Communications
Ports: Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong, Los Angeles (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US), Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok (USSR), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan)
Telecommunications: several submarine cables with network focused on Guam and Hawaii
Pakistan
_Pakistan.jpg)
See regional map VIII
Geography
Total area: 803,940 km²; land area: 778,720 km²
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of California
Land boundaries: 6,774 km total; Afghanistan 2,430 km, China 523 km, India 2,912 km, Iran 909 km
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
Disputes: boundary with India; Pashtun question with Afghanistan; Baloch question with Afghanistan and Iran; water sharing problems with upstream riparian India over the Indus
Climate: mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north
Terrain: flat Indus plain in east; mountains in north and northwest; Balochistan plateau in west
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
Environment: 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
Note: controls Khyber Pass and Malakand Pass, traditional invasion routes between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent
People
Population: 114,649,406 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 14 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: -6 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 110 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 56 years male, 57 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Pakistani(s); adjective—Pakistani
Ethnic divisions: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun (Pathan), Baloch, Muhajir (immigrants from India and their descendents)
Religion: 97% Muslim (77% Sunni, 20% Shi'a), 3% Christian, Hindu, and other
Language: Urdu and English (official); total spoken languages—64% Punjabi, 12% Sindhi, 8% Pashtu, 7% Urdu, 9% Balochi and other; English is lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries, but official policies are promoting its gradual replacement by Urdu
Literacy: 26%
Labor force: 28,900,000; 54% agriculture, 13% mining and manufacturing, 33% services; extensive export of labor (1987 est.)
Organized labor: about 10% of industrial work force
Government
Long-form name: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Type: parliamentary with strong executive, federal republic
Capital: Islāmābād
Administrative divisions: 4 provinces, 1 tribal area*, and 1 territory**; Balochistān, Federally Administered Tribal Areas*, Islāmābād Capital Territory**, North-West Frontier, Punjab, Sindh; note—the Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region includes Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas
Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK; formerly West Pakistan)
Constitution: 10 April 1973, suspended 5 July 1977, restored 30 December 1985
Legal system: based on English common law with provisions to accommodate Pakistan's stature as an Islamic state; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Pakistan Day (proclamation of the republic), 23 March (1956)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Legislature (Mijlis-e-Shoora) consists of
