Pakistan

The name Pakistan (English pronunciation: /ˈpækɪstæn/ (listen) or /pɑːkiˈstɑːn/ (listen); Urdu: پاکستان  [paːkɪˈst̪aːn]) means Land of (the) Spiritually Pure in both Urdu and Persian languages. Many South-central Asian states and regions end with the element -stan, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Balochistan, Kurdistan, and Turkistan. This -stan is formed from the Iranian root *STA "to stand, stay," and means "place (where one stays), home, country". Iranian peoples have been the main inhabitants of the various land regions of the Ancient Persian Empires now owned by the states for over a thousand years. The names are compounds of -stan and the name of the peoples living there. Pakistan is a bit different; its name was coined on 28 January 1933 as Pakstan by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist, who published it in his paper Now or Never.[11] by using the suffix -istan from Balochistan preceded by the first letters of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir and Sindh. The name is actually an acronym that stands for the "thirty million Muslim brethren who lived in Pakistan—by which we mean the Five Northern units of India viz: Punjab, (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind, and Baluchistan".[12] The letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and forms the linguistically correct and meaningful name.[13]

Flag

Pakistani national flag

The flag is a green field with a white crescent moon and five-rayed star at its centre, and a vertical white stripe at the hoist side. Though the green colour is mandated only as 'dark green', its official and most consistent representation is Pakistan green, which is shaded distinctively darker.

The flag was designed by Syed Amir uddin Kedwaii and was based on the original flag of the Muslim League. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947, just days before independence. The white colour on the flag represents the minorities and the green the Muslim majority. The crescent on the flag represents progress while the five-rayed star represents light and knowledge.

Pakistan has a federal parliamentary system.[14] The head of state is an indirectly elected ceremonial President. The Electoral college of the country, (composed of the Senate, the National Assembly, and the four Provincial Assemblies) chooses a leadership representing the President of Pakistan for a five-year term. The president is also the Commander in Chief of the Joint Armed Forces. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is also indirectly elected.

The President's appointment and term are constitutionally independent of the Prime Minister’s term. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly or of a coalition in the National Assembly.

The Prime Minister is the head of government. Pakistan's legislature is made of a 100-member Senate (upper house) and a 342-member National Assembly (lower house). The Chief Justice of Pakistan is the chief judge who oversees the judicature's court system at all levels of command.

On 17 August 2018 Ex-cricketer Imran Khan was elected as the New Prime Minister of Naya Pakistan. Because In 2018, Imran Khan (the chairman of PTI) Won the 2018 Pakistan general election with 116 general seats and so became the current 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan in election of National Assembly of Pakistan for Prime Minister by getting 176 votes against Shehbaz Sharif (the chairman of PMLN) who got 96 votes.[15] Pakistan is also headed by a "President", the Prime Minister Acts as the Leader of Pakistan.

National symbols

See the main article: National symbols of Pakistan

National symbols of Pakistan (Official)

National animal	Markhor
National bird	Chukar
National tree	Cedrus deodara
National flower	Jasminum officinale
National heritage state animal	Snow Leopard
National heritage state bird	Shaheen Falcon
National aquatic marine mammal	Indus river dolphin
National reptile	Indus Crocodile
National fish	Tor putitora
National amphibian	Bufo stomaticus
National butterfly	Indian purple emperor
National fruit	Mango
National staple crop	Sugarcane
National beverage	Sugarcane juice
National vegetable	Okra
National cuisine	Pakistani Biryani (Beef)
National sport	Field hockey
National dress	Salwar kameez
National mosque	Faisal Mosque
National mausoleum	Mazar-e-Quaid
National river	Indus River
National mountain	K2

ISE Towers in Islamabad

Pakistan has a semi-industrialized economy.[19][20] The growth poles of the Pakistani economy are situated along the Indus River.[20][21] Diversified economies of Karachi and Punjab's urban centres, coexist with less developed areas in other parts of the country.[20] Despite being a very poor country in 1947, Pakistan's economic growth rate has been better than the global average during the following four decades, but incautious policies led to a slowdown in the late 1990s.[22]

Recently, large economic reforms have resulted in a stronger economic outlook and sped up growth especially in the manufacturing and financial services sectors.[22] Since the 1990s, there has been great improvement in the foreign exchange market position and rapid growth in hard currency reserves.[22]

The 2005 estimate of foreign debt was close to US$40 billion. However, this decreased with help from the International Monetary Fund and significant debt-relief from the United States. Pakistan's gross domestic product, as measured by purchasing power parity, is estimated to be $475 billion[23] while its per capita income stands at $1,842.[23] The poverty rate in Pakistan is estimated to be between 23%[24] and 38%.[25]

"Priest King" of Indus Valley Civilization

Pakistan became Independent in 1947 from the United Kingdom which was known as the British Raj. The first organised people in Ancient Pakistan lived 9000 years ago. These people were the ones who made up the Indus Valley Civilization,[26] which is one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. After that, the Vedic period came. This also included parts of north-western Republic of India. Until 1971, Pakistan also included an area in the North-east India region. This is now called Bangladesh. It lost that area after a war with the Indian Army and the joint militant group of Indo-Bangladeshi alliance of Mitro Bahini of West Bengal. During recent times Pakistan has been in the centre of world politics. This is first because of its support to guerillas in Afghanistan, following a Soviet invasion 1979, and later during the 1990s because of its cooperation with and support for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. However, since 2000 Pakistan has supported the West in their war against fundamentalist terrorism, including the removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth. However, after the war in East Pakistan the country was excluded (between 1972 and 1989). It was also a member between 1999 and 2007, it was excluded in 2007 for a time but again became a member in 2008.[27]

This is a map of Pakistan and Kashmir, as it is seen from space.

There are many earthquakes in the area. The earthquake in 2005 with its earthquake center in Kashmir is the strongest recorded so far. Over 100,000 people were killed or wounded on 8 October 2005.

K2 at 8,611 m (28,251 ft) is the second highest peak in the world

Pakistan covers 880,940 km² (340,130 sq mi),[28] roughly similar to the combined land areas of France and the UK. Its eastern regions are located on the Indian plate and the western and northern regions on the Iranian plateau and Eurasian landplate. Apart from the 1,046 km (650 mi) Arabian Sea coastline, Pakistan's land borders total 6,774 km (4,209 mi)—2,430 km (1,510 mi) with Afghanistan to the northwest, 523 km (325 mi) with China to the northeast, 2,912 km (1,809 mi) with India to the south and east, and 909 km (565 mi) with Iran to the southwest.[29]

Mango Orchard in Multan, Punjab

The northern and western highlands of Pakistan contain the towering Karakoram and Pamir mountain ranges, which include some of the world's highest peaks, including K2 8,611 m (28,251 ft) and Nanga Parbat 8,126 m (26,660 ft). The Balochistan Plateau lies to the west, and the Thar Desert and an expanse of alluvial plains, the Punjab and Sindh, lie to the east. The 1,609 km (1,000 mi) Indus River and its tributaries flow through the country from the disputed territory of Occupied Kashmir to the Arabian Sea.[30]

Pakistan has four seasons: a cool, dry winter from December through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the retreating monsoon period of October and November. The beginning and length of these seasons vary somewhat according to location.[31] Rainfall can change radically from year to year, and consecutive patterns of flooding and drought are also not uncommon.[32]

The national sport of Pakistan is field hockey, although cricket is the most popular game across the country.[36] The national cricket team has won the Cricket World Cup once (in 1992), were runners-up once (in 1999), and co-hosted the games twice (in 1987 and 1996). Pakistan were runners-up in the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa and were the champions at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 held in England. The team also won two Asia Cups in 2000 and 2012. Lately however, Pakistani cricket has suffered heavily due to teams refusing to tour Pakistan after militants attacked the touring Sri Lankan team in March 2009, after which no international cricket was played until May 2015, when the Zimbabwean team agreed to tour. However, now, with increased security, the Sri Lankan cricket team came for a tour as recently as 2019.

In addition to sports like field hockey, cricket, squash rackets, football and others, Pakistanis are also very keen on equestrianism of various types,and equestrian sports such as Polo and the traditional Tent pegging are played by many. Other traditional rural sports include two types of Wrestling, Kabbadi and a martial art called Gatka.

• History of Pakistan
• Religions of Pakistan
• List of rivers of Pakistan
• Political families of Pakistan
• Transportation in Pakistan
• Pakistan at the Olympics
• National symbols of Pakistan

Notes

• Pakistan - CIA World Factbook