PAKISTAN - NATURAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LANDMARKS

Dr. Radu SĂGEATĂ^

Official Name: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Islāmī Jumhūriyah Pākistān

Location: South Asia, 23-37° N, 61-75° E<

Neighborhoods: SW: Iran – 909 km;
N, NW: Afghanistan – 2,430 km;
NE: China – 523 km;
E: India – 2,912 km, S: Indian Oc. (Arabian Sea) – 1,046 km

Area: 881,913 sqkm (the 33^rd largest country)

Population (2017 census):
212,742,631 inh (the 5^th most populous country)

Density: 244.4 inh/sqkm

Religions: Islam: 96.0% (Sunni Islam: 75%; Shia Islam: 20%); Hinduism: 1.85%; Christianity: 1.5%; Others: 0.6%

Languages: Punjabi: 48%, Sindhi: 12%, Saraiki: 10%, Pashto: 8%, Urdu: 8% (official language from 1952), Balochi: 3%, Other: 11%

Government: Federal parliamentary constitutional republic

Legislature: Parliament (Upper house – Senate,
Lower house – National Assembly)

The head of state: Arif Alvi (President), Imran Khan (Prime Minister)

National holidays: March, 23 (National Day), August, 14 (Independence Day)

Capital: Islāmābād (founded: 1960): 1,014,825 inh. (2017 Census)

The largest cities (2017 Census)

Rank	Name	Province	Population inh
1	Karachi	Sindh	14,916,456
2	Lahore	Punjab	11,126,285
3	Faisalabad	Punjab	3,204,726
4	Rawalpindi	Punjab	2,098,231
5	Gujranwala	Punjab	2,027,001
6	Peshawar	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	1,970,042
7	Multan	Punjab	1,871,843
8	Islāmābād	Capital Territory	1,014,825
9	Hyderabad	Sindh	1,009,832
10	Quetta	Balochistan	1,001,205
11	Bahawalpur	Punjab	762,111
12	Sargodha	Punjab	659,862
13	Sialkot	Punjab	655,852
14	Sukkur	Sindh	499,900
15	Larkana	Sindh	490,508
16	Sheikhupura	Punjab	473,129
17	Rahim Yar Khan	Punjab	420,419
18	Jhang	Punjab	414,131
19	Dera Ghazi Khan	Punjab	399,064
20	Gujrat	Punjab	390,533

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

Currency: Pakistani rupee (PKR) = 100 paisa

World Heritage Sites:

Archaeological Site of Mohenjo-daro (26^th cc. BC – 19^th cc. BC) – 1980
Archaeological Site of Taxila (5^th cc. BC – 2^nd cc. AD) – 1980
Shalimar Fort and Gardens in Lahore (1556) – 1981
Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahiand Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol (1^st cc) – 1980
Historical Monuments at Makli, Thatta (14^th cc. – 18^th cc.) – 1981
Rohtas Fort (1541) – 1997

NATURAL BACKGROUND

Varied, mountainous in the North (the Himalayan System with the Hindu Kush and the Karakorum Rangers), over 7,500 m alt. and permanently snow-covered; a tableland in the West (Baluchistan, part of the Iranian Plateau, intensely fragmented, max. alt. 3,441 m); fertile plain in the East (Indus Plain), and desert area (Great Indian Desert). Alt. max.: 7,690 m (Tirich Mir Peak in the Hindu Kush Mt.).

Climate: tropical, arid in the South-East, with high seasonal and altitudinal variations.

Waters: mostly tributary to the Indus Basin. The main water courses: Indus total length: 3,180 m, navigable; tributaries the Sohan, Chenab (with Jhelum and Ravi), Sutlej, Gumal (with Zhob), Hub, Nal, Dasht.

Forested area (% of the overall surface): 2.5

Protected areas: 157 protected areas recognized by International Union for Conser-vation of Nature (IUCN): 26 national parks (1,191,323 ha), 72 wildlife sanctuaries (4,912,531 ha), 66 game reserves (3,026,842 ha), 19 Ramsar protected wetlands (1,343,627 ha), 9 marine and littoral protected areas (1,186,437 ha) and 2 biosphere reserves (66,000 ha).

Threatened species (2018): 140

Forested area (% of total area, 2018): 1.9

CO2 emission estimates (2018): 166.3 mill. tons, 0.9 t/inh

TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION

	Name	Area (sqkm)	Population (inh., 2017)	Density inh/sqkm	Capital	HDI (2017)
Provinces	Punjab	205,344	100,012,442	487	Lahore	0.573
	Sindh	140,914	47,886,051	340	Karāchi	0.556
	Balochistan	347,190	12,344,408	36	Quetta	0.474
	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – FATA (until 2018) – NWFP (1955-2010)	101,741 27,220 74,521	35,525,047 5,001,676 30,523,371	350	Peshawar	0.559
Territories	Gilgit-Baltistan	77,277	1,800,000*	23	Gilgit	0.565
	Azad Kashmir	13,297	4,450,000	335	Muzaffarabad
	Islāmābād Capital Territory	1,165.5	2,851,868	2,447	Islāmābād