The climate of Pakistan varies widely with topography, but is generally continental in type. In the mountain regions of the north and west, temperatures fall below freezing during the winter. In the Indus Plain area, temperatures range between about 32° and 49° C (90° and 120° F) in summer; the winter average is about 13° C (55° F). Throughout most of Pakistan rainfall is scarce. The Punjab region receives the most precipitation—more than 508 mm (20 in) per year. The arid regions of the south-east and south-west receive less than 127 mm (5 in) annually. Most rain falls between July and September.

The vegetation of Pakistan varies according to elevation and rainfall. In much of the country the natural vegetation is limited to drought-resistant grasses and stunted trees. Alpine flora grows on the higher mountain slopes. The wetter slopes are wooded; species include spruce, evergreen oak, chir or cheer pine, and a cedar known as the deodar.

Pakistan has a varied animal life. Species include deer, boar, bear, crocodile, and waterfowl. In the freshwater and salt-water areas, fish of many varieties are found. Marine species include herring, mackerel and sharks, as well as shellfish.

The ethnic background of Pakistan’s population is extremely varied, largely because the country lies in an area that has been repeatedly invaded since earliest times. The people come from such ethnic stocks as Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Greek, Scythian, Hun, Arab, Mongol, Persian, Turkish, and Afghan.

Pakistan, a highly populated country, has a population (1995 estimate) of about 129,808,000 (not including the disputed territories of Jammu and Kashmir), yielding an average population density of about 163.1 people per sq km (422 per sq mi). The birth rate in Pakistan in 1995 was 38.4 births for every 1,000 people. Average life expectancy is 62 years for men and 64 years for women. About 32 per cent of the people live in urban areas. There were an estimated 1.5 million refugees from Afghanistan in the country in 1994.

The national language of Pakistan is Urdu, but comparatively few people use it as their mother tongue. Punjabi is probably the most widely spoken language, followed by Sindhi, Pashto, Saraiki, and Baloch respectively. English is extensively used by educated people and is the official language of Pakistan.

As a Muslim nation, Pakistan is strongly influenced by the culture and traditions of Islam. Hindu and British influences, however, are widespread in the country.

In 1994 Pakistan’s GNP was about US$60,000 million, giving an average per capita income of US$460. The trade deficit rose to US$22,200 million in 1995, over three times that of 1994. As a result, a number of stabilization reforms were introduced in 1995, which included a 7 per cent devaluation of the Pakistani rupee.

Since the 1980s, as part of efforts to increase growth and employment private companies have been allowed into previously state-controlled sectors, such as banking, water, and other utilities. Public-debt servicing accounts for 35 per cent of budget expenditure, military spending accounts for about 26 per cent, and development, 23 per cent. The 1988-1993 seventh five-year plan allowed private investors to set up businesses without having to seek government permission—as previously—in all economic sectors except arms and alcohol production. Many people go abroad to work. The eighth five-year plan is running from 1993-1998; there is also a perspective plan for 1993-2008. The annual budget in the mid-1990s included an estimated US$12,500 million in revenue and US$14,000 million in expenditure.

About 27 per cent of Pakistan’s total land area, predominantly in the Indus Valley, is considered arable; most cultivated land is irrigated. Agriculture and related activities involve almost half the work force and provide over one quarter of GDP. By the late 1970s an intensive land-reform effort had resulted in the expropriation of some 1.2 million hectares (3 million acres) from landlords, the distribution of almost half of this to tenants, and the limitation of individual holdings to 40 hectares (100 acres) of irrigated, or 81 hectares (200 acres) of non-irrigated land.

Formerly an importer of wheat, Pakistan achieved self-sufficiency in grain by the mid-1970s, and is now also a major exporter of rice. Principal crops in 1995 (with output in tonnes) included sugar cane, 47.2 million; wheat, 17.0 million; rice, 5.7 million; cotton, 1.8 million; and maize, 1.3 million. Most people living in rural areas keep some animals; those living in the arid upland areas, such as the Balochistan Plateau, are generally pastoralists, living nomadic or semi-nomadic lives. The livestock population in the mid-1990s included an estimated 19 million cattle, 29 million sheep, 44 million goats, 20 million buffalo, 4 million donkeys, 1.1 million camels, and 135 million chickens.

About 5 per cent of Pakistan is forested. Most of the 29 million cu m (1,024 million cu ft) of roundwood harvested in 1994 was used as fuel.

Fishing resources are extensive. In 1994 the total catch was about 552,000 tonnes, most of it obtained from the Indian Ocean. The fish caught include sardines, sharks, and anchovies; the shrimp catch is also important.

In 1995 the most important minerals (with annual production in tonnes) included gypsum (620,000), rock salt (890,000), limestone (9.7 million), bauxite (4,400), chromite (13,000), and coal and lignite (3 million). Crude oil production was about 19.9 million barrels, and production of natural gas was about 17.7 million cu m (625 million cu ft).

Pakistan’s manufacturing capacity is increasing and production has been steadily expanding. In the mid-1990s manufacturing accounted for about 18 per cent of GDP, as compared with 14 per cent in 1965; the service sector, including the state bureaucracy, accounted for 31 per cent. Important products include processed foods; leather; clothing and footwear; cotton and jute textiles; cotton, silk, and rayon cloth; refined petroleum; cement; fertilizers; sugar; cigarettes; soda ash; bicycles; steel billets and sheets; and chemicals. Handicraft products, such as pottery and carpets, are also important. Government policy since the late 1970s has been to encourage private-sector investment in industry. However, the largest plants are still mainly state owned, including those producing cement, fertilizer, steel, and ghee (clarified butter) for cooking.

Pakistan’s foreign trade consists largely of exports of raw materials and basic products such as cotton yarn, and imports of manufactured products. In 1996 exports earned about US$8,300 million and imports cost US$12,000 million. The chief exports were textiles and fabrics; clothing; rice; carpets and rugs; leather; fish; and cotton. The main imports were machinery; electrical equipment; petroleum products; transport equipment; oils and fats; metal and metal products; and organic chemicals. Pakistan’s leading trade partners included Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and France. Tourism is of increasing importance in Pakistan’s foreign currency earnings. In 1994 there were around 454,353 tourist arrivals; the foreign exchange receipts from tourism in 1994 were US$126.2 million.

Lack of a modern transport network has been a major hindrance to Pakistan’s development. Its terrain, laced with rivers and mountains, presents formidable obstacles to internal land transport.

Pakistan is an Islamic republic with a federal system of government. Following the secession of East Pakistan in 1971, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1973 to replace the one in operation since 1956. Following the military coup d’état of 1977, however, a system of martial law was put into effect, and most aspects of the 1973 constitution were suspended. In 1985 parliamentary government was re-established, martial law was ended, and the constitution restored, after amendments extending the powers of the president, including those of appointing and dismissing ministers and vetoing new legislation. Legislation enacted in 1991 made Shari‘ah, or Islamic law, the supreme law of the land. A constitutional court rules on matters relating to the constitution, and can overrule presidential decisions. On April 1, 1997, the federal legislature revoked sections of the constitution’s eighth amendment, in effect reducing the powers of the president in order to restore power to the elected government. The legislation, known as the 13th amendment, has brought the presidency back under the control of the prime minister; the president may not dismiss parliament without the prime minister’s permission.

According to the 1973 constitution, as amended in 1985, the head of state of Pakistan is a president, elected to a five-year term by a college of deputies from the federal and provincial assemblies. The chief executive is the prime minister, who is responsible to the legislature.

Legislative power is vested in the bicameral federal legislature (Majilis-e-Shoora). The National Assembly has 217 seats, including 10 reserved for religious minority representatives. Members are directly elected by universal suffrage for terms of up to five years. The Senate has 87 seats (two for women). Members are indirectly elected by the provincial legislatures; senators serve six-year terms.

The highest court in Pakistan is the Supreme Court. The judicial system in each province is headed by a High Court. A Federal Shari‘ah Court has been established to determine whether any law is wholly or partially un-Islamic. In 1991 parliament passed a law obliging the criminal code to conform to Islamic law. In 1992 the death penalty, in abeyance since 1986, was reintroduced.

Azad Kashmir, the western part of the area of Jammu and Kashmir controlled by Pakistan, has its own government, president, prime minister, and courts. The northern portion—Gilgit, Diamir, and Baltistan—is directly administered by the federal government.

Health services in Pakistan are limited by a lack of finance and facilities. In 1994 the country had about 66,200 doctors (1 per 2,064 people) and some 80,900 beds in hospitals and clinics. In 1976 an old-age pension system was inaugurated, but it covers relatively few Pakistanis. In 1996 the infant mortality rate was 79 deaths for every 1,000 live births. Pakistan spends an estimated 3.5 per cent of GDP on health care.

Military service in Pakistan is voluntary. In 1995 the country’s armed forces had about 587,000 members, with 520,000 in the army, 45,000 in the air force, and 22,000 in the navy. Pakistan is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and officially became a nuclear power when it conducted underground tests in May 1998. As a proportion of GDP, Pakistan’s spending on defence is around three times that of its main rival nation, India; arms imports in 1993 amounted to US$430 million.

In 1940 the Muslim League formally endorsed the partitioning of British India and the creation of Pakistan as a separate Muslim state. During pre-independence talks in 1946, therefore, the British government found that the stand of the Muslim League on separation and that of the Congress on the territorial unity of India were irreconcilable. The British then decided on partition and on August 15, 1947, transferred power dividedly to India and Pakistan. The latter, however, came into existence in two parts: West Pakistan, as Pakistan stands today, and East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh. The two were separated by 1,600 km (1,000 mi) of Indian territory.

The new constituent assembly enacted a bill, which became effective in October 1955, integrating the four West Pakistani provinces into one political and administrative unit. The assembly also produced a new constitution, which was adopted on March 2, 1956. It declared Pakistan an Islamic republic. Mirza was elected Provisional President.

The succeeding coalition government, headed by Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar, lasted only two months before it was replaced by a Republican Party Cabinet under Noon. President Mirza, however, found that his influence among the Republicans was diminishing and that the new prime minister had come to an understanding with Suhrawardy. Against such a coalition Mirza had no chance of being re-elected president. He proclaimed martial law on October 7, 1958, dismissed Noon’s government, and dissolved the national assembly.

Ayub ruled Pakistan almost absolutely for more than ten years, and his regime made some notable achievements, although it did not eliminate the basic problems of Pakistani society. A land reforms commission appointed by Ayub distributed some 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) of land among 150,000 tenants. The reforms, however, did not erase feudal relationships in the countryside; about 6,000 landlords still retained an area three times larger than that given to the 150,000 tenants. During Ayub’s regime developmental funds to East Pakistan increased more than threefold. This had a noticeable effect on the economy of the eastern part, but the disparity between the two sectors of Pakistan was not eliminated.

Perhaps the most pervasive of Ayub’s changes was his system of Basic Democracies. It created 80,000 basic democrats, or union councillors, who were leaders of rural or urban areas around the country. They constituted the electoral college for presidential elections and for elections to the national and provincial legislatures created under the constitution promulgated by Ayub in 1962. The Basic Democratic System had four tiers of government from the national to the local level. Each tier was assigned certain responsibilities in administering the rural and urban areas, such as maintenance of primary schools, public roads, and bridges.

Ayub also promulgated an Islamic marriage and family laws ordinance in 1961, imposing restrictions on polygamy and divorce, and reinforcing the inheritance rights of women and minors.

In an attempt to make his regime more acceptable, Yahya dismissed almost 300 senior civil servants and identified 30 families that were said to control about half of Pakistan’s gross national product. To curb their power Yahya in 1970 issued an ordinance against monopolies and restrictive trade practices. He also made commitments to transfer power to civilian authorities, but in the process of making this shift, his intended reforms broke down.

Suspecting Sheikh Mujib of secessionist politics, Yahya in March 1971 postponed indefinitely the convening of the National Assembly. Mujib in return accused Yahya of collusion with Bhutto and established a virtually independent government in East Pakistan. Yahya opened negotiations with Mujib in Dhaka in mid-March, but the effort soon failed. Mujib was arrested and brought to West Pakistan to be tried for treason. Meanwhile Pakistan’s army went into action against Mujib’s civilian followers, who demanded freedom and independence for East Pakistan, or Bangladesh ("Bengali Nation") as it was to be called.

Under Bhutto’s leadership a diminished Pakistan began to rearrange its national life. Bhutto nationalized basic industries, insurance companies, domestically owned banks, and schools and colleges. He also instituted modest land reforms that benefited tenants and middle-class farmers. He removed the armed forces from the process of decision-making, but to placate the generals he allocated about 6 per cent of the gross national product to defence. In 1973 the National Assembly adopted the country’s fifth constitution. Bhutto became Prime Minister, and Fazal Elahi Chaudhry replaced him as President.

Although discontented, the military remained silent for some time. Bhutto’s nationalization programme and land reforms further earned him the enmity of the entrepreneurial and capitalist class, while religious leaders saw in his socialism an enemy of Islam. His decisive flaw, however, was his inability to deal constructively with the opposition. His rule grew heavy-handed. In general elections in March 1977 nine opposition parties united in the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) to run against Bhutto’s PPP. Losing in three of the four provinces, the PNA alleged that Bhutto had rigged the vote. It boycotted the provincial elections a few days later and organized demonstrations throughout the country that lasted for six weeks.

Zia formally assumed the presidency in 1978 and established Shari‘ah (Islamic law) as the law of the land. The constitution of 1973 was initially amended, then suspended in 1979, and benches were constituted at the courts to exercise Islamic judicial review. Interest-free banking was initiated, and maximum penalties were provided for adultery, defamation, theft, and the consumption of alcohol.

On March 24, 1981, Zia issued a provisional constitutional order, operative until the lifting of martial law. It envisaged the appointment of two vice-presidents and allowed political parties that had been approved by the election commission before September 30, 1979, to function. All other parties, including the PPP, now led by Bhutto’s widow and by his daughter, Benazir, were dissolved.

Pakistan was greatly affected by the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979; by 1984 some 3 million Afghan refugees were living along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, supported by the government and by international relief agencies. In September 1981 Zia accepted a six-year economic and military aid package (worth US$3.2 billion) from the United States. After a referendum in December 1984 endorsed Zia’s Islamic-law policies and the extension of his presidency until 1990, Zia permitted elections for parliament in February 1985. A civilian Cabinet took office in April, and martial law ended in December. Zia, however, was dissatisfied and, in May 1988, he dissolved the government and ordered new elections. Three months later he was killed in an aeroplane crash, and a caretaker military regime took power.

In April 1993 Ishaq Khan once again used his presidential power, this time to dismiss Sharif and to dissolve parliament. However, Sharif appealed to the Constitutional Court of Pakistan, which stated that Kahn’s actions were unconstitutional and reinstated Sharif as Prime Minister. Sharif and Kahn subsequently became embroiled in a power struggle that paralysed the Pakistani government. In an agreement designed to end the stalemate, Sharif and Kahn resigned together in July 1993, and elections were held in October of that year. The PPP won and Bhutto was again named Prime Minister. Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari became the new president in November 1993.

With Bhutto in office, relations between India and Pakistan became more tense. Bhutto openly supported the Muslim rebels in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir, who were involved in sporadic fighting against the Indian army. She also announced that Pakistan would continue with its nuclear weapons development programme, raising concerns that a nuclear arms race could start between Pakistan and India, which is believed to have had nuclear weapons since the 1970s. In February 1992, when the Pakistani government admitted to having nuclear capability, it claimed that its nuclear weapons programme had been stopped at the level achieved in 1989—that is, with an actual nuclear device far from completion. In 1996 the United States returned to a policy of delaying delivery of military equipment to Pakistan owing to China having supplied nuclear-weapons-related materials in 1995. Relations between Pakistan and India deteriorated in early 1996, when each country accused the other of conducting nuclear tests, though the first officially confirmed tests did not take place for another two years.

Pakistan has generally been considered a moderate Islamic state; Islamic fundamentalists won only nine National Assembly seats in the 1993 elections; however, during the 1990s Islamic activists seemed to be gaining in influence. There were persistent reports of discrimination against religious minorities. The incidents increased after 1991 when the National Assembly ruled that the criminal code should conform to Islamic law and the death sentence was made mandatory for a blasphemy conviction.

In February 1995 the position of religious minorities was highlighted by the conviction and sentencing to death of two Christians, one aged 14, for the alleged writing of blasphemous remarks on a mosque wall in a village in Punjab province. The imposition of the death sentence on a child and questions surrounding the evidence provoked an outcry within Pakistan, as well as abroad. The High Court at the end of the month overturned the conviction, saying there was no evidence to sustain it; earlier the original complainant, an imam (Muslim prayer leader) in the village, had withdrawn his charges. The government, which had supported the changes in the law, appeared caught in a dilemma. Benazir Bhutto described herself as "shocked" by the sentences but declined to intervene. However, following the High Court ruling she said there would be a review of the law.

In November 1996 Bhutto’s government was for the second time dismissed by the president under renewed charges of corruption and misrule. The National Assembly was dissolved for the third time since civilian rule replaced military rule. Following Bhutto’s petitioning of the Supreme Court to reinstate her, the court voted by a 6-1 majority to reject her appeal.

On February 3, 1997, elections were held in order to replace the Bhutto government. A low turnout (around 30 per cent), mainly because of widespread disgust over politics, nevertheless produced a vast majority for former prime minister Sharif. The PML faction led by Sharif won 130 out of 217 seats, with Bhutto’s PPP winning only 20 seats. Despite his large majority and his election having been welcomed by the business community, Sharif has to contend with a president vying for greater influence, indicated in his setting-up of a special council that gives the military an official governmental role—and which reflects the military’s perennial influence in the country’s political process. Sharif also faces widespread economic problems and rising crime and violence.

In late March 1997 the government announced the implementation of an economic revival programme aiming to enhance exports, reduce prices, and generate employment. In April the National Assembly unanimously passed a constitutional amendment removing the president’s power to dissolve the assembly. This controversial ability had been used to dismiss three elected governments since 1985. The rupee was devalued in October by 8.5 per cent, an action followed (later that month) by the announcement a three-year financing package from the IMF amounting to US$1,558 million; a World Bank loan of US$250 million was announced in December.

Following a constitutional crisis, during which Sharif had accused President Leghari and the chief justice of trying to undermine his government, Leghari unexpectedly resigned his position in December; the chief justice was dismissed from his post. Sharif’s position was further enhanced when his nominee for the presidential office, Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, was successfully elected.

A year after enquiries into corruption allegations against the Bhutto family begun, 12 corruption cases were filed with Pakistan’s accountability commission in January 1998. Although the family’s Swiss bank accounts had been frozen in September, courts in the United Kingdom questioned the legality of the request for release of all documents held in the United Kingdom pertaining to the Bhutto’s finances and dealings. Talks with India resumed in January regarding the possibility of a resolution to the Kashmir situation. A complementary working party has been established, which also covers the issue of the disputed Himalayan territory of Siachen. In April Pakistan openly tested a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 1,500 km (930 mi). Following five underground nuclear tests by India in May 1998, Pakistan responded within days with six nuclear tests. The events further heightened tensions between the two countries.