PAKISTAN
Official Name:
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Official Language:
Urdu & English

Area:
796095 sq. km. Greatest Distance north south 1505 kms, East west 1287 kms Coastline 814 kms. Pakistan lies in South Asia. A strip of 20 kms of Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan separates Pakistan from Tajikistan in north.

Population:
Estimated 2000 population – 140 million; density 368 persons per sq. km. 142 – person sq-km; distribution, 68 percent rural, 32 percent urban. 1681 census – 84253644. Estimated 1995 population – 130551000.

Climate:
Most of Pakistan has a dry climate, with hot summer and cool winters. Average rain fall of a year is 10 inches (25 centimeters) but amount of the rain varies greatly from the year to year. Average temperature varies from one part of Pakistan to another.
The mountain regions have the coolest weather. The  Average temperature in summer is 24C and winter temperatures often fell below freezing. In the Southern plain of Pakistan the average temperature in summer is 32C and in winter 13C.

National Anthem:
“Qaumi Tarana” (National Anthem)

Pakistan’s Flag:
Pakistan’s flag has a star and crescent, Traditional symbol of Green stances for Muslim majority and white the minorities living in Pakistan.

Money:
Basic Unit – Pakistan Rupee
One hundred paisa equal to one rupee.

Cultural & Language:
A number of cultural groups are living in Pakistan each has its own customs characteristics. Language is the chief difference that divides the cultural group Urdu is Pakistan’s official language but less then ten percents of people speak it as their primary language.
Each cultural group has its own language or dialects. The Punjabis, who make up the largest cultural group, live mainly in the Punjab.The, speak various dialects of Punjabis language.
Other leading groups, in order of size, include the Sindhi, Pashtoons, and Baloochi. The Sindhi form most of the population of Sindhi Province. The Pashtoons are divided into various tribes that occupy the North West Frontiers Province and the Northern part of the province of Baloochistan. The Baloochi includes many nomadic tribes that live near oases and along a few streams in Baloochistan. Baloochi, s has many dialects.

Religion:
About 97 % of Pakistani are Muslims, the followers of Islam, is the chief link among the various cultural groups that make up Pakistan’s population. Muslim holidays are the national holidays throughout Pakistan. Christine makes up about 1.5 percent of the population.
Pakistan has also a number of other minorities groups like Hindu, Parsis, and Buddhists.

Provincial Govt:
Pakistan is divided into four provinces, Baloochistan, Punjab, Sindh and North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

History:
The Indus Valley Civilization: 2500 BC , one of the world’s first great civilizations began to develop in the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan.Ruin of Harrapa and Mhenjo- Daro , were the two major cities of the civilization, show that both were large and well planned. By about 1700 BC, the Indus Valley civilization had   disappeared. Experts don’t know why it collapsed.

Invasion and Conquest
During the next several thousand years, many people from southwest and Central Asia came into the region that is now Pakistan. About 1500 BC, a Central Asian people called Aryans came through the mountains passes to the Punjab region. In time, they settled across almost all of India.
The Persians conquered the Punjab during the 500 BC and made it part of the huge Achmenid empire. In 236BC, Alexander the great took control of most of what is now Pakistan, a few years later, the emperor Chandra Gupta Mauriya made the region, part of   Mauriyan empire.
The Mauriyan Empire began to break up about 230BC. Greeks from the independent state of Bacteria in Central Asia then invaded the Indus valley, they established kingdom with capitals near the present day cities of Peshawar and Rawalpindi. About 100BC Scythians from Afghanistan came into Baloochistan and Sindh. In time they conquered the Indus region. The Parthian, who in turn was conquered by the Kushans of Central Asia, replaced Afghans.The Kushans ruled what is now Afghan. Pakistan and northwest India from about AD 50 mid 200s. They controlled the trade routes from China to India and the Middle East, Peshawar, the kushan capital, became the major commercial center. During the mid 300 the Indus valley become part of the Gupta Empire which had expanded westward from northeastern India, Huns from Central Asia conquered the empire in mid 400s. The coming of Islam, In AD 711,Arabs Muslims sailed across the Arabian sea  and invaded Sindh bringing Islam to the region, Beginning about AD 1000 Turkish Muslim invaded Northern Pakistan from Iran. The Turkish ruler Mehmood of Ghazni established a Muslim kingdom that in time including the entire Indus Valley. Lahore become the capital of the kingdom and developed into a major entre of Muslim culture.
In 1206, most of what is now Pakistan became part of the Delhi Sultanat, a Muslim empire that included  Northern India. The Delhi Sultanat lasted until 1526, when Babar a Muslim ruler from Afghanistan, invaded India and established the Mughul Empire.
The Mughul Empire: Included Almost all of that are now Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, Under Mughul rule a culture developed that combined Middle Eastern and Indian elements, it included a new language Urdu, which was influenced by both Hindi and Persian, it also  includes a new religion Sikhism, which drew beliefs from both Hinduism and Islam. The Mughul Empire began to decline in the 1799, several group including Persian and Afghans control the region that in now Pakistan. Sikh kingdom gained strength in the Punjab during the early 1800s.
The rise of British Influence:  Beginning in the 500 European traders competed for control of the profitable trade between Europe and the east India’s. A numbers of trade companies established settlements in India with the cooperation of the Mughul Empires, by the 1700s the British East India Company has become the trongest trade power in India in the 1740s after the Mughul Empire begin to break up the East India Company gained political control over much of India. The ompany fought series of wars in the Punjab and Sindh during the 1840s and added these territories to its belonging. The British Government took over control of the East India Company in 1858, all the companies’ territories became known as British India, and by 1900s as a result of wars and treaties with local rulers British India included all  what is now Pakistan.

Explore Pakistan
4, khosar Market F-6-3,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: 92-51-2278221
Fax: 92-51-2875956
Cell: 0333-5131094

E-mail: info@explorepak.com,passuhunza@yahoo.com
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