Country name:

conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
conventional short form: Pakistan
former: West Pakistan

Capital:

Islamabad. Population: 800,000 (2005).
 

Location:

Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north

Area:

796,095 sq km (307,374 sq miles) excluding data for the disputed territories of Jammu and Kashmir.
 

Description:
Pakistan has borders to the north with Afghanistan, to the east with India and to the west with Iran; the Arabian Sea lies to the south. In the northeast is the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, bounded by Afghanistan, China and India. Pakistan comprises distinct regions. The northern highlands, the Hindu Kush, are rugged and mountainous; the Indus Valley is a flat, alluvial plain with five major rivers dominating the upper region, eventually joining the Indus River and flowing south to the Makran coast; Sindh is bounded on the east by the Thar Desert and the Rann of Kutch, and on the west by the Kirthar Range; the Baluchistan Plateau is an arid tableland encircled by mountains.
 

Population:

164.7 million (CIA estimate 2007).
 

Languages:

Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashtu 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English (official and lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski, and other 8%

Economy - overview:

About 28% of Pakistan's land is under cultivation and watered by one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. Wheat, rice, sugar cane and cotton are the main products. Cotton accounts for almost 60% of revenues. Pakistan has some reserves of graphite and limestone, as well as a small oil industry.
The overriding economic problem for the Pakistani economy is its huge foreign debt burden, which is over 90% of GDP and consumes over half of government revenue to meet interest payments. The situation has been made more difficult by the history of poor relations between Pakistan and the international financial community generally. Sanctions were imposed following Pakistani nuclear tests in 1998, coinciding with the fall-out from the 1997 financial crisis that engulfed the major economies of East Asia.
Yet despite these factors, the regional crisis centred on Afghanistan and Iraq, and domestic political instability, the Pakistani economy has performed steadily in the last few years. Growth in 2006 was 6.6%, with unemployment at 6.5% and inflation at 7.9%.

Economy:

About 28% of Pakistan's land is under cultivation and watered by one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. Wheat, rice, sugar cane and cotton are the main products. Cotton accounts for almost 60% of revenues. Pakistan has some reserves of graphite and limestone, as well as a small oil industry.
The overriding economic problem for the Pakistani economy is its huge foreign debt burden, which is over 90% of GDP and consumes over half of government revenue to meet interest payments. The situation has been made more difficult by the history of poor relations between Pakistan and the international financial community generally. Sanctions were imposed following Pakistani nuclear tests in 1998, coinciding with the fall-out from the 1997 financial crisis that engulfed the major economies of East Asia.
Yet despite these factors, the regional crisis centred on Afghanistan and Iraq, and domestic political instability, the Pakistani economy has performed steadily in the last few years. Growth in 2006 was 6.6%, with unemployment at 6.5% and inflation at 7.9%.

Industries:

textiles and apparel, food processing, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, paper products, fertilizer, shrimp