Pakistan

parliamentary with strong executive, federal republicIndependence 15 August 1947 (from UK

Pakistan as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 74 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalIslamabad

Area803,940 km2

Populationas each edition published it

114.65 million July 1990 · 257.05m in 2025

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition 2.87% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 19.8 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 57.11 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

6.7 children per woman 1990 · 3.25 in 2025

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

110 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 50.3 in 2025

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $410 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition 6.4% in 1993

Geography

15 fields

Land useshare of 803,940 km2

arable land 26%meadows and pastures 6%forest and woodland 4%other 64%NEGL% permanent crops; includes 19% irrigated

Total area

803,940km2

land area: 778,720 km2Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of California

Coastline

1,046km

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Land boundaries

6,774km total

Afghanistan 2,430 km, China 523 km, India 2,912 km, Iran 909 km

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

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

14 fields

Population

114,649,406

(July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth

43Death

Literacy

26%

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% Shia), 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

Labor force

28,900,000;
54% agriculture, 13% mining and manufacturing, 33% services;
extensive export of labor (1987 est.)

Government

Parliamentary with strong executive, federal republic

17 fields

Senate, 87 seats, elected March 1988one dot, one seat

PML 84PPP 2independent 1

Type

parliamentary with strong executive, federal republic

Administrative divisions

4 provinces, 1 tribal area*, and 1 territory**;
Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas*, Islamabad 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)

Legislative branch

bicameral Federal Legislature (Mijlis-e-Shoora) consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or National Assembly

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, Federal Islamic (Shariat) Court Chief of State--President GHULAM ISHAQ Khan (since 13 December 1988);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Benazir BHUTTO (since 2 December 1988) Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto;
Pakistan Muslim League (PML), former Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo;
PML is the main party in the anti-PPP Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA);
Muhajir Quami Movement, Altaf Hussain;
Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), Fazlur Rahman;
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Qazi Hussain Ahmed;
Awami National Party (ANP), Khan Abdul Wali Khan

Suffrage

universal at age 21 President--last held on 12 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993);
results--Ghulam Ishaq Khan was elected by the Federal Legislature;
Senate--last held March 1988 (next to be held March 1990);
results--elected by provincial assemblies;
seats--(87 total) PML 84, PPP 2, independent 1;
National Assembly--last held on 16 November 1988 (next to be held November 1993);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(237 total) PPP 109, IJI 65, MQM 14, JUI 8, PAI 3, ANP 3, BNA 3, others 3, independents 29

Communists

the Communist party is no longer outlawed and operates openly

Other political or pressure groups

military remains dominant political force; ulema (clergy), industrialists, and small merchants also influential

ADB, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OIC, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WFTU, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Zulfikar ALI KHAN;
Chancery at 2315 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 939-6200;
there is a Pakistani Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Robert B. OAKLEY;
Embassy at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, Islamabad (mailing address is P. O. Box 1048, Islamabad);
telephone [92] (51) 8261-61 through 79;
there are US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, and a Consulate in Peshawar

Flag

green with a vertical white band on the hoist side;
a large white crescent and star are centered in the green field;
the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam

Economy

Pakistan is a poor Third World country faced with the usual problems of rapidly increasing population, sizable government deficits, and heavy dependence on foreign aid.

17 fields

Inflation, consumer prices

11%

(FY89)

Unemployment rate

(FY89 est.)

External debt

$17.4billion

(1989)

Budget

Revenues

$7.5 billionExpenditures

$10.3 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $2.3 billion (FY89 est.)

Overview

Pakistan is a poor Third World country faced with the usual problems of rapidly increasing population, sizable government deficits, and heavy dependence on foreign aid. In addition, the economy must support a large military establishment and provide for the needs of 4 million Afghan refugees.

A real economic growth rate averaging 5-6% in recent years has enabled the country to cope with these problems. Almost all agriculture and small-scale industry is in private hands, and the government seeks to privatize a portion of the large-scale industrial enterprises now publicly owned.

In December 1988, Pakistan signed a three-year economic reform agreement with the IMF, which provides for a reduction in the government deficit and a liberalization of trade in return for further IMF financial support. The so-called Islamization of the economy has affected mainly the financial sector;

for example, a prohibition on certain types of interest payments. Pakistan almost certainly will make little headway against its population problem; at the current rate of growth, population would double in 32 years.

GNP

$43.2 billion, per capita $409; real growth rate 5.1% (FY89)

Exports

$4.5 billion (f.o.b., FY89);
commodities--rice, cotton, textiles, clothing;
partners--EC 31%, US 11%, Japan 11% (FY88)

Imports

$7.2 billion (f.o.b., FY89);
commodities--petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, transportation, equipment, vegetable oils, animal fats, chemicals;
partners--EC 26%, Japan 15%, US 11% (FY88)

Industrial production

growth rate 3% (FY89)

Electricity

7,575,000 kW capacity; 29,300 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

textiles, food processing, beverages, petroleum products, construction materials, clothing, paper products, international finance, shrimp

Agriculture

24% of GNP, over 50% of labor force;
world's largest contiguous irrigation system;
major crops--cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables;
livestock products--milk, beef, mutton, eggs;
self-sufficient in food grain

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade;
government eradication efforts on poppy cultivation of limited success;
1988 output of opium and hashish each estimated at about 200 metric tons

Aid

(including Bangladesh before 1972) US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $4.2 billion authorized (excluding what is now Bangladesh);
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-87), $7.5 billion;
OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $2.3 billion;
Communist countries (1970-88), $2.9 billion

Currency

Pakistani rupee (plural--rupees); 1 Pakistani rupee (PRe) = 100 paisa

Exchange rates

Pakistani rupees (PRs) per US$1--21.420 (January 1990), 20.541 (1989), 18.003 (1988), 17.399 (1987), 16.648 (1986), 15.928 (1985)

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

Communications

8 fields

Merchant marine, 29 ships by typeone square, one ship

passenger-cargo 4cargo 24petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 129 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 338,173 GRT/508,107 DWT

Airports, 115 total, 102 usable

permanent-surface runways

70runways over 3,659 m

1runways 2,440-3,659 m

30runways 1,220-2,439 m

Networkskm

Highways

101,315 (1985)Railroads

8,773 (1985)Pipelines

250 (1987)

Highways: (1987); 40,155 km paved, 23,000 km gravel, 29,000 km improved earth, and 9,160 km unimproved earth or sand tracks · Railroads: ; 7,718 km broad gauge, 445 km meter gauge, and 610 km narrow gauge; 1,037 km broad-gauge double track; 286 km electrified; all government owned · Pipelines: ; 4,044 km natural gas; 885 km refined products

Railroads

8,773 km total;
7,718 km broad gauge, 445 km meter gauge, and 610 km narrow gauge;
1,037 km broad-gauge double track;
286 km electrified;
all government owned (1985)

good international radiocommunication service over microwave and INTELSAT satellite;
domestic radio communications poor;
broadcast service good;
564,500 telephones (1987);
stations--16 AM, 8 FM, 16;
satellite eath station--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT

Defense Forces

Army, Air Force, Navy, Civil Armed Forces, National Guard

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49

26,215,898fit for military service

16,080,545reach military age (17) annually

1,282,294

Defense expenditures

5.6%of GNP

or $2.4 billion (1989 est.)

Branches