PakistanThe '''Islamic Republic of Pakistan''', or ''Islami Jamhooriya-e-Pakistan'', in Urdu, or Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and the Greater Middle East. The country borders India, Iran, Afghanistan, the People's Republic of China|China and the Arabian Sea. With just over 160 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in the world, the second most populous Muslim majority nation, and the third most populous to have English as an official language. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the OIC. It has recently become one of the fastest-growing economies of Asia, with the large-scale manufacturing sector growing by 15.4 percent in fiscal-year 2004 [http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-05-18-voa23.cfm]. {| border=1 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=300 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |+<big><big>'''اسلامی جمہوریہِ پاکستان Islaami Jamhuria ay Pakstaan'''</big></big> |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan=2 | {| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" | align="center" width="140px" | Image:Pakistan flag large.png|125px| | align="center" width="140px" | Image:pakarms22.PNG |- | align="center" width="140px" | (Flag of Pakistan|In Detail) | align="center" width="140px" | (National Emblem of Pakistan|In Detail) |} |- | align=center style="vertical-align: top;" colspan=2 | ''National motto: Iman, Ittehad, Nazm (Urdu: Faith, unity, discipline)'' |- | align=center colspan=2 style="background:#f9f9f9;" | image:LocationPakistan.png|Location of Pakistan | align=center colspan=2 style="background: #ffffff;" | |- | '''Official languages''' | Urdu_language|Urdu, English_language|English |- | '''Capital''' | Islamabad, Pakistan|Islamabad |- | '''Largest city''' | Karachi |- | '''President of Pakistan|President''' | General Pervez Musharraf (via referendum) |- | '''Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister''' | Shaukat Aziz |- | '''Area'''  - Total  - % water | List of countries by area|Ranked 34th 803,940 square kilometre|km² 3.1% |- | '''Population'''  - Total (2003)  - Population_density|Density | List of countries by population|Ranked 6th 150,694,740 188/km² |- | '''Independence''' | August 14, 1947 (from the United Kingdom|UK) |- | '''Republic''' | March 23, 1956 |- | '''Religion''' | Islam |- | '''Currency''' | Pakistani Rupee |- | '''ISO_4217|Currency Code''' | PKR |- | '''Time zone''' | Coordinated Universal Time|UTC +5 |- | '''National anthem''' | Pak sarzamin shad bad (Blessed Be The Sacred Land) |- | '''Top-level domain|Internet TLD''' | .pk |- | '''List of country calling codes|Calling Code''' | 92 |- | '''National game''' | Field Hockey|Field Hockey |} ==Subdivisions== Image:Pakistan.gif|framepx100|right|thumb|Map of Pakistan ''Main article: Subdivisions of Pakistan'', ''Districts of Pakistan'' Pakistan has 4 provinces, 2 territories, and also administers parts of Kashmir. The provinces are further subdivided into a total of 105 districts. '''Provinces''': * Balochistan * North West Frontier Province, Pakistan|North-West Frontier Province * Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab * Sindh '''Territories''': * Islamabad Capital Territory * Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan|Federally Administered Tribal Areas * Two provinces, NWFP and Balochistan, also have PATA (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas.) It is expected that these will be developed into regular districts. '''Pakistani-administered portions of Jammu and Kashmir region''': * Azad Kashmir (''Azad'' means "free" or "independent" in Urdu) * Northern Areas, Pakistan|Northern Areas {{Subdivisions_of_Pakistan}} == History == ''Main articles: History of Pakistan, History of India, History of Afghanistan, History of Iran, History of South Asia'' Pakistan is a country with a long and rich history that has often overlapped with the histories of India, Afghanistan and Iran and sometimes stood alone. In ancient times, Pakistan was the site of the ancient Indus Valley civilization and subsequently conquered by many groups, including the Aryans, Achaemenid|Persians, Greeks, Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, White Huns, and Scythians, and various other more obscure groups. Later invaders included Arabs, Turks and Mongols. Pakistan is partially separated from modern-day India by natural barriers such as the Rann of Kutch and the desolate 500-mile (800-km) long Thar desert, and many of these groups did not penetrate further into the rest of South Asia. ===Prehistory and the dawn of civilization=== ====Earliest settlements==== The Bolan river runs through the Bolan Pass in Baluchistan, Pakistan, a natural passageway connecting the Indus plain to the Iranian plateau. The Bolan region is home to Mehrgarh, the earliest known agricultural settlement in Pakistan, dating from about 7000 BCE. ====Indus Valley Civilization==== Image:Indus Map.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Map of the Indus Valley Civilization The Indus Valley Civilization, 2800 BCE-1800 BCE, was one of the most ancient civilizations, thriving along the Indus River and other rivers of the Indus basin in what is now Pakistan. The Indus Valley Civilization is also sometimes referred to as the Harappa or Harappan Civilization of the Indus Valley, in reference to its first excavated city of Harappa. Image:indusvalleyexcavation.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Indus Valley Civilization existed along the Indus River in present-day Pakistan. The Mohenjo-daro ruins pictured above were once the center of this ancient society. Indus Civilization settlements spread as far south as Mumbai, or Bombay, as far east as Delhi, as far west as the Iranian border, and as far north as the Himalayas. Among the settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Lothal, and Rakhigarhi. At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million. To date, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Indus River in Pakistan. ===Ancient Pakistan=== ====Achaemenid rule==== Image:Map of Iran Achaemenid Dynasty.gif|right|thumb|The Achaemenid empire ruled ancient Pakistan in the reign of Darius the Great Ancient Pakistan was ruled by the Persian Achaemenid empire from c.520 BCE in the reign of Darius the Great to its conquest by Alexander the Great. It became part of the empire as a satrapy that included the lands of present-day Pakistani Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab, the Indus river from the borders of Gandhara down to the Arabian Sea, together with other parts of the Indus plain, According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, it was the most populous and richest satrapy of the twenty satrapies of the empire. Achaemenid rule lasted about 186 years. The Achaemenids used Aramaic script for the Persian language. After the end of Achaemenid rule, the use of Aramaic script in the Indus plain was diminished, although we know from Asokan inscriptions that it was still in use two centuries later. Other scripts, such as Kharosthi (a script derived from Aramaic) and Greek became more common after the arrival of the Macedonians and Greeks. ==== Greco-Buddhist period ==== '''Greco-Buddhism''', sometimes spelled '''Græco-Buddhism''', is the cultural syncretism between the culture of History of Hellenistic Greece|Classical Greece and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 800 years in the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century|5th century CE. Greco-Buddhism influenced the artistic (and, possibly, conceptual) development of Buddhism, and in particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it was adopted by Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century|1st century CE, ultimately spreading to China, Korea and Japan. =====Alexander the great===== The interaction between Hellenistic Greece and Buddhism started when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, the Achaemenid Empire and ancient Pakistan in 334 BCE, defeating Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes (near modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquering much of the Punjab. Alexander's troops refused to go beyond the Beas river — which today runs along part of the Indo-Pakistan border — and he took most of his army southwest, adding nearly all of ancient Pakistan to his empire. Alexander created garrisons for his troops in his new territories, and founded several cities in the areas of the Oxus, Arachosia, and Bactria, and Macedonian/Greek settlements in Gandhara (see Taxila) and the Punjab. The regions included the Khyber Pass — a geographical passageway south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush mountains — and the Bolan Pass, on a trade route connecting Drangiana, Arachosia and other Persian and Central Asia areas to the lower Indus plain. It is through these regions that most of the interaction between India and Central Asia took place, generating intense cultural exchange and trade. =====Mauryan period===== The Mauryan dynasty lasted about 180 years, nearly as long as Achaemenid rule, and began with Chandragupta Maurya, not to be confused with Chandragupta I of the much-later Gupta Dynasty, which never ruled the lands of present-day Pakistan. Chandragupta Maurya lived in Taxila and met Alexander, and had many opportunities to observe the Macedonian army there. According to Plutarch, Alexander encouraged him to invade the Gangetic kingdom (of Magadha) by capitalizing on the extreme unpopularity of the reigning monarch. Chandragupta recruited warriors from among the northwestern hill tribes and trained them in Macedonian fighting techniques, With this army, and with Macedonian mercenaries, Chandragupta went east to the Gangetic plain to overthrow the Nanda dynasty in Magadha, thereby founding the Maurya dynasty. Following Alexander's death on June 10, 323 BCE, his ''Diadochi'' (generals) founded their own kingdoms in Asia Minor and Central Asia. General Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus set up the Seleucid Kingdom, which included ancient Pakistan. Chandragupta Maurya, taking advantage of the fragmentation of power that followed Alexander's death, invaded and captured the Punjab and Gandhara. Later, the Eastern part of the Seleucid Kingdom broke away to form the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (3rd century BCE|3rd–2nd century BCE). ======Ashoka the Great====== Image:ashokan_empire.gif|right Chandragupta's grandson Asoka (273 BCE|273- 232 BCE), is said to have been the greatest of the Mauryan emperors. Ashoka the Great was the ruler of the Mauryan empire from 273 BC to 232 BC. A convert to Buddhism, Ashoka reigned over most of the Indian subcontinent, from present day Afghanistan to Bengal and as far south as Mysore. According to secular historians, Asoka was the first Indian emperor to rule such a large area, being comparable in size to present-day India. He converted to the Buddhist faith following remorse for his bloody conquest of the kingdom of Kalinga in Orissa. He became a great proselytiser of Buddhism, and sent Buddhist emissaries to many lands. He set in stone the Edicts of Asoka. In ancient Pakistan, nearly all of the Asokan edicts are written either in the Aramaic script (Aramiac had been the lingua franca of the Achaemenid empire) or in Kharosthi, a script derived from Aramaic. Brhadrata, the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty, ruled territories that had shrunk considerably from the time of emperor Ashoka, but he was still upholding the Buddhist faith. He was assassinated in 185 BCE by his Brahmin general Pusyamitra Sunga, who made himself the ruler and established the Sunga dynasty. The assassination of Brhadrata and the rise of the Sunga empire led to a wave of persecution for Buddhists, and a resurgence of Hinduism. =====Indo-Greeks===== The Sunga persecution also triggered the 180 BCE invasion of northern India by the king Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius (the son of the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus) going as far as Pataliputra and established an Indo-Greek kingdom that lasted nearly two centuries, until around 10 BCE. Image:Demetrius_I_of_Bactria.jpg|right|thumb|180px|The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I (205 BCE|205-171 BCE), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquest of India. To the south, the Greeks captured Sindh and nearby Arabian Sea coastal areas. The invasion was completed by 175 BCE, and the Sungas were confined to the east, although the Indo-Greeks lost some territory in the Gangetic plain. Meanwhile in Bactria, the usurper Eucratides overcame the Euthydemid dynasty, killing Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius in battle. ======Menander====== Image:Menander (Alexandria-Kapisa).jpg|thumb|350px|Tetradrachm of '''Menander I''' in Greco-Bactrian style (Alexandria of the Caucasus|Alexandria-Kapisa mint). '''Obv:''' King Menander throwing a spear. '''Rev:''' Athena with thunderbolt. Greek legend: BASILEOS SOTIROS MENANDROY "King Menander, the Saviour". '''Menander I''' was one of the Greek kings of the Indo-Greek Kingdom in ancient Pakistan from 155 BC | 155 to 130 BC. He had been a general under king Demetrius, who was killed in battle. As a general, Menader drove the Greco-Bactrians out of Gandhara and beyond the Hindu Kush, becoming king shortly after his victory. Image: MenanderCoin.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Silver drachm of '''Menander I''' (155-130 BC). '''Obv:''' Greek alphabet|Greek legend, BASILEOS SOTHROS MENANDROY lit. "Saviour King Menander". '''Rev:''' Kharosthi legend: MAHARAJA TRATASA MENADRASA "Saviour King Menander". Athena advancing right, with thunderbolt and shield. Taxila mint mark. Menander's territories covered the eastern dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria (from the areas of the Panjshir province|Panjshir and Kapisa) and extended to the modern Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab with diffuse tributaries to the south and east, possibly even as far as Mathura. Menander is one of the few Bactrian kings mentioned by Greek authors, among them King Apollodotus I|Apollodotus of Artemita, who claim that he was an even greater conqueror than Alexander the Great. Strabo (XI.II.I) says Menander was one of the two Bactrian kings who extended their power farthest into India. Sagala (modern Sialkot) became his capital and propered greatly under Menander's rule. His reign (c.155 BC - c.80 BC) was long and successful. Generous findings of coins testify to the prosperity and extension of his empire. The Milinda Panha|Milinda Pañha, a classical Buddhist texts|Buddhist text praises Menander, saying that "as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India " (Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids, 1890) ======Fragmented Indo-Greek kingdoms====== Menander's empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king, Hermaeus, disappeared around 10 AD. The Indo-Greeks suffered a new attack from the descendants of Eucratides around 125 BCE, as the Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles, son of Eucratides, was fleeing from the invasion of the Yuezhi in Bactria and trying to relocate in Gandhara. The Indo-Greeks retreated to their territories east of the Jhelum River as far as Mathura, and the two houses coexisted in the northern Indian subcontinent. Various kings ruled into the beginning of the 1st century|1st century CE, as petty rulers (such as Theodamas) and as administrators, after the conquests of the Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians and Yuezhi. =====Kushan Empire===== Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek rule was followed by the Kushan|Kushan Empire (1st century|1st–3rd century|3rd century CE). Image: KanishkaI.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Gold coin of Kushan emperor Kanishka|Kanishka I (c.100-126) with a Hellenistic representation of the Buddha (except for the feet spread apart, Kushan style), and the word "Boddo" in Greek script. The rule of Kanishka|Kanishka I, the fourth Kushan emperor, who flourished for at least 28 years from c. 127, was administered from a winter capital in Purushapura (now Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan) and a summer capital in Bagram(then known as Kapisa). The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road through the long-civilized Indus Valley. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely oversaw a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India. The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centers.Image:GBAMap.jpg|thumb|170px|right|General area of Greco-Buddhism, and boundaries of the Kushan empire at its greatest extent around 150|150 CE. Kanishka is renowed in Buddhist tradition for having convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. This council is attributed with having marked the official beginning of the pantheistic Mahayana Buddhism and its scission with Nikaya Buddhism. Kanishka also had the original Gandhari vernacular, or Prakrit, Mahayana Buddhist texts translated into the high literary language of Sanskrit. Along with the Indian king Ashoka, the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda), and Harsha|Harsha Vardhana, Kanishka is considered by Buddhism as one of its greatest benefactors. The art and culture of Gandhara, at the crossroads of the Kushan hegemony, are the best known expressions of Kushan influences to Westerners. The interaction of Greek and Buddhist cultures continued over several centuries until it ended in the 5th century|5th century CE with the invasions of the White Huns, and later the expansion of Islam. '''See also:''' History of Buddhism, Indo-Greek, Menander, and Ashoka ===Pakistan in the Middle Ages=== The arrival of people from the Central Asian nations such as the Turks and Mongols was a significant turning point in the history of present-day Pakistan. The Qalandars (wandering Sufi saints) from Central Asia, Persia and Middle East preached a mystical form of Islam that appealed to the Hindu-Buddhist population of Pakistan. The concept of equality, justice, spiritualness and secularism of the Islamic faith greatly attracted the masses towards it. The Sufi orders of the Qalandars was established gradually, over a period of centuries. Present-day Pakistan was a place of great cultural and religious diversity. Pakistan still bears marvellous architectural monuments built by the Mughal emperors. During the Mughal rule, the cities of Delhi (present-day India) and Lahore (present-day Pakistan) were made the capitals of the nothern Indian subcontinent. The Taj Mahal and other architectural marvels were the results of of the growth of Islamic culture and rule over the subcontinent. The Mughals also implemented federal regulations including taxation, social welfare reforms, justice, development of the transport and agricultural system and water canals. ===British Raj=== ====British conquest and colonization==== During the middle of the second millennium, several European countries, such as the Great Britain, Portugal, Holland and France were initially interested in trade with Indian rulers including the Mughals and leaders of other independant Kingdoms. The European took advantage of the fractured kingdoms and the divided rule to colonize the country. Most of India came under the crown of the British Empire in in 1857 after a failed insurrection, popularly known as the First War of Indian Independence, against the British East India Company by Bahadur Shah Zafar. Present-day Pakistan remained part of British Raj|British India until August 14, 1947. ====Muslims in the Raj==== The first proponents of an independent Muslim nation began to appear in the early 20th Century under the British Raj. Soon after Sir Syed's death, however, the All India Muslim League was founded on the sidelines of the 1905 conference of the Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental Conference (an organization he had founded). This party was not, right until 1940, separatist. The idea of a separate nation was mooted in humor, satire and on the fringes of the political milieu. ====Pakistan movement==== By 1930, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who ultimately led the movement for a separate state, had despaired of Indian politics and particularly of getting mainstream parties like the Congress (of which he was a member much longer than the League) to be sensitive to minority priorities. Among the first to make the demand for a separate state was the writer/philosopher Allama Iqbal, who, in his presidential address to the 1930 convention of the Muslim League said that he felt that a separate nation for Muslims was essential in an otherwise Hindu-dominated Indian subcontinent. The Sindh Assembly passed a resolution making it a demand in 1935. Image:Minar_e_Pakistan_01.JPG|thumb|The Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore commemorates the 1940 Pakistan Resolution Iqbal, Jauhar and others then worked hard to draft Mohammad Ali Jinnah to lead the movement for this new nation. Jinnah later went on to become known as the Father of the Nation, with Pakistan officially giving him the title ''Quaid-e-Azam'' or "Great Leader". (See Mohammad Ali Jinnah#A "Secular" Jinnah?) ====Lahore Resolution of 1940==== In 1940, Jinnah called a general session of the All India Muslim League in Lahore to discuss the situation that had arisen due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the Government of India joining the war without taking the opinion of the Indian leaders. The meeting was also aimed at analyzing the reasons that led to the defeat of the Muslim League in the general election of 1937 in the Muslim majority provinces. Jinnah, in his speech, criticised the Congress and the nationalist Muslims, and espoused the Two-Nation Theory and the reasons for the demand for separate Muslim homelands. Sikandar Hayat Khan, the Chief Minister of the Punjab, drafted the original Lahore Resolution, which was placed before the Subject Committee of the All India Muslim League for discussion and amendments. The resolution, radically amended by the subject committee, was moved in the general session by ''Shere-Bangla'' A.K. Fazlul Huq, the Chief Minister of Bengal, on 23 March and was supported by Choudhury Khaliquzzaman and other muslim leaders. The Lahore Resolution ran as follows: :''That the areas where the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the Northwestern and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute 'independent states' in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.'' The Resolution was adopted on 23 March, 1940 with great enthusiasm. ====Origin of Name==== The name was coined by Cambridge student and Muslim Nationalism|nationalist Choudhary Rahmat Ali. He devised the word and first published it on January 28, 1933 in the pamphlet ''Now or Never'' [http://www.zyworld.com/slam33/non.htm]. He saw it as an acronym formed from the names of the "homelands" of Muslims in South Asia. (P for Punjab, A for the Pashtun|Afghan areas of the region, K for Kashmir, S for Sindh and ''tan'' for Baluchistan, thus forming 'Pakstan.' An 'i' was later added to the English rendition of the name to ease pronunciation, producing Pakistan.) The word also captured in the Persian language|Persian language the concepts of "Pak" meaning "Pure" and "stan" for "land" or "home" (as in the names of Central Asian countries in the region; Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, etc), thus giving it the meaning '''Land of the Pure'''. All Arabic-speaking countries refer to Pakistan as باکستان (Bakstaan), as the Arabic letters lack a P letter. ====Partition==== As the British granted independence to their dominions in India in mid- August 1947, the two nations joined the British Commonwealth as self-governing dominions. The partition left Punjab andBengal, two of the biggest provinces, divided between India and Pakistan. In the early days of independence, more than two million people migrated across the new border and more than one hundred thousand died in a spate of communal violence. === Independence to present === ==== Independence ==== Pakistan's independence was won through a democratic and constitutional struggle. Although the country's record with parliamentary democracy has been mixed, Pakistan, after lapses, has returned to this form of government. Pakistani political history is divided into alternating periods of authoritarian military government and democratic civilian/parliamentary rule. Since independence, Pakistan has also been in constant dispute with India over the territory of Kashmir. The Kashmir dispute has complicated relations between Pakistan and India. ====Military Rule (1958-1971)==== Image:Ayubkhan.jpg|thumb|80px|left|Ayub Khan Although dominion status ended in 1956 with the formation of a Constitution of Pakistan|Constitution and a declaration of Pakistan as an Islamic Republic, the military took control in 1958 and held power for more than 10 years. Field Marshall Ayub Khan also started Basic Democracy in which the people elected electors who in turn voted to select the President. Image:FJinnah.jpg|thumb|right|125px|Fatima Jinnah; courtesy Dawn He nearly lost the national elections to Fatima Jinnah. During Ayub's rule, relations with the United States grew stronger. Pakistan engaged in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 with India over Kashmir and the Rann of Kutch. After a nationwide uprising in 1969, Ayub Khan stepped down and handed over power to General Yahya Khan who promised general elections to be held at the end of 1970. ==== 1971 war and the secession of East Pakistan ==== From August 14, 1947, until 1971, the nation consisted of two parts, West Pakistan and East Pakistan, geographically separated by over a thousand miles, with India in between. More than 150,000 people died in the largest natural disaster of the twentieth century when 1970 Bhola cyclone|a cyclone hit East Pakistan in 12 November, 1970. Despite the tragedy, elections went on, and the results showed a clear division between the Eastern and the Western provinces of the country. The Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won a majority in the National Assembly, with 167 of the 169 East Pakistani seats, but with no seats from West Pakistan, where the Pakistan Peoples Party led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won 85 seats in the National Assembly. Yahya Khan|Yahya and Bhutto refused to hand over power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman|Sheikh Mujib. Meanwhile, Mujib initiated a civil disobedience movement, strongly supported by the general population of East Pakistan and most of its government workers. A round-table conference between Yahya, Bhutto and Mujib was convened in Dhaka, and after it ended without a solution, the Pakistani Army started "Operation Searchlight", an organized and brutal crackdown on the East Pakistani army, police, politicians, innocent civilians and students in Dhaka. Mujib and many other Awami League leaders were arrested, while others fled to India. On March 27, 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman, a decorated Bengali war-veteran, declared the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Mujib. The crackdown broadened and later escalated into a guerrilla warfare between the Pakistani Army and the Mukti Bahini-Bengali freedom fighters. Although the killing of Bengalis was mostly unsupported by the people of West Pakistan, it continued for 9 months. India supplied the Bengali freedom fighters with arms and training, and also hosted the millions of refugees who fled the turmoil. Image:Niazi_surrenders.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Gen Niazi (right) signing the document of surrender, Dec. 16, 1971On December 6, 1971, the Indian Army officially joined the war(Indo-Pakistani War of 1971), and launched a massive assault into East Pakistan, where, by that time, the Pakistani Army led by General A. A. K. Niazi, had been weakened and exhausted. Being greatly outnumbered by the Indian Army and overwhelmed, it surrendered to the Indian Army-Mukti Bahini joint command on December 16, 1971, in one of the largest surrenders since World War II|WW2 - as nearly 90,000 soldiers become prisoner of war|PoWs. The result was the emergence of the new nation of Bangladesh. Discredited by the defeat, President Gen. Yahya Khan resigned. ==== Civilian rule and the 1973 Constitution ==== Civilian rule returned after the war when General Yahya Khan handed over power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Image:ZAB_PM.jpg|thumb|right|125px|Zulfikar Ali Bhutto In 1972, Pakistani intelligence learned that India was close to developing a nuclear bomb, and in response, Bhutto formed a group of engineers and scientists, headed by nuclear scientist Abdus Salam - who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics - to develop nuclear devices. In 1973, Parliament approved the Constitution of Pakistan|1973 Constitution. Pakistan was alarmed by the Indian nuclear test of 1974, and Bhutto promised that Pakistan would also have a nuclear device "even if we have to eat grass and leaves." Elections were held in 1977, with Bhutto winning. Bhutto's victory was challenged by the opposition, which accused him of rigging the vote. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq took power in a coup, Bhutto was later executed after being convicted of murdering a political opponent in a controversial 4-3 split decision by Pakistan's Supreme Court of Pakistan|Supreme Court. ==== Front-line state in the anti-Soviet struggle ==== Pakistan had been a US ally for much of the Cold War, from the 1950s and as a member of CENTO and SEATO. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan renewed and deepened the US-Pakistan alliance. The Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration in the United States helped supply and finance an anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan, using Pakistan as a conduit. In retaliation, the KHAD, under Afghan leader Mohammad Najibullah, carried out (according to the Vasili Mitrokhin|Mitrokhin archives and other sources) a large number of terrorist operations against Pakistan, which also suffered from an influx of weaponry and drugs from Afghanistan. In the 1980s, as the front-line state in the anti-Soviet struggle, Pakistan received substantial aid from the United States and took in millions of Afghan (mostly Pashtun) refugees fleeing the Soviet occupation. The influx of so many refugees - the largest refugee population in the world - had a heavy impact on Pakistan and its effects continue to this day. The dictatorship of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq saw an expansion of Islamic law. In 1988, the general died in an aircraft crash and Pakistan returned to an elected government, ushered in with the election of Benazir Bhutto. ==== Civilian Democracy ==== Image:bbhutto.jpg|frame|150px|right|Benazir Bhutto; a formal portrait from when she was Prime Minister From 1988 to 1998, Pakistan was ruled by civilian governments, alternately headed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who were each elected twice and removed from office on charges of corruption. Economic growth declined towards the end of this period, hurt by the Asian financial crisis, and economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan after its first tests of nuclear devices in 1998. The Pakistani testing came shortly after India tested nuclear devices and increased fears of a nuclear arms race in South Asia. The next year, the Kargil Conflict in Kashmir threatened to escalate to a full-scale war. Image:Nawaz.jpg|thumb|75px|left|Nawaz Sharif In the election that returned Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister in 1997, his party received a heavy majority of the vote, obtaining enough seats in Parliament of Pakistan|parliament to change the Constitution of Pakistan|constitution, which Sharif Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|amended to eliminate the formal checks and balances that restrained the Prime Minister's power. Institutional challenges to his authority, led by the civilian President of Pakistan|President Farooq Leghari, Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan|military chief Jehangir Karamat and Chief Justice of Pakistan|Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah were put down and all three were forced to resign - the Chief Justice did so after the Supreme Court was stormed by Sharif partisans. ==== 1999 coup ==== On October 12 1999, Sharif attempted to dismiss army chief Pervez Musharraf and install Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI director Khwaja Ziauddin in his place. Musharraf, who was out of the country, boarded a commercial airliner to return to Pakistan. Senior Army generals refused to accept Musharraf's dismissal. Sharif ordered the Karachi airport to prevent the landing of the airliner, which then circled the skies over Karachi. In a coup d'état|coup, the generals ousted Sharif's administration and took over the airport. The plane landed with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Musharraf assumed control of the government. General Musharraf arrested and later expelled prime minister Sharif. ==== Recent history ==== On May 12, 2000 the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Pervez Musharraf to hold general elections by October 12, 2002. In an attempt to legitimize his presidency and assure its continuance after the impending elections, he held a national referendum on April 30, 2002, which extended his presidential term to a period ending five years after the October elections. The referendum was monitored by various world and media organizations and received mixed reviews. Independent polls found that 55% to 67% of the general population supported Musharraf, and a larger percentage of those who participated in the referendum — which was, however, boycotted by the majority of :Category:Political parties in Pakistan|Pakistani political groupings, and voter turnout was 30% or below by most estimates. General elections were held in October 2002 and the centrist Pakistan Muslim League (Q)|PML-Q won a plurality of the seats in the Parliament of Pakistan|Parliament. However, parties opposed to Musharraf's Legal Framework Order effectively paralyzed the National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly for over a year. The deadlock ended in December 2003, when Musharraf and some of his parliamentary opponents agreed upon a compromise, and pro-Musharraf legislators were able to muster the two-thirds supermajority required to pass the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Seventeenth Amendment, which retroactively legitimized Musharraf's 1999 coup and many of his subsequent decrees. In a vote of confidence on January 1, 2004, Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was "deemed to be elected" to the office of President. While economic reforms undertaken during his regime have yielded some results, social reform programmes appear to have met with resistance. Musharraf's power is threatened by extremists who have grown in strength since the September 11, 2001 attacks and who are particularly angered by Musharraf's close political and military alliance with the United States and his liberal views. Musharraf has survived assassination attempts by terrorist groups believed to be part of Al-Qaeda, including at least two instances where the terrorists had inside information from a member of his military security detail. ====Nuclear Proliferation==== In his startling televised confession, Abdul Qadeer Khan insisted he acted without authorization in selling nuclear technology to other governments. A.Q. Khan admitted selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea. A.Q. Khan asked for clemency, but the Pakistani government made no public announcement about whether he is to be prosecuted. The confessed proliferation took place between 1989 and 2000, though it is suspected that proliferation activities to North Korea continued after that date. The network used to supply these activities is global in scope, stretching from Germany to Dubai and from China to South Asia, and involves numerous middlemen and suppliers. == Politics == === Domestic politics === ''Main article: Politics of Pakistan'' ==== Political Parties ==== Pakistan's two largest mainstream parties are the leftist Pakistan Peoples Party and the centrist Pakistan Muslim League (Q), which obtained a plurality in the October 2002 elections. In those elections, the right-wing Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a coalition of six religious muslim parties, emerged as the third largest party, with 11% of the popular vote. In one province, NWFP, it obtained 48 out of 96 Provincial Assembly seats. It formed a government in that province and in the Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan, in coalition with other parties. ==== Form of Government ==== ===== Federal government ===== Officially a federal republic, Pakistan has had a long history of alternating periods of electoral democracy and authoritarian military government. Military President of Pakistan|presidents include General Ayub Khan in the 1960s, General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s, and General Pervez Musharraf from 1999. A majority of Pakistan's Head of State|Heads of State and Head of Government|Heads of Government have been elected civilian leaders. The most recent general elections were held in October 2002. After monitoring the elections, the Commonwealth Observer Group stated in its report, "We believe that on election day this was a credible election: the will of the people was expressed and the results reflected their wishes." [http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/%7BB8E19A5C-0810-4AAF-AD3A-F0AFCEE0E814%7D_Pakistan%202002.pdf] On May 22, 2004, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group re-admitted Pakistan into the Commonwealth_of_Nations|Commonwealth, formally acknowledging "the progress made in restoring democracy and rebuilding democratic institutions in Pakistan." [http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=37863] ====Issues==== See Status of minorities in Pakistan, Status of women in Pakistan, Federalism and devolution in Pakistan, Secularism in Pakistan, etc. ==== Recent Political History ==== In October 1999, General Pervez Musharraf overthrew the civilian government after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif allegedly hijacked the commercial airliner on which Musharraf was travelling, and attempted to thwart its landing at Karachi. Musharraf assumed executive authority. Local government elections were held in 2000. Musharraf declared himself president in 2001. An April 2002 national referendum approved Musharraf's role as president, but the vote was marred by irregularities — for which Musharraf [http://www.jang.com.pk/important_events/speech_of_musharraf27-05-2002/ apologized] — and the opposition stridently questioned the legitimacy of Musharraf's presidency until his Electoral College of Pakistan|electoral college victory in January 2004. Nation-wide parliamentary elections were held in 2002 with Zafarullah Khan Jamali of the Pakistan Muslim League party emerging as Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister. After over a year of political wrangling in the bicameral legislature, Musharraf struck a compromise with some of his parliamentary opponents, giving his supporters the two-thirds majority vote required to Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|amend the Constitution of Pakistan|constitution in December 2003, retroactively legalizing his 1999 coup and permitting him to remain president if he met certain conditions. A parliamentary Electoral College of Pakistan|electoral college — consisting of the National Assembly and Senate and the provincial assemblies — gave Musharraf a vote of confidence[http://www.dawn.com/2004/01/02/top1.htm] on January 1, 2004, thereby legitimizing his presidency until 2007. Prime Minister Jamali resigned on June 26, 2004. Pakistan Muslim League|PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain became interim PM, and was succeeded by Finance minister and former Citibank Vice President Shaukat Aziz, who became Prime Minister on August 28, 2004. === International politics and foreign relations === ''Main article: Foreign relations of Pakistan'' Pakistan has been an ally of the United States for much of its history as a modern nation-state, from the 1950s and as a member of CENTO and SEATO . It is an important member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference|OIC. Pakistan is the second largest Muslim country in terms of population and its status as Declared nuclear states|declared nuclear power—the only Muslim one—also plays into its role on the international scene. == Geography == ''Main article: Geography of Pakistan'' Image:10 Khyber Pass.jpg|thumb|Khyber Pass in the Karakorams near Peshawar - A historic gateway into the Indian subcontinent Pakistan has a total area of 803,940 square kilometers, over three times the size of the United Kingdom. It has a land area of 778,720, slightly less than the combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom put together. To the south is the Arabian Sea, with 1,046 km (650 mile) of Pakistani coastline. To Pakistan's east is India, which has a 2,912 km (1,809 mile) border with Pakistan. To its west is Iran, which has a 909 km (565 mile) border with Pakistan. To Pakistan's northwest lies Afghanistan, with a shared border of 2,430 km (1,510 miles.) China is towards the northeast and has a 523 km (325 mile) border with Pakistan. The main waterway of Pakistan is the Indus River that begins in China, and runs nearly the entire length of Pakistan, flowing through all of Pakistan's provinces except Balochistan. Several major rivers, interconnected by the world's largest system of agricultural canals, join the Indus before it discharges into the Arabian Sea. The northern and western areas of Pakistan are mountainous. Pakistani administered areas of Kashmir contain some of the highest mountains in the world, including the second tallest, K-2. Northern Pakistan tends to receive more rainfall than the southern parts of the country, and has some areas of preserved moist temperate forest. In the southeast, Pakistan's border with India passes through a flat desert, called the Cholistan or Thar Desert. West-central Balochistan has a high desert plateau, bordered by low mountain ranges. Most areas of the Punjab, and parts of Sindh, are fertile plains where agriculture is of great importance. == Economy == ''Main article: Economy of Pakistan'' ===Overview=== Image:24 FTC.jpg|thumb|The Finance and Trade Center, Karachi, Pakistan Pakistan, a developing country, is the List of countries by population|sixth most populous in the world and is faced with a number of challenges on the political and economic fronts. At the time of its independence in 1947, Pakistan was a very poor co