Pakistan

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان, islāmī jamhūriya i pākistān), or Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان, pākistān) is a country located in South Asia and overlaps onto the Greater Middle East and Central Asia. The country borders India, Afghanistan, Iran (Persia), China and the Arabian Sea. With around 162 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country, the second most populous Muslim-majority nation. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the OIC.

History

Main article: History of Pakistan (Including pre-history, civilizations of the region, up until modern events)

Other articles:History of India, History of Afghanistan, History of Iran, History of South Asia.

Pakistan exists in a region whose history has overlapped that of India, Afghanistan and Persia (Iran). As one of the cradles of human civilization, what is today Pakistan, has long been at the crossroads of history. Pakistan was the site of the Indus Valley civilization and was subsequently conquered by many groups, including Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, White Huns, and Scythians, and various other more obscure groups. This period saw the country advance in trade and culture to a level where the Gandhara region and the great city of Taxila became a global center of learning and development. Later invaders included Arabs, Turks and Mongols. The arrival of the Arab (muslim) armies in the modern day states of Sindh and Punjab set the stage for the geographic boundries of the modern state of Pakistan and formed the foundation for Islamic rule which was destined to spread across much of South Asia. This region was ruled by the Mughals from 1526 until 1739 and from 1739 until the early 19th century the entire region was ruled by the Afghans while the Baluchis and Sikhs controlled the south and east. After that, it was annexed by the British empire and stayed part of British India until 1947, with much civil unrest, especially in the regions which were predominantly Afghan. The British divided up the Indian empire into 3 parts, the central part, with a Hindu majority, became modern-day India. The western part along with parts of Punjab became the western part of Pakistan while East Bengal, the Muslim majority part of Bengal, became the eastern half of Pakistan. However, economic and political discontent coupled with systematic genocide created bloody unrest in East Pakistan, leading to the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which led to the separation of East Pakistan forming the independent state of Bangladesh. Politically, Pakistan has been ruled by both democratic and military governments. General Ayub Khan was the president from 1958 to 1969, and General Yahya Khan from 1969 to 1972. Civilian rule continued from 1972 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but he was deposed by General Zia-Ul-Haq. General Zia was killed in a mysterious plane crash in 1988, after which Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, became the prime minister. Her government was followed by that of Nawaz Sharif, and the two leaders alternated until the military coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Since then, General Musharraf has been the ceremonial president of Pakistan, although parlimentary elections have taken place.

Politics

Domestic politics

Main article: Politics of Pakistan

Form of government

Officially a federal republic, Pakistan has had a long history of alternating periods of electoral democracy and authoritarian military government. Military presidents include General Ayub Khan in the 1960s, General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s, and General Pervez Musharraf from 1999. A majority of Pakistan's Heads of State and Heads of Government have been elected civilian leaders. The most recent general elections were held in October 2002. After monitoring the October 2002 elections, the Commonwealth Observer Group stated in its report, "We believe that on election day this was a credible election: the will of the people was expressed and the results reflected their wishes." [1] On May 22, 2004, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group re-admitted Pakistan into the Commonwealth, formally acknowledging "the progress made in restoring democracy and rebuilding democratic institutions in Pakistan." [2]

Political parties

Pakistan historically has political parties representing a spectrum from far right to the far left. Before and during the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the secular and centrist Pakistan Muslim league supported the creation of Pakistan while the far right Islamic conservative party Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the creation of Pakistan and supported a united India. The far-right parties have never enjoyed popular support among a majority of Pakistanis. The liberal, leftist Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerged as a major political player during the 1970s.

Currently, the two largest mainstream parties are the PPP, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PMLQ) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN) which are off-shoots of the original Pakistan Muslim League. The PPP is led by Benazir Bhutto, PMLQ by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and PMLN by Nawaz Sharif. The PMLQ obtained a plurality in the October 2002 elections. In those elections, the right-wing Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a coalition of six religious muslim parties led by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), emerged as the third largest party, with 11 per cent of the popular vote. In one province, NWFP, it obtained 48 out of 96 provincial assembly seats. It formed a coalition government in that province and in Balochistan.

Recent political history

In October 1999, General Pervez Musharraf overthrew the civilian government after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif allegedly hijacked the commercial airliner on which Musharraf was travelling, and attempted to thwart its landing at Karachi. Musharraf assumed executive authority. Local government elections were held in 2000. Musharraf declared himself president in 2001. An April 2002 national referendum approved Musharraf's role as president, but the vote was marred by irregularities — for which Musharraf apologized — and the opposition stridently questioned the legitimacy of Musharraf's presidency until his electoral college victory in January 2004.

Nation-wide parliamentary elections were held in 2002 with Zafarullah Khan Jamali of the Pakistan Muslim League party emerging as Prime Minister. After over a year of political wrangling in the bicameral legislature, Musharraf struck a compromise with some of his parliamentary opponents, giving his supporters the two-thirds majority vote required to amend the constitution in December 2003, retroactively legalizing his 1999 coup and permitting him to remain president if he met certain conditions. A parliamentary electoral college — consisting of the National Assembly and Senate and the provincial assemblies — gave Musharraf a vote of confidence[3] on January 1, 2004, thereby legitimizing his presidency until 2007.

Prime Minister Jamali resigned on June 26, 2004. PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain became interim PM, and was succeeded by Finance minister and former Citibank Vice President Shaukat Aziz, who became Prime Minister on August 28, 2004.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Pakistan

Pakistan has been an ally of the United States for much of its history as a modern nation-state, from the 1950s and as a member of CENTO and SEATO . It is an important member of the OIC. Pakistan is the second largest Muslim country in terms of population and its status as declared nuclear power—the only Muslim one—also plays into its role on the international scene.

Geography

File:Pakistan map.gif

Map of Pakistan

Main article: Geography of Pakistan

Pakistan has a total area of 803,940 square kilometers, over three times the size of the United Kingdom. It has a land area of 778,720, slightly less than the combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom put together.

To the south is the Arabian Sea, with 1,046 km (650 mile) of Pakistani coastline. To Pakistan's east is India, which has a 2,912 km (1,809 mile) border with Pakistan. To its west is Iran, which has a 909 km (565 mile) border with Pakistan. To Pakistan's northwest lies Afghanistan, with a shared border of 2,430 km (1,510 miles.) China is towards the northeast and has a 523 km (325 mile) border with Pakistan.

The main waterway of Pakistan is the Indus River that begins in China, and runs nearly the entire length of Pakistan, flowing through all of Pakistan's provinces except Balochistan. Several major rivers, interconnected by the world's largest system of agricultural canals, join the Indus before it discharges into the Arabian Sea.

The northern and western areas of Pakistan are mountainous. Pakistani administered areas of Kashmir contain some of the highest mountains in the world, including the second tallest, K-2. Northern Pakistan tends to receive more rainfall than the southern parts of the country, and has some areas of preserved moist temperate forest. In the southeast, Pakistan's border with India passes through a flat desert, called the Cholistan or Thar Desert. West-central Balochistan has a high desert plateau, bordered by low mountain ranges. Most areas of the Punjab, and parts of Sindh, are fertile plains where agriculture is of great importance.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Pakistan

Overview

Pakistan, a developing country, is the sixth most populous in the world and is faced with a number of challenges on the political and economic fronts. At the time of its independence in 1947, Pakistan was a very poor country, with agriculture accounting for 53% of its GDP. In the early 1960s, Pakistan was seen as a model of economic development around the world, and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing. Many countries sought to emulate Pakistan's economic planning strategy and one of them, South Korea, copied its Second Five Year Plan, 1960-65. Pakistan was well ahead in South Asia, and is the 2nd most developed of the three most populous countries in the region, after India. Growth rate was better than the world average, but imprudent policies led to a slowdown in the 1990s. Since then, the Pakistani government has instituted wide-ranging reforms, and economic growth has accelerated in the current century. Pakistan's economic outlook has brightened and its manufacturing and financial services sectors have experienced rapid expansion. The growth of the non-agricultural sectors has changed the structure of the economy, and agriculture now only accounts for roughly one-fifth of the GDP. There has been a great improvement in its foreign exchange position and a rapid growth in hard currency reserves as a result of its current account surplus.

Macroeconomic reform and prospects

According to the CIA World Factbook, the government has made substantial inroads in macroeconomic reform since 2000, and medium-term prospects for job creation and poverty reduction are the best in nearly a decade. Islamabad has raised development spending from about 2% of GDP in the 1990s to 4% in 2003, a necessary step towards reversing the broad underdevelopment of its social sector. Reduced tensions with India and the ongoing peace process raise new hopes for a prosperous and stable South Asia.

Pakistan achieved real GDP growth of 6% during 2004-05 which is its best in nearly a decade.

Large middle class

Measured by purchasing power, Pakistan has a 30 million strong middle class enjoying per capita incomes of $8000-$10,000, according to Dr. Ishrat Husain, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan [4]. In addition, Pakistan has a growing upper class with relatively high per capita incomes. However, Pakistan has no individuals with as much as a billion US dollars, according to Forbes magazine, and has the distinction of being the most populous nation to have no billionaires.

Economic resilience

In the early 1960s, Pakistan was seen as a model of economic development around the world, In 1990s Pakistan's GDP growth was very slow. But now it has grown rapidly since President Musharraf came to power. In 2004 Pakistan's GDP growth rate was over 8% which is highest in Asia after China. It's exports grew by as much as 17% and the country also saw increasing foreign investments in the IT sector, thanks to cheap labor, low tax rate and a large pool of english speakers.

If we look at the history, Pakistan's overall economic output (GDP) has grown every year since a 1951 recession. Despite this record of sustained growth, Pakistan's economy had, until a few years ago, been characterized as unstable and highly vulnerable to external and internal shocks. However, the economy proved to be unexpectedly resilient in the face of multiple adverse events concentrated into a four-year period: the Asian financial crisis, economic sanctions, global recession, a severe drought — the worst in Pakistan's history, lasting four years — and heightened perceptions of risk as a result of military tensions — with as many as a million troops on the border, and predictions of impending war — with India, and the post-9/11 military action in neighboring Afghanistan. Despite these adverse events, Pakistan's economy kept growing, and economic growth accelerated towards the end of this period. This resilience has led to a change in perceptions of the economy, with leading international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, and ADB praising Pakistan's performance in the face of adversity..

Stock market

In the first three years of the current century, Pakistan's KSE-100 stock exchange index (Karachi Stock Exchange) was the best-performing major market index in the world, driven in part by profit growth, high dividend yields and greater transparency in publicly traded companies as a result of reforms enacted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

Currency

The basic unit of currency is the Rupee, which is divided into 100 paisas. Since the turn of the century, a strengthening economy and large current-account surplus has caused the rupee's exchange rate to rise in value. In response, Pakistan's central bank has prevented the rupee from rising too much, by lowering interest rates and buying dollars, in order to preserve the country's export competitiveness. As of 2005, one US dollar is approximately equal to 60 rupees.

Manufacturing and finance

Pakistan's manufacturing sector has experienced double-digit growth in recent years, with large-scale manufacturing growing by 18% in 2003. A reduction in the fiscal deficit has resulted in less government borrowing in the domestic money market, lower interest rates, and an expansion in private sector lending to businesses and consumers. Foreign exchange reserves continued to reach new levels in 2003, supported by robust export growth and steady worker remittances.

Tax incentives for IT industry

The Government of Pakistan has, over the last few years, granted numerous incentives to technology companies wishing to do business in Pakistan. A combination of decade-plus tax holidays, zero duties on computer imports, government incentives for venture capital and a variety of programs for subsidizing technical education, are intended to give impetus to the nascent Information Technology industry.

Technology and the Internet

Paging and mobile (cellular) telephony were adopted early and freely. Cellular phones and the Internet were adopted through a rather laissez-faire policy with a proliferation of private service providers that led to fast adoption. Both have taken off and in the last few years of the '90s and first few years of the 2000s. With a rapid increase in the number of internet users and ISPs, and a large English-speaking population, Pakistani society has seen major changes.

Pakistan has more than 10 million internet users as of 2005. Country is said to have a potential to absorb upto 50 million mobile phone Internet users in the next 5 years thus a potential of nearly 1 million connections per month

Almost all of the main government departments, organisations and institutions have their own websites.
The use of search engines and messenger services is also booming. Pakistanis are some of the most ardent chatters on the internet, communicating with users all over the world. Recent years have seen a huge increase in the use of online marriage services, for example, leading to a major re-alignment of the tradition of arranged marriages.
As of 2005 there were 6 mobile companies operating in the country with nearly 10.5 million mobile phone users in the country.
Wireless Loops and fixed line sector also has been liberalised and private sector has entered thus increasing the teledensity from less than 3% to more than 10% in span of two years.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Pakistan

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Major Ethnic Groups in Pakistan and surrounding areas, 1980

Population statistics

Pakistan has the world's sixth largest population, more than Russia, but less than Brazil. Because of Pakistan's high growth rate, it is expected to overtake Brazil in population before 2025. Based on the high fertility rates of the 1980s, demographers had projected that Pakistan would be the third most populous nation by 2050. However, from 1988 onward, Pakistan's fertility rate has fallen faster than that of any other country except China (Feeney and Alam, 2003, PDF). It is now projected that its population will stabilize at a more sustainable level.

Religion

The majority of the people of Pakistan are Muslim, with 96.3% of the population professing Islam to be their faith. Most muslims in Pakistan are Sunni (>75%) Shia (20%), although a number of smaller sects exist.

Pakistan has a small non-muslim population, mostly consisting of Christians 2.5%, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Jews, and Animists in the remote Northern Areas 1.2%. As in the rest of South Asia, Pakistan's religious demographics were altered by partition.

Languages

Urdu and English are both recognized as the official languages of Pakistan. English is used in government and corporate business and by the educated urban elite. Public universities use English as the medium of instruction. Urdu is the lingua franca of the people, being widely spoken as a second language, although it is the mother tongue of only 8% of the population — mainly Muhajirs and educated Punjabis, and mostly in Karachi. Besides these, nearly all Pakistanis speak mutually related provincial Indo-European languages, of which the most widely spoken is Punjabi, followed by Pashto, Sindhi, and Balochi. Other Indo-European languages spoken in Pakistan include Seraiki, Dari, Hindko, Shina, Wakhi, Kashmiri, and many others. In addition, small groups of non-Indo-European languages are also spoken including Brahui, which is a Dravidian language, and Burushaski, which is a language isolate.

Ethnic groups

Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group in the country. Other important ethnic groups include: Pashtun/Afghans, Sindhis, Balochis, Muhajirs and Seraikis. Numerous other ethnic groups are mainly found in the northern parts of the country such as Turwalis, Kafiristanis, Hindko, Brahui, Kashmiris, Khowar, Shina and so forth. There are also sizeable numbers of refugees from neighboring Afghanistan, who are found mainly in the NWFP and Baluchistan - in the 1980s, Pakistan accommodated over three million Afghan refugees - the largest refugee population in the world, which includes Pashtuns, Tajiks, and Hazaras among others. A sizeable number of Bengali immigrants are mainly concentrated in Karachi.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of Pakistan, Districts of Pakistan.

Pakistan has 4 provinces, 2 territories, and also administers parts of Kashmir. The provinces are further subdivided into a total of 105 districts.

Provinces:

Territories:

Islamabad Capital Territory
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Two provinces, NWFP and Balochistan, also have PATA (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas.) It is expected that these will be developed into regular districts.

Pakistani-administered portions of Jammu and Kashmir region:

Azad Kashmir (Azad means "free" or "independent" in Urdu)
Northern Areas

Society and culture

Main article: Culture of Pakistan

Because of Pakistan's geography, it inherits a rich and unique culture, and has actively preserved its established traditions throughout history. Prior to the Islamic invasion many Punjabis and Sindhis were primarily Hindus, but all that changed during the Islamic conquest of what is today Pakistan by Mahmud of Ghazni. Many cultural practices and monuments, shrines, have been inherited from the rule of Muslim Mughal and Afghan emperors. The Pakistani national dress, Shalwar Kameez, is a variation of the traditional Afghan dress.

Pakistani society is largely multilingual and multicultural. Religious practices of various faiths are an integral part of everyday life in society. Education is highly regarded by members of every socio-economic stratum. Traditional family values are highly respected and considered sacred, although urban families have grown into a nuclear family system, owing to the socio-economic constraints imposed by the traditional joint family system. The past few decades have seen emergence of a middle class in cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Sukkur, Peshawar, Gujrat, Abbottabad, Multan, etc. The Northwestern part of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, is highly conservative and dominated by centuries-old regional tribal customs.

Roots

The modern nation of Pakistan has inherited a very rich cultural and traditional background going back to the Indus Valley Civilization, 2800 BC–1800 BC. The region that is now Pakistan has in the past been invaded and occupied by many different peoples, including Elamo-Dravidians, Greeks, White Huns, Persians, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Mongols and various Eurasian groups. There are differences in culture among the different ethnic groups in matters such as dress, food, and religion, especially where pre-Islamic customs differ from Islamic practices. pre-Islamic practices are being eroded as time goes by.

Film and television

Traditionally, the government-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) has been the dominant media player in Pakistan. However the past decade has seen the emergence of several private TV channels (news , entertainment) such as the GEO TV, the Pashto channel AVT Khyber, and the ARY channel. Traditionally the bulk of TV shows have been plays or soap operas---some of them critically acclaimed. Various American, European, Asian and Indian TV channels and movies are available to a majority of the population via Cable TV.

Pakistani music is represented by a wide variety of forms. It ranges from traditional styles (such as Qawwali) to more modern forms that try to fuse traditional Pakistani music with western music. The Qawwali maestro, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whos family hailed from Afghanistan, is internationally renowned for creating a form of music which synchronized Qawwali with western music. Popular forms of music also prevail, the most notable being Film music. In addition to this are the diverse traditions of folk music. The emergence of Afghan refugees in the frontier provinces has also rekindled Pashto & Persian music in Pakistan. Peshawar has become a hub of Afghan musicians, and a distribution center for Afghan Music abroad. Afghan singers have become famous throughout the Frontier and some have even married within the local population strengthening the ethnic kinship of the Afghans on both sides of the Durand line.

An indigenous movie industry exists in Pakistan, and is known as Lollywood as it is based in Lahore, currently producing over 40 feature-length films a year. There was a time when Lollywood was churning out as many as 120 films a year. The Pashto film industry based in Peshawar still produces over 50 films a year.

Globalization

Increasing globalization has increased the influence of "Western culture" in Pakistan. Pakistan ranks 46th in the world on the Kearney/FP Globalization index. Many Western restaurant chains have established themselves in Pakistan, and are found in the major cities.

A large Pakistani diaspora exists in the West. Whereas Pakistanis in the United States, Canada and Australia tend to be professionals, the majority of them in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Scandinavian nations comes from a rural background and belongs to the working class. Pakistan has more expatriates than any other Muslim country, with a large number of expatriates living in the Middle East. Pakistani emigrants and their children influence Pakistan culturally and economically, keeping close ties with their roots by travelling to Pakistan and especially by returning or investing there.

Sports

The most popular sport in Pakistan is cricket. Pakistan has produced several of the best batsmen and bowlers in the world, including Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Shoaib Akhtar. Almost every district and neighborhood in Pakistan has its cricket team and most people start playing from a young age. Pakistan has won several international cricket events, including the World Cup in 1992.

Other popular participatory and spectator sports in Pakistan include:

Field Hockey. Pakistan has won three gold medals at the Olympics and the Hockey World Cup four times.
Polo, which is believed to have originated in Central Asia, and continues to be an important sport there with several large annual competitions. The Shandur Polo Tournament, played at the world's highest pologround, is one of the biggest tourist draws to Chitral and Gilgit in Northern Pakistan.
Squash. Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan are considered to be two of the greatest squash players of all time.
Football (Soccer) is played mostly on a local level, primarily in Baluchistan and Afghan Frontier Provinces. Those areas provide most of the players on the national team.
Tennis. Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi recently defeated Paradorn Srichapan of Thailand to win the Asia-Oceana Zone 1 section of the Davis Cup.
Formula One motor racing, NBA basketball, rugby, table tennis, chess, and badminton.

Mercantile culture

Pakistan's service sector accounts for 53% of the country's GDP. Wholesale and retail trade is 30% of this sector. Shopping is a popular pastime for many Pakistanis, especially among the well-to-do and the thirty-million strong middle class. The cities of Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Quetta are especially known for the great contrast in shopping experiences - from burgeoning bazaars to modern multi-story shopping malls. In particular, Lahore and Karachi are peppered with colourful shopping plazas.

Issues

See Status of minorities in Pakistan, Status of women in Pakistan, Federalism and devolution in Pakistan, Secularism in Pakistan, etc.

External links

Economic and demographic data

World Bank Facts and Figures

Pakistani Government Links

Pakistani IT industry

Pakistani Publications & News

History

Collections of images of Pakistan

Flikr. Many images reusable under a Creative Commons license.
Pakistan Photos and Picture gallery
Streetphotos.net: everyday photographs from all around Pakistan, and a weblog focusing on perceptions of Pakistan
Worldisround
Picture Page on Pakistan

History

Politics

Domestic politics

Form of government

Political parties

Recent political history

Foreign relations

Geography

Economy

Overview

Macroeconomic reform and prospects

Large middle class

Economic resilience

Stock market

Currency

Manufacturing and finance

Tax incentives for IT industry

Technology and the Internet

Demographics

Population statistics

Religion

Languages

Ethnic groups

Subdivisions

Society and culture

Roots

Film and television

Globalization

Sports

Mercantile culture

Issues

See also

External links

Economic and demographic data

Pakistani Government Links

Pakistani IT industry

Pakistani Publications & News

Pakistani TV channels

Radio

Cineplex Chain

Maps of major cities

History

Collections of images of Pakistan

Other external links