Pakistan is a South Asian country. Bathed by the Arabian
Sea (Indian Ocean) to the south, it borders Iran to the
west, Afghanistan to the northwest, China to the
northeast, and India to the east and southeast. The
capital is Islamabad, with 1 365 000 inhabitants (2015),
and the largest cities are Karachi (16 618 000 inhab.),
Lahore (8 741 000 inhab.), Faisalabad (3 567 000 inhab.)
And Rawalpindi (2 506 000 inhab.). Pakistan comprises
almost the entire watershed of the Indus River. In the
western part there are the Himalayas and in the western
part an extensive plain that extends from northeast to
southwest.
Climate
Pakistan's climate is subtropical, influenced by
monsoons from June to October. It also has vast areas
dominated by aridity, such as the Thar desert, in the
border region with India, as well as high mountain
areas, where temperatures are very low.
Economy
This Asian country has deposits of coal, iron, crude
metal, copper and other mineral resources that remain
untapped. Pakistan owns hydroelectric power plants and
large reserves of natural gas, but has no oil. In the
1960s there was a great industrial growth due to the
help of the United States of America and the rich Muslim
Arab nations. Much of this growth was made at the
expense of agricultural production. 1/4 of the land is
arable and much of it is irrigated. Exports consist of
manufactured products, such as cotton textiles, based on
their own raw materials. There are traditional
handicraft industries, such as carpets and arms
manufacturing. Pakistan's main trading partners are the
United States of America, China, Germany and the United
Kingdom.
Population
The Pakistani population is estimated at 204 924 861
inhabitants (2017). The birth and death rates are,
respectively, 21.9% and 6.3%. Average life expectancy is
68.1 years.
Pakistan is a nation divided between the inhabitants of
the mountains and the peoples of the plains. The borders
were drawn without taking into account ethnicities; were
established by the British when they ruled all over
India, with military security as their primary
concern. As a result, the pathans of the northwest
border spread between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the
territory of the liques, still in the northwest, is cut
in two by the border with India and, in the southwest,
the baloches live on both sides of the border with Iran.
The mountain population lives largely outside the
control of the central government, running their own
arms business, practicing subsistence farming and
herding goats and sheep. The lowland population lives in
villages with mud and brick houses and is basically
concerned with the implementation of irrigation plans
and the state of the cotton and wheat crops. They have
the Islamic religion in common, although the society is
divided among several groups, castes and tribes.
The four main regional groups are Panjábis, Baloches,
Sindhis and Patanes. The population results from a
mixture of several indigenous peoples whose racial
characteristics were affected by successive waves of
Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs. The languages are
mainly regional (Panjabi, Baloche and Pastó), but the
official language is Urdu, although English is also
spoken.
History
For a century, the East India Company controlled
Pakistani territory, but in 1858 the English government
took over the region. Pakistan was born out of the
Indian Empire of Great Britain when in 1947 India became
independent.
The establishment of borders with India was difficult,
the massacres of that year were tragic because they both
claimed the possession of Kashmir, which is now
separated by a ceasefire line, which continues not to
please both countries. The state did not remain united
because it was impossible to reconcile the religious and
cultural differences of the two main factions, Hindus
and Muslims. Due to the Muslim leader Muhammed Ali
Jinnah's "divide and rule" campaign, Pakistan was
created for Muslims.
The new state was made up of two separate territories
from northern India. The eastern territory,
predominantly Bengali, was the most important of
Pakistan's early days, supplying the largest jute in the
world, but the wealth was not invested here, the
Bengalis becoming the poor relatives of West
Pakistan. Revolted, they began to demand autonomy for
their own state.
In 1971, a guerrilla war broke out in the east, which
the Pakistani government tried to repress by
force. Millions of refugees fled to India, which was
forced to intervene in the war. As a result, East
Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh in
1971. As of that date, West Pakistan struggled to find
its own identity. Due to the spread of Islamic
fundamentalism, this country adopted Islamic culture as
its own.
Major conflicts of interest continue to exist, coupled
with the struggle for power between feudal lords,
traditional religious masters and new military men who
held power until 1988, when legislative elections were
held.
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1UpTravel.com - Maps of Pakistan |
View the city, country, regional, and historical maps of
Pakistan, an Asian country. Includes maps of Karachi,
Lahore, Peshawar, and a map showing Jalalabad and
Peshawar. |
http://www.1uptravel.com/worldmaps/pakistan.html |
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Asia Source- Map of Pakistan |
Showing colorful map of Pakistan with its flag and
various states. Includes area engrossed by Pakistan. |
http://www.asiasource.org/profiles/ap_mp_03.cfm?countryid=30 |
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Infoplease.com- City Map of Pakistan |
Discover a detailed and colorful map of this central
Asian country, Pakistan with major cities. |
http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/pakistan.html |
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Lonely Planet - City Map of Pakistan |
Browse a colorful map of Pakistan. Includes various
cities,capital, and other countries also. |
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/indian_subcontinent/pa |
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Map of Pakistan |
View a colorful map of Pakistan country with its
different cities and capital, Islamabad. |
http://members.tripod.com/~abbas_2/pakmap.html |
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Maps of Pakistan - Geographic.org |
View a small, color map of this south Asian country and
located major cities, bordering nations and water
bodies. Plus, country facts. |
http://www.geographic.org/maps/new1/pakistan_maps.html |
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Pakistan - Country Maps |
Detailed country map marks cities, rivers, mountain
ranges, and borders. Follow the link to a regional map. |
http://www.mit.edu/people/afridi/pakmap.html |
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Pakistan - Merriam-Webster Atlas |
View a detailed, colorful map of this central Asian
country, with major cities. Also, read a brief
historical summary and country facts. |
http://www.m-w.com/maps/pakistan.html |
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Pakistan - Multimap Map and Placename Index |
Browse this extensive index of links to local Pakistani
maps that feature zoom functions and road names. |
http://www.multimap.com/index/PK.htm |
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Pakistan - National Geographic |
View a satellite-created map of this Asian country. With
zooming, and featuring find cities, land features, and
bordering countries. |
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/index.html?i |
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Pakistan - University of Texas Library |
Follow links to view country, regional, thematic and
city maps of Pakistan from the Perry-Castaneda Library
map collection. |
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/pakistan.h... |
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