Urban civilization existed in the Indus River valley from about 2500 to 1500 BC, when, it is believed, Aryan incursions brought it to an end. The area entered recorded history with the annexation of Punjab and Sindh to the Persian Empire by Darius I (c. 518 BC). The founder of the Maurya dynasty, Candra Gupta, incorporated the region into his Indian empire about 322 BC. The first Muslims to penetrate northern India were the Arabs, who in AD 712 conquered the lower Punjab. The rest of the Punjab was conquered (1007-27) by Mahmud of Ghazna.

The area subsequently came under various other Muslim rulers until the entry of the Mughals in 1526. Under the Mughals the province enjoyed certain stability for more than 200 years. Their power declined after 1738, however, and in 1747 Lahore fell under weak Afghan rule marked by lawlessness and disorder. The Sikhs rose to power in the latter part of the 18th century. Many parts of Punjab came under British occupation in 1849, after the British victory, due to some Punjabis greed, in the battles of Chilianwala and Gujrat. When the Indian subcontinent received its independence in 1947, Punjab was split between Pakistan and India, with the larger western portion becoming part of Pakistan. The present provincial boundaries were established in 1970.

The capital, Lahore, is located in the east-central region, near the border with India.

Punjab's area consists of an alluvial plain formed by the southward-flowing Indus River and its four major tributaries in Pakistan, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers. The general slope of the land is from northeast to southwest, but it rises in the areas between rivers. The alluvial plain has a diversity of landforms: its active floodplains are flooded every rainy season and contain changing river channels, while meander floodplains lying adjacent to the active floodplain are marked by relict and abandoned channels. In the northern parts of the province are the Murree and Rawalpindi and the Pabbi hills, part of the Sub-Himalayas, and in the far north is the Potwar Plateau.

Punjab lies on the margin of the monsoon climate.

The temperature is generally hot, with marked variations between summer and winter. In the plain the mean June temperature is 95 F (35 C), while the mean January temperature is 55 F (12 C). The average annual rainfall is low, except in the sub-Himalayan and northern areas, and decreases markedly from north to south or southwest, from 23 inches (580 mm) at Lahore in east-central Punjab to just 7 inches (180 mm) at Multan in the southwest.

Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, containing more than half the nation's total population as well as several of its major cities: Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, and Gujranwala.
There is considerable rural-to-urban migration in the province, especially to the larger cities. In religion, the province is almost entirely Muslim, with a small Christian minority. Punjabi is the mother tongue of 90 percent of the population.

The main written language is Urdu, followed by English. The major ethnic groups are the Jat, Rajput, Arain, Gujar, and Awan. The caste system is gradually becoming blurred as a result of increasing social mobility, intercaste marriages, and changing public opinion.

Agriculture is the chief source of income and employment in Punjab. Much of the province once consisted of desert wastes that were unfavourable for settlement, but its character changed after an extensive network of irrigation canals was built in the early 20th century using the waters of the Indus tributaries. The area of settlement, which had formerly been limited to the north and northeast, was enlarged to include the whole province, and now about three-quarters of the province's cultivable land is irrigated.

Wheat and cotton are the principal crops. Other crops grown include rice, sugarcane, millet, corn (maize), oilseeds, pulses, fruits, and vegetables. Livestock and poultry are also raised in large numbers.

Punjab is one of the more industrialized provinces in Pakistan; its manufacturing industries produce textiles, machinery, electrical appliances, surgical instruments, metals, bicycles and rickshas, floor coverings, and processed foods. Pakistan's main north-south road and railway connect Lahore with Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, to the north and with the ocean port of Karachi to the south.

Punjab is connected by road or railway to India, China, and Afghanistan, and its major cities are linked by road. Lahore's airport provides domestic service.