PAKISTAN

Location• Located: mountainous region adjoining

Central Asia and the Middle East.

• Coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south

• Bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, the Republic of India in the east and the People's Republic of China in the far northeast.

• Capital- Islamabad

• Largest city- Karachi

• Currency- Pakistani Rupee

• The estimated population of Pakistan is 172,800,000.

• World's sixth most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Russia.

Languages

Multilingual country

English is the official language

Urdu is the national language

Punjabi is the most commonly spoken language of Pakistan. (About 61 million people)

Religion

• Majority of the Pakistanis are Muslim

• Almost 85% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims and 15% are Shi'a Muslims

• 2nd largest religion is Hinduism• 3rd largest is Christianity

Politics

• In the current semi-presidential system, the President of Pakistan is the head of state.

• The Prime Minister is the head of government.

• There is a multi-party system.

President Prime MinisterAsif Ali Zardari Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani

Economy

• Is the 26th largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power, and the 47th largest in terms of absolute dollars

Suffering Economy

Economy suffered from decades of internal political disputes

a fast growing population mixed levels of foreign investment a costly, ongoing confrontation with

neighboring India

India-Pakistan Conflict

VS.

History of the Conflict

• The territory of Kashmir

• The territory was handed over to India after they gained independence from the British in 1947.

The Problem

• The Kashmir area was predominantly Muslim.

• The ruler of Kashmir fled to India and agreed to place Kashmir under Indian rule if India would protect Kashmir from invasion.

• If there had been a vote in Kashmir, the majority probably would have voted to become part of Pakistan for religious reasons.

War

• Three major wars between India and Pakistan have been fought over the Kashmir territory– 1947-1948– 1965– 1971

• A fourth war almost took place when Pakistan invaded and attempted to capture Kargil.

The Importance of Kashmir to India and Pakistan

• The geography is mostly rural, with large mountains, deserts, and valleys.

• The region could have natural resources such as oil, gold, or silver that has not yet been discovered.

Control of the Indus River • The Indus begins in

Kashmir, flows through Pakistan, then flows into mainland India.

• Since Kashmir is part of India, they could dam the Indus and change the flow of the river.

• Without fertile land to grow crops, Pakistan would become a desert and its people would starve.

Religious Sites

• Both Pakistan and India have sites in Kashmir that are important to their respective religions. – Pakistan is predominately

Muslim. Kashmir is predominately Muslim.

– India is predominately Hindu.

Strategic Location

• India-Kashmir acts as a buffer.

• Pakistan-Kashmir offers a fertile roadway into India for possible invasion.

War & Terrorism

• Both India and Pakistan are convinced that they are right and that they will prevail

• In the past 60 years, Pakistan and India have fought three wars over ownership of Kashmir. India won all three.

• Today, the fight continues with acts of terrorism.• The people of Kashmir are probably wondering

why the UN and U.S. won't help them

Why doesn't the U.S. lend a helping hand with the Kashmir conflict?

• The U.S. wants to be allies with both Pakistan and India.

• Pakistan shares a border with Afghanistan so need Pakistan’s help with war on terrorism.

• We do a great deal of trade with India that is mutually advantageous.