Pakistan

Pakistan ( ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ), is a country in South Asia . It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, and India in the east and the China in the far northeast. Tajikistan also lies very close to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor . Thus, it occupies a crossroads position between South Asia , Central Asia and the Middle East . The region forming modern Pakistan was at the heart of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and then later was the recipient of Vedic , Persian , Indo-Greek , Turco-Mongol , Islamic and Sikh cultures. The area has witnessed invasions and/or settlements by the Indo-Aryans , Persians , Greeks , Arabs , Turks , Afghans , Mongols and the British . While the Indian independence movement demanded an independent India, the Pakistan Movement (led by Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the Muslim League ) sought independent states for the majority Muslim populations of the eastern and western regions of British India as well. The British granted independence and also the creation of one Muslim majority state of Pakistan that comprised the provinces of Sindh , North-West Frontier Province , West Punjab , Balochistan and East Bengal . With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic . In 1971, a civil war in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh . Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories including a federal capital territory. Its history has been characterized by periods of military rule , political instability and conflicts with neighboring India . It is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia . Pakistan also has the second largest Shia Muslim population. It is the only Muslim-majority nuclear state and is classified as major non-NATO ally of the United States . Pakistan is one of the founders of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and a member of the United Nations , Commonwealth of Nations , Next Eleven economies and G20 developing nations . Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics . Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan . The Kashmir region is claimed by Pakistan and India. Pakistan refers to Indian-administered Kashmir as Indian occupied Kashmir .

Pakistan ( / ˈ p æ k [invalid input: 'ɨ'] s t æ n / or / p ɑː k i ˈ s t ɑː n / ; ALA-LC : [ Pākistān ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: urdu ( help ) , ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ALA-LC : [ Islāmī Jumhūriyah-yi Pākistān ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: urdu ( help ) ), is a sovereign country in South Asia . With a population exceeding 191 million people , it is the sixth most populous country and with an area covering 796,095 km ( 307,374 sq mi ), it is the 36th largest country in the world in terms of area. Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast respectively. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and also shares a maritime border with Oman . The territory that now constitutes Pakistan was previously home to several ancient cultures , including the Mehrgarh of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation , and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including Hindus , Indo-Greeks , Muslims , Turco-Mongols , Afghans and Sikhs . The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire , the Persian Achaemenid Empire , Alexander of Macedonia , the Arab Umayyad Caliphate , the Mongol Empire , the Mughal Empire , the Durrani Empire , the Sikh Empire and the British Empire . As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the subcontinent 's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of Subcontinent where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion , Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh . Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories . It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similar variation in its geography and wildlife . A regional and middle power , Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed forces in the world and is also a nuclear power as well as a declared nuclear-weapons state, being the only nation in the Muslim world , and the second in South Asia , to have that status. It has a semi-industrialised economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector , its economy is the 26th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and 45th largest in terms of nominal GDP and is also characterized among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world. The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule, political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India . The country continues to face challenging problems, including overpopulation , terrorism , poverty , illiteracy , and corruption . Despite these factors it ranked 16th on the 2012 Happy Planet Index . It is a member of the United Nations , the Commonwealth of Nations , the Next Eleven Economies , ECO , UfC , D8 , Cairns Group , Kyoto Protocol , ICCPR , RCD , UNCHR , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Group of Eleven , CPFTA , Group of 24 , the G20 developing nations , ECOSOC , founding member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , SAARC and CERN . Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan . Government of Pakistan. 2012 . The Pakistani Government states that English is the official language. It is being widely used in business, law, and government documents, as well being taught throughout schools as a medium of instruction. Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan . Ehsan Rashid explains how concept of Pakistan and Iqbal's Allahabad address are interlinked. The United States and the great powers: world politics in the twenty-first century . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Country in South Asia Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan , is a country in South Asia . It is the world's fifth-most populous country with a population exceeding 212.2 million. By area, it is the 33rd-largest country , spanning 881,913 square kilometres (340,509 square miles). Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east , Afghanistan to the west , Iran to the southwest , and China to the northeast . It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the northwest, and also shares a maritime border with Oman . The territory that now constitutes Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures and intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent . The ancient history involves the Neolithic site of Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation , and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including Hindus , Indo-Greeks , Muslims , Turco-Mongols , Afghans and Sikhs . The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Persian Achaemenid Empire , Alexander III of Macedon , the Seleucid Empire , the Indian Maurya Empire , the Kushan Empire , the Gupta Empire , the Arab Umayyad Caliphate , the Ghurid Sultanate , the Ghaznavids Empire , the Delhi Sultanate , the Mongol Empire , the Mughal Empire , the Afghan Durrani Empire , the Sikh Empire (partially) and, most recently, the British Indian Empire . Pakistan gained independence in 1947 as a homeland for Indian Muslims following the Pakistan Movement , which sought statehood for the Muslim-majority regions of British India through partition . It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with similarly diverse geography and wildlife . Initially a dominion , Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic . An ethnic civil war and Indian military intervention in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh . In 1973, Pakistan adopted a new constitution which stipulated that all laws are to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah . In 2008 Pakistan transitioned to civilian rule. Since 2010, Pakistan adopted a parliamentary system with periodic elections. A middle power , Pakistan has the sixth-largest standing armed forces in the world and is also a nuclear power as well as a declared nuclear-weapons state. It is ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the world's largest and fastest-growing middle class populations. Pakistan's political history since independence has been characterized by periods of military rule, political instability and conflicts with India . The country continues to face challenging problems, including overpopulation , poverty , illiteracy , and corruption . Pakistan is a member of the UN , the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation , the OIC , the Commonwealth of Nations , the SAARC , the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition , and is a major non-NATO ally . The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems [2 Volumes] . Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan . "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950–2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Development Programme . 10 December 2019 . A Brief History of Pakistan . Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in its relationship with Islam: it is the only country to have been established in the name of Islam : Unknown parameter |encyclopedia= ignored ( help ) Talbot, Ian (2 February 1984). As British rule there drew to an end, many Muslims demanded, in the name of Islam, the creation of a separate Pakistan state. The Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism . Prior to the partition of India in 1947 into two separate nation-states, a group of Western-educated Indian Muslims who constituted the Muslim League, the pivotal Muslim political organization in undivided India, ardently advocated the logical of creating a separate homeland for Indian Muslims. Ostensibly a homeland for all Indian Muslims, Pakistan was hewed out of the Muslim-majority regions of British India--Sind, Baluchistan, the Northwst Frontier Province, and West Punjab in the northwest and East Bengal in the east. The Breakup of Pakistan 1969–1971" . 23 September 2017. The constitution proclaims ... that all existing laws shall be brought in accordance with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah, and no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to such injunctions. Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security . In the framework of their regional security complex theory (RSCT), Barry Buzan and Ole Waever differentiate between superpowers and great powers which act and influence the global level (or system level) and regional powers whose influence may be large in their regions but have less effect at the global level. International Relations Theory and Regional Transformation . The regional powers such as Israel or Pakistan are not simple bystanders of great power politics in their regions; they attempt to asymmetrically influence the major power system often in their own distinct ways. The United States and the great powers: world politics in the twenty-first century . Countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enough influence to not be considered small, but not enough to be major powers. Within the limits of their regions, they play a significant political role. Thus instinctively, they would qualify as middle powers. While it is not the objective here to question the characteristics of Jordan's definition of middle powers, we argue that Pakistan is in fact a middle power despite its being nuclear-armed. When looking at the numbers, for instance, it appears that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan can be classified as middle powers (see in this regard Ping, 2007). Understanding Pakistan: Emerging Voices from India . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Country in South Asia This article is about the country in South Asia. You may need rendering support to display the Urdu text in this article correctly. Pakistan ( ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ISO : , islāmi jamhūriyāh pākistān ), is a country in South Asia . It is the world's fifth-most populous country , with a population of 241.5 million people, and has the world's largest Muslim population as of 2023. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and financial centre, followed by Lahore , Faisalabad , Multan , Peshawar and Hyderabad . Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country in the world by area and the second largest in South Asia , spanning 881,913 square kilometres (340,509 square miles). It has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by India to the east , Afghanistan to the west , Iran to the southwest , and China to the northeast . It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and also shares a maritime border with Oman . Pakistan is the site of several ancient cultures , including the 8,500-year-old Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Balochistan , the Indus Valley civilisation of the Bronze Age , and the ancient Gandhara civilisation . The regions that comprise the modern state of Pakistan were the realm of multiple empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid , the Maurya , the Kushan , the Gupta ; the Umayyad Caliphate in its southern regions, the Samma , the Hindu Shahis , the Shah Miris , the Ghaznavids , the Delhi Sultanate , the Mughals , and most recently, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947. Spurred by the Pakistan Movement , which sought a homeland for the Muslims of British India , and election victories in 1946 by the All-India Muslim League , Pakistan gained independence in 1947 after the Partition of the British Indian Empire , which awarded separate statehood to its Muslim-majority regions and was accompanied by an unparalleled mass migration and loss of life. Initially a Dominion of the British Commonwealth , Pakistan officially drafted its constitution in 1956, and emerged as a declared Islamic republic . In 1971, the exclave of East Pakistan seceded as the new country of Bangladesh after a nine-month-long civil war . In the following four decades, Pakistan has been ruled by governments whose descriptions, although complex, commonly alternated between civilian and military, democratic and authoritarian, relatively secular and Islamist . Pakistan elected a civilian government in 2008, and in 2010 adopted a parliamentary system with periodic elections. Pakistan is a middle power nation, and has the world's sixth-largest standing armed forces . It is a declared nuclear-weapons state , and is ranked amongst the emerging and growth-leading economies , with a large and rapidly-growing middle class. Pakistan's political history since independence has been characterised by periods of significant economic and military growth as well as those of political and economic instability. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with similarly diverse geography and wildlife . The country continues to face challenges, including poverty , illiteracy , corruption and terrorism . Pakistan is a member of the United Nations , the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation , the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , the Commonwealth of Nations , the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation , and the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition , and is designated as a major non-NATO ally by the United States . The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems [2 volumes] . Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan . United Nations Development Programme . 8 September 2022 . Perhaps most importantly in a South Asian context, the role played by zebu makes this a distinctive, localised development, with a character completely different from other parts of the world. Mesopotamia and Egypt were longer lived, but coexisted with Indus civilisation during its florescence between 2600 and 1900 B.C. This development seems to have involved the whole Indus system, and to a lesser extent the Indo-Iranian borderlands to its west, but largely left untouched the subcontinent east of the Indus system. A Brief History of Pakistan . The Muslim World: a Historical Survey . Despite facing a rejuvenated Congress, the League won four-fifths of all the Muslim-reserved seats ... In most respects, therefore, the League's success in the elections of 1945–46 can be interpreted as a clear Muslim mandate for Pakistan. (p 72)" - Metcalf, Barbara D.; Metcalf, Thomas R. But, even for those who survived, fear generated a widespread perception that one could be safe only among members of one's own community; and this in turn helped consolidate loyalties towards the state, whether India or Pakistan, in which one might find a secure haven. This was especially important for Pakistan, where the succour it offered to Muslims gave that state for the first time a visible territorial reality. Fear too drove forward a mass migration unparalleled in the history of South Asia. ... BBC News. 9 March 2008. - "Pakistan to curb president powers" . Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security . In the framework of their regional security complex theory (RSCT), Barry Buzan and Ole Waever differentiate between superpowers and great powers which act and influence the global level (or system level) and regional powers whose influence may be large in their regions but have less effect at the global level. International Relations Theory and Regional Transformation . The regional powers such as Israel or Pakistan are not simple bystanders of great power politics in their regions; they attempt to asymmetrically influence the major power system often in their own distinct ways. The United States and the great powers: world politics in the twenty-first century . Countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enough influence to not be considered small, but not enough to be major powers. Within the limits of their regions, they play a significant political role. Thus instinctively, they would qualify as middle powers. While it is not the objective here to question the characteristics of Jordan's definition of middle powers, we argue that Pakistan is in fact a middle power despite its being nuclear-armed. When looking at the numbers, for instance, it appears that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan can be classified as middle powers (see in this regard Ping, 2007). Understanding Pakistan: Emerging Voices from India . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Country in South Asia This article is about the country. You may need rendering support to display the Urdu text in this article correctly. Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan , is a country in South Asia . It is the fifth-most populous country , with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and financial centre . Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country by area . Bounded by the Arabian Sea on the south, the Gulf of Oman on the southwest, and the Sir Creek on the southeast, it shares land borders with India to the east; Afghanistan to the west; Iran to the southwest; and China to the northeast. It shares a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman, and is separated from Tajikistan in the northwest by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor . Pakistan is the site of several ancient cultures , including the 8,500-year-old Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Balochistan , the Indus Valley Civilisation of the Bronze Age , and the ancient Gandhara civilisation . The regions that compose the modern state of Pakistan were the realm of multiple empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid , the Maurya , the Kushan , the Gupta ; the Umayyad Caliphate in its southern regions, the Hindu Shahis , the Ghaznavids , the Delhi Sultanate , the Samma , the Shah Miris , the Mughals , and finally, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947. Spurred by the Pakistan Movement , which sought a homeland for the Muslims of British India , and election victories in 1946 by the All-India Muslim League , Pakistan gained independence in 1947 after the partition of the British Indian Empire , which awarded separate statehood to its Muslim-majority regions and was accompanied by an unparalleled mass migration and loss of life. Initially a Dominion of the British Commonwealth , Pakistan officially drafted its constitution in 1956, and emerged as a declared Islamic republic . In 1971, the exclave of East Pakistan seceded as the new country of Bangladesh after a nine-month-long civil war . In the following four decades, Pakistan has been ruled by governments that alternated between civilian and military, democratic and authoritarian, relatively secular and Islamist. Pakistan is considered a middle power nation, with the world's seventh-largest standing armed forces . It is a declared nuclear-weapons state , and is ranked amongst the emerging and growth-leading economies, with a large and rapidly growing middle class. Pakistan's political history since independence has been characterized by periods of significant economic and military growth as well as those of political and economic instability. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with similarly diverse geography and wildlife . The country continues to face challenges, including poverty , illiteracy , corruption , and terrorism . Pakistan is a member of the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation , the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , the Commonwealth of Nations , the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation , and the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition , and is designated as a major non-NATO ally by the United States. IMF 2024 . sfn error: no target: CITEREFIMF2024 ( help ) IMF 2023 . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).