Pakistan Facts

by countryaah · Published June 3, 2019 · Updated April 26, 2020

Pakistan, State of South Asia; 796 095 km², 212.2 million residents (2019).The figures do not include the population (about 2 million) in the part of Pakistan controlled by the Jammu and Kashmir area, which since 1949 has been provisionally divided between Pakistan and India. Pakistan borders on Iran in the west, Afghanistan in the northwest, China in the north and India in the east. The country has a coast towards the Arabian Sea. The capital is Islamabad (1 million residents, 2017).

Country facts

Islami Jamhuriya e Pakistan / Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Country abbreviation: PK
Area: 796 095 km²
Population (2019): 212.2 million residents
Capital: Islamabad
Main languages: Urdu, Panjabi, Sindhi
State: Republic
Head of State: Arif Alvi (President)
Head of Government: Imran Khan
Per capita GDP (2018): US $ 1,473
GNI per capita (2018): US $ 1,580
Currency unit: 1 rupee = 100 paisas
Currency code: PKR
Country number (telephony): 92
Internet domain name: pk
Time difference compared to Sweden: +4
National Day: March 23 (Founding of the Republic, 1956),
Independence Day: August 14, 1947

Nature

Land use: forest (5%), agricultural land (28%), other (77%)
Highest mountain: K2 (8,611 m above sea level)
Longest river: Indus (3,200 km)

Population

Population density (2019): 266 residents per km²
Natural population growth (2019): 2.2%; birthrate 29 ‰, death count 7 ‰
Age structure (2019): 0-14 years (36%), 15-64 (60%), 65- (4%)
Life expectancy (2019): men 66 years, women 68 years
Infant mortality (2019): 62 per 1,000 live births
Population forecast 2050: 369 million residents
HDI (2017): 0.562 (place 150 of 189)
Urbanization rate (2019): 37%
Most populous cities (2017): Karachi (14.9 million residents), Lahore (11.1 million), Faisalabad (3.2 million)

Business

Industry’s contribution to GDP (2017): agriculture (24%), industry (19%), service (57%)
Exports (2017): US $ 32,880 million
Main export products: textile products, rice, leather
Main exporting countries: USA, UK, China
Imports (2017): US $ 53 110 million
Main import products: oil and oil products, machinery, plastics
Main Importing Countries: China, United Arab Emirates, USA
Railway network (2019): 11 900 km

Pakistan is dominated by the Indus plain. Its northern part is drained by the Indus and its tributaries and has been made into a fertile agricultural region through irrigation. The southern part of the plain, Sind, is a steppe and desert land, also partly irrigated. To the east of the Indus plain is Tharöknen. Western Pakistan is met by the Baluchistan mountain country. At the far north are some of the highest mountains in the earth. Pakistan has a dry, continental climate with large, mainly altitude-dependent regional variations.

The country, founded in 1947, experienced its fourth military coup in 1999 when Army Chief Pervez Musharraf seized power, dissolved Parliament and imprisoned the Prime Minister. In June 2001, he appointed himself president. The country has since the general elections were conducted in 2002 a elected government and a civilian prime minister. Since the constitutional amendments in 2010, the president, who is elected for five years, has only ceremonial functions and the country is governed by the prime minister and parliament, who are also elected for five years.

Business is heavily dependent on agriculture, where about half of the economically active population is employed. Unlike in India, the country has a large private sector. A small number of financial families control most of the investments, and the distribution of income and financial influence is extremely uneven. The textile industry is the country’s only export industry of importance.