Map of Pakistan | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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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. A third war between these countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan seceding and becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. A dispute over the state of Kashmir is ongoing.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 1,046 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm
Extended economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Natural resources: land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited crude oil, poor quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone

Land use: 26% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 64% other; includes 19% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: controls Khyber Pass and Malakand Pass, traditional invasion routes between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent


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Population: 110,407,376 (July 1989), growth rate 2.7% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Pakistani(s; adjective - Pakistani

Ethnic groups: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun (Pathan), Baluch, Muhajir (immigrants from India and their descendents)

Languages: Urdu and English (official; total spoken languages - 64% Punjabi, 12% Sindhi, 8% Pashtu, 7% Urdu, 9% Baluchi and other; English is lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries, but official policies are promoting its gradual replacement by Urdu

Religions: 97% Muslim (77% Sunni, 20% Shia), 3% Christian, Hindu, and other

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 43 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 14 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe especially in north and west; flooding along the Indus after heavy rains (July and August; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water logging

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 120 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 54 years male, 55 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1989)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 26%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Government type: parliamentary with strong executive, federal republic

Capital: Islamabad

Administrative divisions: 4 provinces, 1 tribal area*, and 1 territory**; Baluchistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas*, Islamabad Capital Territory**, North-West Frontier, Punjab, Sind; note - the Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region includes Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas

Dependent areas

Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK; formerly West Pakistan)

National holiday: Pakistan Day (proclamation of the republic), 23 March (1956)

Constitution: 10 April 1973, suspended 5 July 1977, restored 30 December 1985

Legal system: based on English common law but gradually being transformed to correspond to Koranic injunction; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; the late President Zia-ul-Haq's government established Islamic Shariat courts paralleling the secular courts and introduced Koranic punishments for some criminal offenses; martial law courts were abolished in December 1985, and all cases, including those concerning national security, are now tried by civilian judiciary under due process safeguards; on 15 June 1988 the late President Zia issued a temporary presidential decree that makes all laws - including family and inheritance laws that had been exempt - subject to Islamic tenets; the decree requires that senior appellate courts, not just the Federal Shariat Court, be tasked with interpreting and enforcing Islamic law; religious scholars are to be appointed to act as advisers at all levels of the judiciary; the decree also legally binds the government to base its policies on Islamic jurisprudence; the decree is pending in parliament, which must approve it before it becomes permanent

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal from age 21

Executive branch: Chief of State President Ghulam ISHAQ KHAN (since 1 December 1988; Head of Government Prime Minister Benazir BHUTTO (since 1 December 1988)

Legislative branch: Army, Air Force, Navy, Civil Armed Forces, National Guard

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ADB, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB - Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC - International Wheat Council, NAM, OIC, Economic Cooperation Organization, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WFTU, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Jamsheed K. A. MARKER; Chancery at 2,315 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 939-6,200; there is a Pakistani Consulate General in New York; US - Ambassador Robert B. OAKLEY; Embassy at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, Islamabad (mailing address is P. O. Box 1048, Islamabad; telephone Õ92å (51) 8,261-61 through 79; there are US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, and a Consulate in Peshawar

Flag description: green with a vertical white band on the hoist side; a large white crescent and star are centered in the green field; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Pakistan is a poor Third World country faced with the usual problems of rapidly increasing population, sizable government deficits, and heavy dependence on foreign aid. In addition, the economy must support a large military establishment and provide for the needs of 3.5 million Afghan refugees. A real economic growth rate averaging 5-6% in recent years has enabled the country to cope with these problems. Almost all agriculture and small-scale industry is in private hands, and the government seeks to privatize a portion of the large-scale industrial enterprises now publicly owned. In December 1988 Pakistan signed a three-year economic reform agreement with the IMF, which provides for a reduction in the government deficit and a liberalization of trade in return for further IMF financial support. The so-called Islamization of the economy has affected mainly the financial sector, for example, a prohibition on certain types of interest payments. Pakistan almost certainly will make little headway against its population problem; at the current rate of growth, population would double in 27 years.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: cotton, rice, wheat, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables; an illegal producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade

Industries: textiles, food processing, beverages, petroleum products, construction materials, clothing, paper products, international finance, shrimp

Industrial production growth rate: 7.6% (FY88)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 3.6% (FY87)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $5.8 billion; expenditures $9.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.5 billion (FY87 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $4.3 billion (f.o.b., FY88)
Commodities: rice, cotton, textiles, clothing
Partners: EC 31%, US 11%, Japan 11% (FY88)

Imports: $6.9 billion (f.o.b., FY88)
Commodities: petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, transportation, equipment, vegetable oils, animal fats, chemicals
Partners: EC 26%, Japan 15%, US 11% (FY88)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $17.2 billion (1987)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Pakistani rupees (PRs) per US$1 - 18.942 (January 1989), 18.003 (1988), 17.399 (1987), 16.648 (1986), 15.928 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 6,900,000 kW capacity; 29,000 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1988)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $2.62 billion, 26% of central government budget (FY88)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 115 total, 102 usable; 70 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: 250 km crude oil; 4,044 km natural gas; 885 km refined products (1987)

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine: 29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 338,140 GRT/606,351 DWT; includes 4 passenger-cargo, 24 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: boundary with India; Pashtun question with Afghanistan; Baluch question with Afghanistan and Iran

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs