order to offer his corpse to seven hungry tiger cubs. The nearby town of Taxila is thought to have been home to one of the early universities or education centres of South Asia.