KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1947 (left in 1972, rejoined in 1989)
Population: 179,160,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 1.8% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 146
Official language: Urdu
Time: GMT plus 5hr
Currency: Pakistan rupee (PRs)
Geography
Area: 796,095 sq km
Coastline: 1,050 km
Capital: Islamabad
Pakistan lies just north of the Tropic of Cancer, bordering (clockwise from west) Iran, Afghanistan, China and India. The Arabian Sea lies to the south. The country comprises four provinces: (from south to north) Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province). The territory adjoining Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa is known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Pakistani-administered parts of Jammu and Kashmir in the north-east as Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas.
Main towns:
Islamabad (capital, pop. 689,200 in 2010), Karachi (Sindh Province, 13.21m), Lahore (Punjab, 7.13m), Faisalabad (Punjab, 2.88m), Rawalpindi (Punjab, 1.99m), Multan (Punjab, 1.61m), Hyderabad (Sindh, 1.58m), Gujranwala (Punjab, 1.57m), Peshawar (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 1.44m), Quetta (Balochistan, 896,100), Sargodha (Punjab, 600,500), Bahawalpur (Punjab, 543,900), Sialkot (Punjab, 510,900), Sukkur (Sindh, 493,400), Larkana (Sindh, 456,500), Shekhupura (Punjab, 427,000), Jhang (Punjab, 372,600), Rahimyar Khan (Punjab, 353,100), Mardan (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 352,100), Gujrat (Punjab, 336,700), Kasur (Punjab, 322,000), Mingaora (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 279,900), Dera Ghazi Khan (Punjab, 273,300), Nawabshah (Sindh, 272,600), Wah (Punjab, 265,200), Sahiwal (Punjab, 251,600), Mirpur Khas (Sindh, 242,900), Okara (Punjab, 235,400), Kohat (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 176,200), Abottabad (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 148,600), Khuzdar (Balochistan, 148,100), Swabi (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 115,000), Dera Ismail Khan (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 111,900) and Zhob (Balochistan, 56,800).
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 225
Life expectancy: 66 years
Net primary enrolment: 72%
Population:
179,160,000 (2012); density varies from more than 230 people per sq km in Punjab to 13 in Balochistan; 37 per cent of people live in urban areas and 18 per cent in urban agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 2.2 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 26 per 1,000 people (43 in 1970); life expectancy 66 years (54 in 1970). The population comprises Punjabis (44 per cent), Pashtuns (15 per cent), Sindhis (14 per cent), Saraikis (11 per cent), Muhajirs (7.6 per cent), Balochis (3.6 per cent), and other smaller groups including the tribal groups in the more remote northern areas.
Language:
The official language is Urdu, but English is widely used. Regional languages are Punjabi, Pashtu, Sindhi and Saraiki. There are numerous local dialects.
Education:
Public spending on education was two per cent of GDP in 2012. There are five years of primary education starting at the age of five, and seven years of secondary comprising cycles of three and four years. Some 52 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2010). The school year starts in April. In October 2013, the Higher Education Commission recognized 151 degree-awarding institutions, 84 in the public sector. Allama Iqbal Open University was established in 1974, the first open university in Asia. Fatima Jinnah Women’s University, Rawalpindi, opened in 1998 and was Pakistan’s first university exclusively for women. The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 0.90:1 (2011). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 71 per cent (2009). There is an extensive literacy programme. In 1994 Pakistan hosted the 12th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Islamabad. Commonwealth Education Ministers meet every three years to discuss issues of mutual concern and interest.
