Fast Facts
Population – 164,741,924
Capital – Islamabad
Government type – Federal Republic
Unemployment rate – 6.5% plus substantial underemployment
Internet country code:     .pk
Currency (code) – Pakistani rupee (PKR)
Official language(s) – Urdu, English, Punjabi
Religion – Muslim (majority), Christian, Hindu
Largest Cities – Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi
Calling code –  92
Area
total: 803,940 sq km
land: 778,720 sq km
water: 25,220 sq km
Elevation
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: K2 (Mt. Godwin-Austen) 8,611 m (28,251 feet)
Median age
total: 20.9 years
male: 20.7 years
female: 21 years

Time zone –  UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Daylight savings time: Not observed

Overview
Pakistan, officially Islamic Republic of Pakistan, republic is bordered by India on the east, the Arabian Sea on the south, Iran on the southwest, and Afghanistan on the west and north; in the northeast is the disputed territory (with India) of Kashmir, of which the part occupied by Pakistan borders on China.

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and is the second most populous country with a Muslim majority. Pakistan has one of the world’s most rapidly growing populations. Its people are a mixture of many ethnic groups, a result of the occupation of the region by groups passing through on their way to India.

The climate varies as much as the scenery, with cold winters and hot summers in the north and a mild climate in the south, moderated by the influence of the ocean. The central parts have extremely hot summers with temperatures rising to 113°F, followed by very cold winters, often falling below freezing.

History
What is now Pakistan was in prehistoric times the Indus Valley civilization (c. 2500-1700 B.C.). A series of invaders-Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, and others-controlled the region for the next several thousand years. Islam, the principal religion, was introduced in 711. In 1526, the land became part of the Mogul Empire, which ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the mid-18th century. By 1857, the British became the dominant power in the region. With Hindus holding most of the economic, social, and political advantages, the Muslim minority’s dissatisfaction grew, leading to the formation of the nationalist Muslim League in 1906 by Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1949). The league supported Britain in the Second World War while the Hindu nationalist leaders, Nehru and Gandhi, refused. In return for the league’s support of Britain, Jinnah expected British backing for Muslim autonomy. Britain agreed to the formation of Pakistan as a separate dominion within the Commonwealth in Aug. 1947, a bitter disappointment to India’s dream of a unified subcontinent. Jinnah became governor-general. The partition of Pakistan and India along religious lines resulted in the largest migration in human history, with 17 million people fleeing across the borders in both directions to escape the accompanying sectarian violence.

Pakistan was one of the two original successor states to British India, which was partitioned along religious lines in 1947. For almost 25 years following independence, it consisted of two separate regions, East and West Pakistan, but now it is made up only of the western sector. Both India and Pakistan have laid claim to the Kashmir region; this territorial dispute led to war in 1949, 1965, 1971, and 1999, and remains unresolved today.  Military rule was instituted in Oct. 1999; a nominal democracy was declared in June 2001 by the ruling military leader, Pervez Musharraf.