Geography:
Pakistan,
officially called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is located in the Middle
East near the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. Pakistan is situated in the
western part of the Indian subcontinent, with Afghanistan and Iran on the west,
India on the east, and the Arabian Sea on the south. The name “Pakistan” is
derived from the Urdu words Pak (meaning pure) and stan (meaning
country).
Area - comparative:
Pakistan is more than
twice the size of California, slightly larger than Alberta
Located at:
Its latitude is
from 24 to 37 degrees north, while its longitude is from 61 to 75 degrees east
on Earth's Northern and Eastern Hemisphere.
International boundaries:
Pakistan
shares its borders with four neighboring countries – Afghanistan, China, India, and Iran – adding up to about 6,975 km
(4,334.1 mi) in length (excluding the coastal areas).
Pakistan definitely borders
Afghanistan at the Durand Line, 2,430 km (1,509.9 mi), which runs from the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains. The boundary with Iran,
909 km (564.8 mi), was first delimited by a British commission in the
same year as the Durand Line was demarcated, separating Iran from what was then
British India's Baluchistan province. The Pakistan-India ceasefire line runs from the Karakoram Pass west-southwest
to a point about 130 kilometers northeast of Lahore. This line, about 770
kilometers long, was arranged with United Nations (UNO) assistance at the end of the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-48. Pakistan ties
with China Karakoram Highway, passing through the
disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan. The length of the border between Pakistan and China is 523 kilometers
History:
Pakistan was
one of the two original successor states to British India, which was
partitioned along religious lines in 1947. For almost 25 years following independence,
it consisted of two separate regions, East and West Pakistan, but now it is
made up only of the western sector. Both India and Pakistan have laid claim to
the Kashmir region; this territorial dispute led to war in 1949, 1965, 1971,
1999, and remains unresolved today.
What is now
Pakistan was in prehistoric times the Indus Valley civilization (c.
2500–1700 BC ). A series of invaders—Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs,
Turks, and others—controlled the region for the next several thousand years.
Islam, the principal religion, was introduced in 711. In 1526, the land became
part of the Mogul Empire, which ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from the
16th to the mid-18th century. By 1857, the British became the dominant power in
the region. With Hindus holding most of the economic, social, and political
advantages, the Muslim minority's dissatisfaction grew, leading to the
formation of the nationalist Muslim League in 1906 by Mohammed Ali Jinnah
(1876–1949). The league supported Britain in the Second World War while the
Hindu nationalist leaders, Nehru and Gandhi, refused. In return for the
league's support of Britain, Jinnah expected British backing for Muslim
autonomy. Britain agreed to the formation of Pakistan as a separate dominion
within the Commonwealth in Aug. 1947, a bitter disappointment to India's dream
of a unified subcontinent. Jinnah became governor-general. The partition of
Pakistan and India along religious lines resulted in the largest migration in
human history, with 17 million people fleeing across the borders in both
directions to escape the accompanying sectarian violence.
Government
Military rule
was instituted in Oct. 1999; a nominal democracy was declared in June 2001 by
the ruling military leader, Pervez Musharraf.
President Musharraf
Extends Power:
In 2002, voters overwhelmingly approved a
referendum to extend Musharraf's presidency another five years. The vote,
however, outraged opposing political parties and human rights groups who said
the process was rigged. In August, Musharraf unveiled 29 constitutional
amendments that strengthened his grip on the country.
·
Area: 796,095 km²
·
Population: 182.1 million (2013) World
Bank
·
Currency: Pakistani rupee
·
GDP per capita: 1,275.30
USD (2013) World Bank
Geographical regions:
Pakistan is divided into three major
geographic areas:
The northern highlands:
The northern highlands include parts of the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram Range, and the Himalayas. This area includes such
famous peaks as K2 (Mount Godwin Austen, at 8,611 meters the second highest peak in the
world). More than one-half of the summits are over 4,500 meters, and more than
fifty peaks reach above 6,500 meters. Travel through the area is difficult and
dangerous, although the government is attempting to develop certain areas into
tourist and trekking sites. Because of their rugged topography and the rigors
of the climate, the northern highlands and the Himalayas to the east have been formidable barriers to movement into Pakistan
throughout history.
The Indus plain:
The name Indus comes from
the Sanskrit word sindhu, meaning ocean, from which also come the words Sindh,
Hindu, and India. The Indus, one of the great rivers of the world, rises in
southwestern Tibet only about 160 kilometres west of the source of the Sutlej
River, which joins the Indus in Punjab, and the Brahmaputra, which runs
eastward before turning southwest and flowing through Bangladesh. The catchment
area of the Indus is estimated at almost 1 million square kilometres, and all
of Pakistan's major rivers—the Kabul, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej—flow
into it. The Indus River basin is a large, fertile alluvial plain formed by
silt from the Indus. This area has been inhabited by agricultural civilizations
for at least 5,000 years.
Sistan Basin:
Balochistan is
located at the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau and in the border region
between Southwest, Central, and South Asia. It is geographically the largest of
the four provinces at 347,190 km² or (134,051 square miles) of Pakistani
territory; and composes 48% of the total land area of Pakistan. The population
density is very low due to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of water. The
southern region is known as Makran. The central
region is known as Kalat.
Climate:
Pakistan lies
in the temperate zone, immediately above the tropic of cancer. The climate varies from tropical to temperate. Arid conditions exist in the coastal south,
characterized by a monsoon season with adequate rainfall and a dry
season with lesser rainfall, while abundant rainfall is experienced by the
province of Punjab, and wide
variations between extremes of temperature at given locations.
Pakistan has
four seasons: a cool, dry winter marked by mild temperatures from December
through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy
season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the
retreating monsoon period of October and November. The onset and duration of
these seasons vary somewhat according to location.
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