Pakistan

The official name of Pakistan is The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the capital city is Islamabad. (W.B.O.1). Pakistan achieved its independence from the United Kingdom on August 14, 1947. (C.I.A.4). Pakistan is a located in the southwest region of Asia measuring a little less than twice the size of California and is comprised of 803,940 sq. km. (Worldmark385). Pakistan is sandwiched mainly between India to the east and Afghanistan to the west with China sharing a small section of the north boarder and Iran sharing the southwest boarder. (C.I.A.1). Pakistan also has 814 km of coastline from the Arabian Sea located along the southern boarder between Iran and India. (W.B.O.1). The evolution of Pakistan began as a result of the reorganization in 1947 of British India into two different regions, East and West Pakistan. The third Pakistan war in 1971 caused East Pakistan to bow out and become a separate nation named Bangladesh.

Poverty in Pakistan

Pakistan Monument Shakarpuryan Islamabad (61)

Map of Pakistan

(C.I.A.1)

Current Issues

Pakistan is a country that has several problems and current issues to resolve related to a wide range of subjects. These problems range from, but not limited to, political unrest, increasing crime, economic and terrorism. The country recently survived a political coup in October 1999. (Jaffrelot256). The government and people of Pakistan have endured the existence of terrorism for several years. The Pakistani government recently made a deal with the Taliban terrorist group requesting the Taliban terminate training camps for Pakistani jihadists in Afghanistan. (Jaffrelot257).

Economy

The external debt Pakistan currently endures is estimated (2001) to be $31.5 billion dollars. (C.I.A.8). It is estimated that 50% of the national budget is set aside for debt servicing and only an estimated 1.2 million people paid taxes. (Jaffrelot256-7). The economy of Pakistan has spiraled out of control to the point that one third of the...