Encyclopedia
Pakistan, officially the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan , is a country located in
South Asia that overlaps with the
Greater Middle East. It has a thousand-kilometre coastline along the
Arabian Sea in the south and borders
Afghanistan and
Iran to the west,
India to the east and the
People's Republic of China in the far northeast.
Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, is home to the second most populous city in the world, and is the
second most populous Muslim country. It was established as a modern state in 1947, as one of the two parts of the
partitioned British India, but the region has a long history of settlement and civilisation including the
Indus Valley Civilisation. The region was invaded by
Indo-Aryans,
Afghans,
Greeks,
Persians, Arabs, and was incorporated into the
British Raj in the nineteenth century. Since
independence, Pakistan has experienced times of significant military and economic growth, and times of instability, with the secession of East Pakistan . Pakistan has the seventh largest armed forces in the world and is a
declared nuclear weapons state.
Etymology
The name "
Pakistan" means "Land of the Pure" in
Urdu and
Persian. It was coined in 1933 by
Choudhary Rahmat Ali, who published it in the pamphlet
Now or Never as an acronym of the names of the "Muslim homelands" of western India —
P for
Punjab,
A for
Afghania ,
K for
Kashmir,
S for
Sindh and
tan for Balochistan. The
i was later added to the name since in Urdu, the national language of Pakistan "istan" refers to "land of" while "pak" means pure. Officially, the nation was founded as the
Dominion of Pakistan in 1947, and was renamed as the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1957.
History
The modern state of Pakistan was established on 14 August 1947, but the region it encompasses has an extensive history that overlaps with the histories of
Ancient India,
Iran and
Afghanistan. The region was a crossroads of historic trade routes, including the
Silk Road, and was settled over thousands of years by many groups, including Dravidians,
Indo-Aryans,
Persians,
Greeks,
Scythians,
Parthians Kushans, White Huns,
Afghans,
Turks,
Mongols and Arabs; the region is often referred to as "a museum of races." Historian and geographer de Blij Muller characterized the historical embodiment of the land when he said, "If, as is so often said,
Egypt is the gift of the
Nile, then Pakistan is the gift of the
Indus." The earliest evidence of humans are pebble tools from the Soan Culture in the province of
Punjab, dated from 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. The
Indus region was the site of several ancient cultures including Mehrgarh, one of the world's earliest known towns, and the
Indus Valley Civilisation at
Harrappa and
Mohenjo-Daro.
The Indus Valley Civilisation collapsed in the middle of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Vedic Civilisation, which extended over much of northern India and Pakistan. Successive empires and kingdoms ruled the region from the
Achaemenid Persian empire around 543 BCE, to
Alexander the Great in 326 BCE and the
Mauryan empire. The
Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by
Demetrius of Bactria included
Gandhara and
Punjab from 184 BCE, and reached its greatest extent under
Menander, establishing the
Greco-Buddhist period with advances in trade and culture. The city of
Taxila became a major centre of learning in ancient times - the remains of the city, located to the west of
Islamabad, are one of the country's major archaeological sites.
In 712 CE, the Arab general
Muhammad bin Qasim conquered
Sindh and
Multan in southern
Punjab, setting the stage for several successive Muslim empires including the
Ghaznavid Empire, the Ghorid Kingdom, the
Delhi Sultanate and the
Mughal Empire. During this period
Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of the regional population to
Islam. The gradual decline of the Mughal Empire in the early eighteenth century provided opportunities for the
Afghans,
Balochis and
Sikhs to exercise control over large areas until the
British East India Company gained ascendancy over South Asia.
The
War of Independence in 1857 was the region's last major armed struggle against the British Raj, and it laid the foundations for the generally unarmed freedom struggle led by the
Congress. However, the
Muslim League rose to popularity in the late 1930's amid fears of under-representation and neglect of Muslims in politics. On 29 December 1930,
Allama Iqbal's presidential address called for a separate Muslim state in northwest and eastern
South Asia.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah espoused the
Two Nation Theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the
Lahore Resolution of 1940, which ultimately led to the creation of Pakistan.
Pakistan was formed on 14 August 1947 with two Muslim-majority wings in the eastern and northwestern regions of
South Asia, separated by
Hindu-majority India, and comprising the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the
North-West Frontier Province,
West Punjab and
Sindh. The
partition of British India resulted in communal riots across India and Pakistan—millions of Muslims moved to Pakistan and millions of Hindus and
Sikhs moved to India. Disputes arose over several princely states including
Jammu and Kashmir which led to the
First Kashmir War ending with Pakistan and India each occupying large parts of the state. From 1947 to 1956, Pakistan was a Dominion in the
Commonwealth of Nations. The republic declared in 1958 was stalled by a
coup d'etat by
Ayub Khan , who was president during a period of internal instability and a
second war with India in 1965. His successor,
Yahya Khan had to deal with the
cyclone which caused 500,000 deaths in East Pakistan. Economic and political dissent in East Pakistan led to violent political repression and tensions escalating into civil war and the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and ultimately the secession of East Pakistan as the independent state of
Bangladesh.
Civilian rule resumed from 1972 to 1977 under
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, until he was deposed by General
Zia-ul-Haq, who became the third military president. Pakistan's secular policies were replaced by Zia's introduction of the Islamic Shariat legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military. With the death of General Zia in a plane crash in 1988,
Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Over the next decade, she alternated power with
Nawaz Sharif, as the country's political and economic situation worsened. Military tensions in the
Kargil conflict with India in 1999 was followed by a military
coup in which General
Pervez Musharraf assumed executive powers. In 2001, Musharraf became
President after the resignation of Rafiq Tarar. After the 2002 parliamentary elections, Musharraf transferred executive powers to newly elected Prime Minister
Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was succeeded in the 2004 Prime-Ministerial election by Shaukat Aziz.
Government and politics
The
Muslim League formed Pakistan's first government under the leadership of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah and
Liaquat Ali Khan. The Muslim League's leadership of Pakistani politics reduced significantly with the rise of other political parties, with the Pakistan People's Party in West Pakistan, and the
Awami League in East Pakistan, which would ultimately lead to the creation of Bangladesh. The first
Constitution of Pakistan was adopted in 1956, but was suspended in 1958 by
Ayub Khan. The Constitution of 1973, suspended in 1977 by
Zia-ul-Haq, was re-instated in 1991 and is the country's most important document, laying the foundations of government. Pakistan is a
federal republic with
Islam as the state religion. The
semi-presidential system includes a
bicameral legislature consisting of a 100-member Senate and a 342-member National Assembly. The
President is the
Head of State and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and is elected by an electoral college. The
prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly. Each province has a similar system of government with a directly elected Provincial Assembly in which the leader of the largest party or alliance becomes Chief Minister. Provincial Governors are selected by the Provincial Assemblies on the advice of the Chief Minister.
The
Pakistani military has played an influential role in mainstream politics throughout Pakistan's history, with military presidents ruling from 1958–71, 1977–88 and from 1999 onwards. The leftist Pakistan People's Party , led by
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, emerged as a major political player during the 1970s. Under the military rule of
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan began a marked shift from the British-era secular politics and policies, to the adoption of Shariat and other laws based on Islam. During the 1980s, the anti-
feudal, pro-
Muhajir Muttahida Qaumi Movement was started by unorthodox and educated urban dwellers of
Sindh and particularly
Karachi. The 1990s were characterized by coalition politics dominated by the PPP and a rejuvenated Muslim League.
In the October 2002 general elections, the Pakistan Muslim League won a plurality of National Assembly seats with the second-largest group being the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians , a sub-party of the PPP.
Zafarullah Khan Jamali of PML-Q emerged as Prime Minister but resigned on 26 June 2004 and was replaced by PML-Q leader
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as interim Prime Minister. On 28 August, 2004 the National Assembly voted 191 to 151 to elect the Finance Minister and former
Citibank Vice President Shaukat Aziz as Prime Minister. Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of Islamic religious parties, won elections in
North-West Frontier Province, and increased their representation in the National Assembly.
Pakistan is an active member of the
United Nations and the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference , the latter of which Pakistan has used as a forum for
Enlightened Moderation, a plan to promote a
renaissance and
enlightenment in the Muslim world. Pakistan is also a member of the major regional organisations of the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the
Economic Cooperation Organisation . In the past, Pakistan has had mixed relations with the United States especially in the early 1950s when Pakistan was the United States' "most allied ally in Asia" and a member of both the
Central Treaty Organisation and the
Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation . During the
Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s Pakistan was a crucial US ally, but relations soured in the 1990s, when sanctions were applied by the US over suspicions of Pakistan's nuclear activities. The September 11 attacks and the subsequent
War on Terrorism have seen an improvement in US–Pakistan ties, especially after Pakistan ended its support of the
Taliban regime in
Kabul. In January 2004, founder of Pakistani nuclear program
A. Q. Khan confessed of nuclear proliferation to
Libya,
Iran and
North Korea. On 5 February 2004, the president
Pervez Musharraf, announced that he had pardoned A. Q. Khan.
Pakistan has long had troubled relations with
neighbouring India. The long-running dispute over
Kashmir resulted in full fledged wars in
1947 and
1965. Civil war in 1971 flared into the simultaneous
Bangladeshi Liberation War and the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Pakistan conducted nuclear weapon tests in 1998 to counterbalance India's nuclear tests and became the only Muslim
nuclear weapons state. The relations with India are steadily improving following peace initiatives in 2002. Pakistan maintains close
economic,
military and political relationships with the
People's Republic of China.
Pakistan also faces instability in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where some tribal leaders support the
Taliban. Pakistan has had to deploy its army in these regions to suppress the local unrest, although a recently declared ceasefire between the tribal leaders and the Pakistani government will bring back the significantly needed stability to the region.
Additionally, the country has long faced instability in its largest province, Balochistan. The army was deployed to fight a serious insurgency within the province from 1973–76. Social stability resumed after
Rahimuddin Khan was appointed martial law administrator beginning in 1977. After relative peace throughout the 1980s and 1990s, some influential Baloch tribal leaders once again started a separatist movement after Pervez Musharraf took over in 1999.
Administrative divisions
Pakistan is a
federation of four provinces, a capital territory and federally administered tribal areas. Pakistan exercises
de facto jurisdiction over the western parts of the
Kashmir region, organised as two separate political entities , which are also claimed by India. In 2001 the federal government abolished the third tier of government in favour of the former fourth tier districts. The provinces and the capital territory are subdivided into a total of
107 districts which contain numerous tehsils and local governments. The tribal areas comprise seven tribal agencies and six small frontier regions detached from neighbouring districts whilst Azad Kashmir comprises seven districts and Northern Areas comprises six districts.
Provinces:
- Balochistan
- North-West Frontier Province
- Punjab
- Punjab region [i], an area of South Asia shared by India and Pakistan
...
- Sindh
- Balochistan and NWFP also have Provincially Administered Tribal Areas which are being developed into regular districts.
Territories:
- Islamabad Capital Territory
- Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Pakistani-administered portions of the Kashmir region:
- Azad Kashmir
- Northern Areas
Geography and climate
Pakistan covers 880,254 square kilometres , approximately the combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom, with its eastern regions located on the Indian tectonic plate and the western and northern regions on the Iranian plateau and Eurasian landplate. Apart from the 1,046 kilometre Arabian Sea coastline, Pakistan's land borders total 6,774 kilometres—2,430 kilometres with Afghanistan to the northwest, 523 kilometres with China to the northeast, 2,912 kilometres with India to the east and 909 kilometres with Iran to the southwest.
The different types of natural features range from the sandy beaches, lagoons, and mangrove swamps of the southern coast to preserved moist temperate forests and the icy peaks of the Himalaya,
