From: syed@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Burhan Syed)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: cia factbook on pakistan
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 02:25:31 MST
Organization: Edmonton Remote Systems #3, Edmonton, AB, Canada

 
Pakistan
------------ 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;
 
Exclusive 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: arable land 26%; permanent crops NEGL%;
meadows and pastures 6%; forest and woodland 4%; other 64%; includes
irrigated 19%
 
 
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: 117,490,278 (July 1991), growth rate 2.5% (1991)
 
 
Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1991)
 
 
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
 
 
Net migration rate: - 5 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
 
 
Infant mortality rate: 109 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
 
 
Life expectancy at birth: 56 years male, 57 years female (1991)
 
 
Total fertility rate: 6.6 children born/woman (1991)
 
 
Nationality: noun--Pakistani(s); adjective--Pakistani
 
 
Ethnic divisions: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun (Pathan), Baloch,
Muhajir (immigrants from India and their descendents)
 
 
Religion: Muslim 97% (Sunni 77%, Shia 20%), Christian, Hindu, and
other 3%
 
 
Language: Urdu and English (both official); total spoken
languages--Punjabi 64%, Sindhi 12%, Pashtu 8%, Urdu 7%, Balochi and other
9%; English is lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government
ministries, but official policies are promoting its gradual replacement
by Urdu
 
 
Literacy: 35% (male 47%, female 21%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
 
 
Labor force: 28,900,000; agriculture 54%, mining and manufacturing
13%, services 33%; 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: Islamabad
 
 
Administrative divisions: 4 provinces, 1 territory*, and 1
capital 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 with amendments, 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 Parliament (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
 
 
Leaders:
 
Chief of State--President GHULAM ISHAQ Khan (since 13 December
1988);
 
Head of Government--Prime Minister Mian Nawaz SHARIF (since 6
November 1990);
 
 
Political parties and leaders: Islamic Democratic
Alliance (Islami Jamuri Ittehad or IJI)--the Pakistan Muslim League
(PML) led by Mohammed Khan JUNEJO is the main party in the IJI;
Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Benazir BHUTTO; note--in September 1990
the PPP announced the formation of the People's Democratic Alliance
(PDA), an electoral alliance including the following four
parties--PPP, Solidarity Movement (Tehrik Istiqlal), Movement for the
Implementation of Shia Jurisprudence (Tehrik-i-Nifaz Fiqh Jafariya
or TNFJ), and the PML (Malik faction);
Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), Altaf HUSSAIN;
Awami National Party (ANP), Khan Abdul Wali KHAN;
Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), Fazlur RAHMAN;
Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Mohammad Akbar Khan BUGTI;
Pakistan National Party (PNP), Mir Ghaus Bakhsh BIZENJO;
Pakistan Khawa Milli Party (PKMP), leader NA;
Assembly of Pakistani Clergy (Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan or JUP),
Maulana Shah Ahmed NOORANI;
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Qazi Hussain AHMED
 
 
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 Parliament
and the four provincial assemblies;
 
Senate--last held March 1991 (next to be held March 1994);
results--elected by provincial assemblies;
seats--(87 total) IJI 57, Tribal Area Representatives (nonparty) 8,
PPP 5, ANP 5, JWP 4, MQM 3, PNP 2, PKMP 1, JUI 1, independent 1;
 
National Assembly--last held on 24 October 1990 (next to be held
by October 1995);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(217 total) IJI 107, PDA 45, MQM 15, ANP 6, JUI 6, JWP 2, PNP 2,
PKMP 1, independent 14, religious minorities 10, Tribal Area
Representatives (nonparty) 8, vacant 1
 
 
Communists: the Communist party is officially banned but is
allowed to operate openly
 
 
Other political or pressure groups: military remains dominant
political force; ulema (clergy), industrialists, and small merchants also
influential
 
 
Member of: AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAS
(observer), OIC, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
 
 
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Najmuddin SHAIKH; 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 or APO New York 09614); telephone [92] (51) 826161
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
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. Late in 1990, the IMF
suspended assistance to Pakistan because the government failed to
follow through on deficit reforms. Pakistan almost certainly will make
little headway on raising living standards for its rapidly expanding
population; at the current rate of growth, population would double in
29 years.
 
 
GNP: $43.3 billion, per capita $380; real growth rate 5.0%
(FY90 est.)
 
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.7% (FY90)
 
 
Unemployment rate: 10% (FY91 est.)
 
 
Budget: revenues $5.6 billion; expenditures $10.2 billion,
including capital expenditures of $2.7 billion (FY91 est.)
 
 
Exports: $4.8 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
 
commodities--rice, cotton, textiles, clothing;
 
partners--EC 31%, Japan 11.6%, US 11.5% (FY89)
 
 
Imports: $6.5 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
 
commodities--petroleum, petroleum products, machinery,
transportation equipment, vegetable oils, animal fats, chemicals;
 
partners--EC 26%, US 16%, Japan 14% (FY89)
 
 
External debt: $20.1 billion (1990 est.)
 
 
Industrial production: growth rate 7.5% (FY91 est.); accounts for
almost 20% of GNP
 
 
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
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan