The World Factbook (1990)/Pakistan
Pakistan
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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 an upper house or Senate and a lower house or National Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Federal Islamic (Shari'at) Court
Leaders: Chief of State—President GHULAM ISHAQ Khan (since 13 December 1988);
Head of Government—Prime Minister Benazir BHUTTO (since 2 December 1988)
Political parties and leaders: 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 Waii Khan
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: 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
Member of: 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, Islāmābād (mailing address is P. O. Box 1048, Islāmābād); telephone [92](51) 8261-61 through 79; there are US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, and a Consulate in Peshāwar
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
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)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11 % (FY89)
Unemployment rate: 4% (FY89 est.)
Budget: revenues $7.5 billion; expenditures $10.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.3 billion (FY89 est.)
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)
External debt: $17.4 billion (1989)
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
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)
Highways: 101,315 km total (1987); 40,155 km paved, 23,000 km gravel, 29,000 km improved earth, and 9,160 km unimproved earth or sand tracks (1985)
Pipelines: 250 km crude oil; 4,044 km natural gas; 885 km refined products (1987)
Ports: Gwadar, Karachi, Port Muhammad bin Qasim
Merchant marine: 29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 338,173 GRT/508,107 DWT; includes 4 passenger-cargo, 24 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker
Civil air: 30 major transport aircraft
Airports: 115 total, 102 usable; 70 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 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 earth station—1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT
Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Air Force, Navy, Civil
Armed Forces, National Guard
Military manpower: males 15-49, 26,215,898; 16,080,545 fit for military service; 1,282,294 reach military age (17) annually
Defense expenditures: 5.6% of GNP, or $2.4 billion (1989 est.)