PAKISTAN
Background:
The separation in 1947 of British India into the Muslim state of Pakistan (with two sections west and east) and largely Hindu India was never satisfactorily resolved, and India and Pakistan fought two wars – in 1947-48 and 1965 – over the disputed Kashmir territory. A third war between these countries in 1971 – in which India capitalized on Islamabad’s marginalization of Bengalis in Pakistani politics – resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. In response to Indian nuclear weapons testing, Pakistan conducted its own tests in 1998. The dispute over the state of Kashmir is ongoing, but discussions and confidence-building measures have led to decreased tensions since 2002.
Geographic coordinates:
30 00 N, 70 00 E
Location:
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north
COUNTRIES AND ITS INDEPENDENCE DAY
Map references: Asia:
Total Area: 803,940 sq km
Land:
778,720 sq km
Water:
25,220 sq km
Area
Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of California
Land boundaries:
total: 6,774 km border countries: Afghanistan 2,430 km, China 523 km, India 2,912 km, Iran 909 km
Coastline: 1,046 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea:
12 nm
Contiguous zone:
24 nm exclusive economic zone:
Continental shelf:
200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate:
Mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north
Terrain:
Flat Indus plain in east; mountains in north and northwest; Baluchistan plateau in west Elevation extremes:
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: K2 (Mt. Godwin-Austen) 8,611 m
Natural resources:
Land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited petroleum, poor quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone
Land use:
Arable land: 39.9%
Permanent crops:
0.84%, other: 74.72% (2005), Irrigated land: 182,300 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
Frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe especially in north and west; flooding along the Indus after heavy rains (July and August)
Environment – current issues
Water pollution from raw sewage, industrial wastes, and agricultural runoff; limited natural freshwater resources; a majority of the population does not have access to potable water; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification
Indus River
Environment – international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography – note:
Controls Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass, traditional invasion routes between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent
Government
Country name:
Conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Conventional short form: Pakistan
Local long form: Jamhuryat Islami Pakistan
Local short form: Pakistan
Former: West Pakistan
Government type:
Federal republic
Capital:
Islamabad geographic coordinates: 33 42 N, 73 10 E
Time Difference:
UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
4 provinces, 1 territory, and 1 capital territory; Baluchistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Islamabad Capital Territory, North-West Frontier Province, Punjab, Sindh note: the Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region consists of two administrative entities: Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas
Legal system:
based on English common law with provisions to accommodate Pakistan’s status as an Islamic state; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal; joint electorates and reserved parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims
People
Population:
204,924,861 (July 2017 est.) note: provisional results of Pakistan’s 2017 national census estimate the country’s total population to be 207,774,000
Age structure:
- 0-14 years: 31.36% (male 33,005,623/female 31,265,463)
- 15-24 years: 21.14% (male 22,337,897/female 20,980,455)
- 25-54 years: 37.45% (male 39,846,417/female 36,907,683)
- 55-64 years: 5.57% (male 5,739,817/female 5,669,495)
- 65 years and over: 4.48% (male 4,261,917/female 4,910,094) (2017 est.)
Median age:
- total: 23.8 years
- male: 23.7 years
- female: 23.8 years (2017 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.43% (2017 est.)
Birth rate: 21.9 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)
Death rate: 6.3 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/femaleTotal population:
men form 51%, women 48.76%and transgenders 0.24% of the total population of Pakistan. The gap between the male and female ratio among the population is also increasing
Infant mortality rate:
- Total: 70.45 deaths/1,000 live births
- Male: 70.84 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 70.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
- Total population: 68.1 years
- Male: 66.1 years
- Female: 70.1 years (2017 est.)
- Total fertility rate: 2.62 children born/woman (2017 est.)
Nationality:
- noun: Pakistani(s)
- adjective: Pakistani
- Ethnic groups: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun (Pathan), Baloch, Muhajir (immigrants from India at the time of partition and their descendants)
Religions:
Islam is the state religion of Pakistan, and about 95-98% of Pakistanis are Muslim. Pakistan has the second-largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. The majority are Sunni (estimated at 75-95%), with an estimated 5-20% Shia.
other (includes Christian and Hindu) 3%
Languages:
-
Pakistan’s national language is Urdu, which, along with English, is also the official language
-
Punjabi 48%,
-
Sindhi 12%
-
Siraiki (a Punjabi variant
-
10%, Pashtu 8%
-
Urdu (official) 8%
-
Balochi 3%
-
Hindko 2%
-
Brahui 1%
-
English (official; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries)
-
Burushaski and other 8%