PAKISTAN

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Islami Jamhooria Pakistan

CAPITAL: Islāmābād

FLAG: The national flag is dark green, with a white vertical stripe at the hoist and a white crescent and five-pointed star in the center.

ANTHEM: The opening lines of the national anthem, sung in Urdu, are "Blessed be the sacred land, Happy be the bounteous realm, Symbol of high resolve, land of Pakistan, Blessed be thou citadel of faith."

MONETARY UNIT: The rupee (r) is a paper currency of 100 paisa. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 paisa and of 1 rupee, and notes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 rupees. r1 = $0.01678 (or $1 = r59.6) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system was introduced in 1966 and made mandatory as of 1 January 1979.

HOLIDAYS: Pakistan Day, 23 March; May Day, 1 May; Independence Day, 14 August; Defense of Pakistan Day, 6 September; Anniversary of Death of the Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, 11 September; Christmas and Birthday of the Quaid-e-Azam, 25 December. Religious holidays include 'Id al-Fitr, Id al-'Adha', 1st of Muharram, and Milad an-Nabi.

TIME: 5 pm = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

Situated in southern Asia, Pakistan has an area of 803,940 sq km (310,403 sq mi), extending 1,875 km (1,165 mi) ne–sw from the ranges of the Hindu Kush and the Himalaya to the Arabian Sea and 1,006 km (625 mi) se–nw. Comparatively, the area occupied by Pakistan is slightly less than twice the size of the state of California. The enclave of Junagadh, claimed by Pakistan, and Jammu and Kashmir, divided between Pakistan and India by the 1971 "line of control," are not included in the area. Pakistan is bordered on the ne by China, on the e by Jammu and Kashmir to the Karakoram Pass, on the e and se by India, on the s by the Arabian Sea, on the sw by Iran, and on the w and nw by Afghanistan. The total land boundary length is 6,774 km (4,209 mi). The coastline is 1,046 km (650 mi). Pakistan's capital city, Islāmābād, is located in the northern part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

More than two-thirds of Pakistan is arid or semiarid. The west is dominated by the Baluchistan plateau, consisting of arid plains and ridges. Rivers, streams, and lakes exist only seasonally. The arid south ends at the rugged Makran coast and rises to the east into a series of rock-strewn ranges, the Kirthar, and to the north, the Sulaiman, which extends to the Indus plains. A semiwatered plateau surrounds Rāwalpindi, bounded to the south by the salt range. Southward, the extensive Punjab plains support about 60% of the country's population.

In the northern areas of Pakistan, the forest-clad hills give way to lofty ranges, including 60 peaks over 6,700 m (22,000 ft) high. K-2 (Godwin Austen), at 8,611 m (28,250 ft), is the second-highest mountain in the world.

The principal ranges, trending nw–se, include several Himalayan ranges—notably the Pir Panjal and Zaskar—leading into the Karakoram Mountains. The Indus is the principal river of Pakistan. Its major tributaries are the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej.

On 8 October 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the Kashmir region. There were more than 140 aftershocks recorded; many measured 5.0 in magnitude. Landslides damaged homes, killed livestock, and blocked rivers, causing severe flooding. More than 69,000 were injured and there were more than 73,000 deaths. It was estimated that about 3 million people were displaced or left homeless.

CLIMATE

Pakistan's climate is dry and hot near the coast, becoming progressively cooler toward the northeastern uplands. The winter season is generally cold and dry. The hot season begins in March, and by the end of June the temperature may reach 49°c (120°f). Between June and September, the monsoon provides an average rainfall of about 38 cm (15 in) in the river basins and up to about 150 cm (60 in) in the northern areas. Rainfall can vary radically from year to year, and successive patterns of flooding and drought are not uncommon.

FLORA AND FAUNA

The mangrove forests of the coastal region give way to the mulberry, acacia, and date palms of the sparsely vegetated south; the foothills support phulai, kao, chinar, and wild olive, and the northern forests have stands of oak, chestnut, walnut, pine, ash, spruce, yew, and fir. Above 3,000 m (10,000 ft), birch, dwarf willow, and juniper are also found.

Pakistan's wide range of animal life includes the Siberian ibex, wild sheep, buffalo, bear, wolf, jackal, fox, wildcat, musk cat, hyena, porcupine, gazelle, peacock, python, and boar. As of 2002, there were at least 188 species of mammals, 237 species of birds, and over 4,950 species of plants throughout the country.

ENVIRONMENT

Relatively high population growth contributed to the depletion of forestland from 9.8% of Pakistan's total area in 1947 to 4.5% by 1986, despite the forest conservation measures mandated by the Forest Act of 1927. Pakistan lost 14.5% of its remaining forest and woodland between 1983 and 1993. In 2000, only about 3.1% of the total land area was forested. Deforestation has also contributed to increased soil erosion, declining soil fertility, and severe flooding.

Primary responsibility for environmental matters belongs to the Environmental and Urban Affairs Division of the Ministry for Housing and Works. Laws to set air and water quality standards and regulate coastal zones to prevent pollution were under consideration in the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, Pakistan was among the 50 nations with the world's highest levels of industrial carbon dioxide emissions, which totaled 71.9 million metric tons per year, a per capita level of 0.59 metric tons per year. In 2000, the total of carbon dioxide emissions was at 104.8 million metric tons. The nation's water supply is at risk due to untreated sewage along with agricultural and industrial pollutants. It is estimated that about 80% of the nation's diseases are related to impure water.

According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 17 types of mammals, 30 species of birds, 9 types of reptiles, 14 species of fish, and 2 species of plants. Endangered species included the Indus dolphin, Baluchistan bear, tiger, Pakistan sand cat, snow leopard, Indian wild ass, green sea turtle, olive ridley turtle, gavial, Central Asian cobra, Kabul markhor, chi pheasant, western tragopan, great Indian bustard, and Siberian white crane. Hunting or capturing wild animals was banned in 1981. In 2003, about 4.9% of the total land area was protected.

POPULATION

The population of Pakistan in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 162,420,000, which placed it at number 6 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 4% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 42% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 106 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–10 was expected to be 2.4%, a rate the government viewed as too high. In 2002, the government initiated the Population Policy of Pakistan, which aimed to stabilize population growth by 2020 by lowering both the fertility rates and mortality rates. The projected population for the year 2025 was 228,822,000. The population density was 204 per sq km (528 per sq mi).

The UN estimated that 34% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 3.60%. The capital city, Islāmābād, had a population of 698,000 in that year. Karāchi, the largest city, had a population in excess of 12 million. Other cities with populations in excess of one million include Lahore, Faisalābad, and Rāwalpindi, Gujrānwāla, Mutlān, Hyderābād, and Peshāwar.

MIGRATION

Some 6,000,000 Muslims migrated to Pakistan from India at the time of independence in 1947, and Muslims have continued to arrive from India in much fewer numbers since then. The Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979 led to an influx of Afghan refugees.

After the Taliban captured Kabul on 27 September 1996, there was a new outflow of Afghan refugees to Pakistan. By March 1997, around 50,000 new Afghan refugees entered the country. As of 1999, there were still around 1.2 million Afghan refugees living in refugee villages in Pakistan. An unknown number of unregistered Afghans were living in the main Pakistani cities of Rāwalpindi, Lahore, and Karāchi. Pakistan also hosts non-Afghan refugees, including Iraqis, Iranians, and Somalis. The total number of migrants living in Pakistan was 4,243,000 in 2000. In 2004, the total persons of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was 968,774. Refugees numbered 960,617; of these 960,041 were from Afghanistan. In that same year, 9,662 Pakistanis sought refuge in Canada, and 8,656 in Germany. In 2004, there were 8,157 asylum seekers in Pakistan, mainly from Afghanistan (7,164), and Nigeria. In that same year, Pakistanis sought asylum in 18 countries, mainly in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States. In 2004, Pakistan dropped from being the main country of asylum at the beginning of the year to the rank of second by the end of the year.

In 2003 worker remittances were $3.9 billion. In 2005, the net migration rate was -1.67 migrants per 1,000 population. The government views the migration levels as satisfactory.

ETHNIC GROUPS

The majority of the population is Punjabi (an estimated two-thirds). Other major ethnic groups include the Sindhi, Pathan, Baloch, and Muhajirs (immigrants from India and their descendants). The Rajputs and the Jats are the most numerous of the Punjabi castes. In the area of the delta and the lower course of the Indus River are Sindhi peasant tribesmen. In the north and northwest are the hardy, warlike nomadic and seminomadic Pathans. The Balochi live in the vast western section of Pakistan and are divided into 12 major tribes, some of them purportedly of Dravidian origin. Native speakers of Urdu, the Muhajirs are refugees, or descendants of refugees, from pre-partition India. They are well represented in the cities.

LANGUAGES

Punjabi is spoken by about 48% of the population; Sindhi by 12%; Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) by 10%; Pashtu by 8%; Urdu by 8%; Balochi by 3%; Hindko by 2%; Brahui by 1%; English, Burushaski, and other by 8%. During the Mughal (or Mogul) period, a fusion of local dialects and Persian produced Urdu, a "language of the camp" (zaban-i-urdu ). Although regional languages and dialects persist, Urdu is the official language of Pakistan; while it is spoken by only a minority, it is understood everywhere except in the rural or mountainous areas on the western frontier. English also claims official status and is the lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries.

RELIGIONS

The country of Pakistan was essentially created as a Muslim homeland. According to a 1998 census, some 96% of the population was Muslim, giving Pakistan one of the largest Islamic communities in the world. While most Muslims are of the Sunni and Shia sects, there are a few members of the Ismaili sect concentrated at Karāchi. Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims but they do not accept Muhammad as the last prophet; as such, they are not accepted as orthodox by other Muslim groups and were officially declared non-Muslims by the government in 1974. Zikris form another branch of people who consider themselves Muslim but are rejected by Sunni leaders because they practice ceremonies that are not common to all of Islam.

In the 1998 census, about 2% of the population were Christians with the largest group belonging to the Church of Pakistan, an umbrella Protestant organization. Roman Catholics were the next largest group of Christians. About 2% of the population were Hindus with about 2,000 temples and shrines, mostly in Sindh and Baluchistan. Buddhists, Parsis, Sikhs, and Baha'is were also represented.

Though the constitution provides for religious freedom, the government has placed restrictions on a number of religious groups. Islam is the state religion and actions or speech contrary or derogatory to Islam are illegal. There have been many cases of trials, imprisonment, and even death sentences based on the violation of these "blasphemy laws." Religious minorities face a great deal of harassment and discrimination and have been the object of physical violence. The Ahmadis, as an unrecognized offshoot of Islam, face a particular level of discrimination. They are prohibited by law from referring to themselves as Muslims or posing as Muslims in anyway. They are also not allowed to hold public assemblies or conferences. The constitution states that the president and the prime minister must be Muslim and all other government officials swear an oath to uphold the Islamic ideology of the state.

TRANSPORTATION

Railways are a major carrier of passenger and freight traffic. In 2004, Pakistan Railways operated 8,163 km (5,072 mi) of broad and narrow gauge track. Of that total, broad gauge lines predominate, with 7,718 km (4,801 mi), of which 293 km (182 mi) are electrified.

In 2002, Pakistan's road system totaled 247,811 km (153,989 mi) of roads, of which 141,252 km (87,858 mi) were paved, including 339 km (211 mi) of expressways. Road traffic drives on the left. The 800 km (500 mi) Karakoram highway, built jointly by Pakistan and China to connect Islāmābād with western China, was opened in 1979. In November, 1997, the Lahore-Islāmābād motorway was opened for traffic. There were 390,480 passenger cars and 396,225 commercial vehicles in use in 2003. The road network carries 85% of all goods and passengers moving within the country. The harbor of Karāchi, which provides Pakistan with its major port, covers an area of 6.5 sq km (2.5 sq mi) and handles over 10.5 million tons annually. Port Qasim, 22 km (14 mi) south of Karāchi, was developed during the 1970s to help handle the increased shipping traffic. As of 2005, Pakistan's merchant marine operated 13 oceangoing vessels of 1,000 GRT or more, totaling 329,486 GRT.

Pakistan had an estimated 131 airports in 2004. As of 2005, a total of 91 had paved runways, and there were also 18 heliports. Karāchi Airport is the main international terminus. As of July 2001, along with the government-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), two private carriers, Aero Asia and Shehann Air International (SAI), were operating on domestic as well as flights to Europe, the United States, and the Far East. In 2003, about 4.477 million passengers were carried in scheduled domestic and international flights.

HISTORY

The ruins of ancient civilizations at Mohenjodaro and at Harappa in the southern Indus Valley testify to the existence of an advanced urban civilization that flourished in what is now Pakistan in the second half of the third millennium bc during the same period as the major riverain civilizations in Mesopotamia and Persia. Although overwhelmed from 1500 bc onward by large migrations of nomadic Indo-European-speaking Aryans from the Caucasus region, vestiges of this civilization continue to exist not only in present-day Pakistan but also in the Indic culture that evolved from interaction of the Aryans and others in the years following. Among the latter were Persians in 500 bc, Greeks under Alexander the Great in 326 bc, and—after ad 800—Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Persians, Mongols (Mughals), and Europeans, the last of whom first arrived by sea beginning in ad 1601.

Islam, now the dominant cultural influence in Pakistan, arrived with Arab traders in the 8th century ad. Successive overland waves of Muslims followed, culminating in the ascendancy of the Mughals in most of the subcontinent. Led initially by Babur, a grandson of Genghis Khan, the Mughal empire flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries and remained in nominal control until well after the British East India Company came to dominate the region in the early 18th century. Effective British governance of the areas that now make up Pakistan was not consolidated until well into the second half of the 19th century.

Nationalism and the Rise of the Muslim League

In 1909 and 1919, while the British began to take steps to expand local self-rule, mass movements challenging colonial authority began to rise. The largest of these movements was spearheaded by the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885 as an Anglophile society. Congress began to attract wide support after 1920 with one of its key leaders, Mohandas K. Gandhi, nonviolent struggle. Its leadership included Muslims but was in many ways Hindu dominant. As a result, Muslims worried that their needs would be forgotten and formed an All-India Muslim League to look after their interests. National and provincial elections held under the Government of India Act of 1935 confirmed many Muslims in this view by showing the power the majority Hindu population could wield at the ballot box.

Sentiment among Muslims began to coalesce around the "two-nation" theory propounded by the poet Iqbal, which declared that Muslims and Hindus were separate nations and that Muslims required creation of an independent Islamic state for their protection and fulfillment. A Bombay (now Mumbai) attorney, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who came to be known "Quaid-i-Azam" (Great Leader), led the fight for a separate Muslim state to be known as Pakistan. The Muslim League endorsed the project at Lahore in 1940.

Jinnah's quest succeeded on 14 August 1947 when British India was divided into the two self-governing dominions of India and Pakistan, the latter created by combining contiguous, Muslim-majority districts in British India, the former consisting of the remainder. Partition occasioned a mass movement of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs who found themselves on the "wrong" side of new international boundaries; more than 20 million people moved, and up to three million of these were killed.

The new Pakistan was a state divided into two wings, East Pakistan (with 42 million people crowded mainly into what had been the eastern half of Bengal province) and West Pakistan (with 34 million in a much larger territory that included the provinces of Baluchistan, Sind, the Northwest Frontier, and western Punjab). In between, the wings were separated by 1600 km (1000 miles) of an independent, mainly Hindu, India professing secularism for its large Muslim, Christian, and Sikh minorities.

From the capital in Karāchi, in West Pakistan, the leaders of the new state labored mightily to overcome the economic dislocations of Partition, which cut across all previous former economic linkages, while attempting to establish a viable parliamentary government with broad acceptance in both wings. Jinnah's death in 1948 and the assassination in 1951 of Liaquat Ali Khan, its first prime minister, were major setbacks, and political stability proved elusive, with frequent recourse to proclamations of martial law and states of emergency in the years following 1954.

Complicating their task were the security concerns that Pakistan's new leaders had regarding India in the aftermath of the bitterness of partition and a still-unresolved dispute over the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. In the early 1950s, Pakistan sought security in relationships external to the subcontinent, with the Islamic world and with the United States. It joined such American-sponsored alliances as the Baghdād Pact (later—without Baghdād—the Central Treaty Organization or CENTO) and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).

East–West Divide

Pakistan also faced the daunting challenging of trying to bridge a profound political and ethnic gap that existed between its west and east wings. The Bengali east wing was economically more important, but political power rested in the Sindhi and Punjabi factions of the west wing. The eastern areas chafed under national policies laid down in the west, and seeking greater autonomy, voted the Muslim League (ML) out of office as early as 1954, resulting in a period of direct rule from Karāchi.

In 1958, the Army chief, Gen. Muhammad Ayub Khan, seized control of Pakistan, imposing martial law and banning all political activity for several years. Ayub later dissolved provincial boundaries in the west wing, converting it to "one unit," to balance East Pakistan. Each "unit" had a single provincial government and equal strength in an indirectly elected national legislature; the effect was to deny East Pakistan its population advantage, as well as its ability, as the largest province, to play provincial politics in the west wing.

Ayub's efforts failed to establish stability or satisfy the demands for restoration of parliamentary democracy. Weakened by his abortive military adventure against India in September 1965 and amid rising political strife in both wings in 1968, Ayub was eventually forced from office. General Muhammad Yayha Khan, also opposed to greater autonomy for the east wing, assumed the presidency in 1969. Again martial law was imposed and political activity suspended.

Yahya's attempt to restore popular government in the general elections of 1970 failed when the popular verdict supported those calling for greater autonomy for East Pakistan. Civil unrest in the east wing flared into civil war. India, with more than a million refugees pouring into its West Bengal state, joined the conflict in November 1971, supporting East Pakistan. When the brutal war ended in early 1972, the eastern wing was formally severed from Pakistan and became the nation of Bangladesh (land of Bengalis).

Authoritarian Politics

The loss of east Pakistan led to the resignation on 20 December 1971 of Yahya Khan and brought to the presidency Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whose populist Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had won a majority of seats in the west wing. A longtime minister under Ayub Khan, Bhutto quickly charted an independent course for West Pakistan, which became the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He distanced Pakistan from former close ties with the United States and the west, seeking security from India by a much more active role in the Third World and especially in the growing international Islamic movement fueled by petrodollars. Bhutto launched limited land reform, nationalized banks and industries, and obtained support among all parties for a new constitution promulgated in 1973, restoring a strong prime ministership, which position he then stepped down to fill. In the years following, Bhutto grew more powerful, more capricious, and autocratic. His regime became increasingly dependent on harassment and imprisonment of foes and his popular support seriously eroded by the time he called for elections in March 1977. His PPP had lost many of its supporters, and he came to rely increasingly on discredited former PML members for support.

At the polls, the PPP was opposed by the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), a nine-party coalition of all other major parties including the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on the Islamic right, the National Democratic Party on the secular left, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML/Pagaro) in the center, Asghar Khan's Tehrik Istiqlal (TI) on the secular right, and others. Although the results gave the PPP a two-thirds majority in parliament, allegations of widespread fraud and rigging undercut its credibility. PNA leaders demanded new elections, and Bhutto's exercise of emergency powers to arrest them led to widespread civil strife. On 5 July 1977, the army intervened and ousted Bhutto. Army chief General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq partially suspended the 1973 constitution, imposed martial law, and assumed the post of Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). As calm returned to Pakistan, Zia promised elections for October 1977, but for the first of many times to come, he reversed himself before the event, arguing that he needed more time to set matters aright. And as the months passed, he began to assume more of the trappings of power, creating a cabinet-like Council of Advisers of made up of serving military officers and senior civil servants, chief among whom was longtime Defense Secretary, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who became Finance Advisor and Zia's strong right arm.

In mid-1978, Zia brought Bhutto to trial for conspiracy to murder a political rival in which the rival's father was killed. He also expanded his "cabinet" with the addition of several PNA leaders as advisors, and, when the incumbent resigned, he assumed the added responsibilities (and title) of president. He allowed a return of limited political activity but put off elections scheduled for fall when he was unable to get agreement among the PNA parties on ground rules that would keep the PPP from returning to power.

Bhutto's conspiracy conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in March 1979, and he was hanged on 4 April. In the fall, and with the PNA now in disarray, Zia again scheduled, then postponed elections and restricted political activity. But he did hold "nonparty" polling for district and municipal councils, only to find at year's end confirmation of his concerns about PPP strength when PPP members, identifying themselves as "Friends of the People," showed continuing appeal among the electorate.

Opposition to martial law began slowly to coalesce in 1980 when most of the PNA leadership joined with PPP leaders Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and Nusrat Bhutto, Zulfikar's widow, to form the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) and to demand Zia's resignation and the restoration of the 1973 constitution. But Zia proceeded to expand the role of Islamic values and institutions in society.

Meanwhile, neighboring Afghanistan experienced a communist coup in 1978 and Soviet invasion in 1979. Zia jumped into the political arena, taking a strong anticommunist leadership role that drew support from the Islamic world, the UN and the United States. In the 1980s, the United States and Pakistan signed economic and security assistance agreements worth us$3.2 and us$4.02 billion. Zia also sought improved relations with India but anxiety about the much more powerful India remained high, at least partially because the status of Jammu and Kashmir remained unresolved.

In Pakistan in 1984, President Zia held a referendum on his Islamization policies in December and promised that he would serve a specified term of five years as president if the voters endorsed his policies. The MRD opposed him but did not prevent what Zia claimed was a 63% turnout, with 90% in his favor. On the strength of this disputed showing, Zia announced national and provincial elections, on a nonparty basis, for February 1985. The MRD again boycotted, but the JI and part of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) supported Zia. Deemed reasonably fair by most observers, the elections gave him a majority in the reconstituted National Assembly and left the opposition in further disarray.

Ten months later, on 30 December 1985, Zia ended martial law, as well as the state of emergency he had inherited from Zulfikar Bhutto, turning over day-to-day administration to the PML's Mohammad Khan Junejo, whom he had appointed prime minister in March. He also restored the 1973 constitution but not before amending it to strengthen presidential powers vis-a-vis the prime minister. As the Eighth Amendment to the constitution, these changes were approved by the National Assembly in October 1985. They remain a contentious issue today, having subsequently played a key role in institutional tension between incumbents of the presidency and the prime ministership. In the first such instance, frictions developed slowly through 1987, but on 29 May 1988, Zia suddenly fired Junejo, alleging corruption and a lack of support for his policies on Islamization and on Afghanistan. He called for new elections in November, and in June he proclaimed the Shariah (Islamic law) supreme in Pakistan.

However, Zia was among 18 officials (including the American Ambassador) killed in the crash of a Pakistan Air Force plane. Two months later, Chairman of the Senate, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, set elections for November. Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Bhutto's daughter, won a thin majority, and with her support Pakistan's electoral college chose Ghulam Ishaq President of Pakistan in his own right on 12 December 1988.

But the alliance was brief. Ghulam Ishaq on 20 August 1990 used his powers as president to remove Bhutto from leadership. He declared yet another a state of emergency, dissolved the National Assembly, named Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi (then leader of the opposition) prime minister, and called for new elections on 24 October. The Punjab high court upheld the constitutionality of his actions, and on 24 October, the voters gave a near-majority to the Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), a multiparty coalition resting mainly on a partnership of the PML and the JI. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, PML leader and former chief minister of Punjab, became prime minister on 6 November and quickly ended the state of emergency.

During late 1992 and early 1993, the president and the new prime minister moved toward a new confrontation over the exercise of their respective powers. Challenged by Nawaz Sharif on the president's choice of a new army chief, Ghulam Ishaq again used his eighth amendment powers to dismiss the government and dissolve the assembly on 18 April, alleging mismanagement and corruption. But public reaction to the president's actions was strong, and on 26 May, a supreme court ruling restored Nawaz Sharif to power, creating a period of constitutional gridlock until 18 July when the army chief brokered a deal in which both Ghulam Ishaq and Nawaz Sharif left office. Sharif resigned and was replaced by Ishaq Khan as interim prime minister by Moeen Qureshi, a former World Bank vice president; the president was then replaced by Wasim Sajjad, chairman of the senate.

Under Qureshi, Pakistan entered a period of fast-paced nonpartisan rule and reform in which widespread corruption was exposed, corrupt officials dismissed, and political reforms undertaken. In his actions, Qureshi was strengthened by public support and his disavowal of interest in remaining in power. He held elections as promised on 19 October, and the PPP, leading a coalition called the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA), was returned to power, with Benazir Bhutto again prime minister. On 13 November, with her support, longtime PPP stalwart Farooq Leghari was elected president. Three years later in 1996, Leghari dismissed Bhutto and her cabinet and dissolved the National Assembly. Bhutto challenged her dismissal and the dissolution of the National Assembly in the Supreme Court. In a 6–1 ruling, the Court upheld the president's actions and found her ousted government corrupt.

Nawaz Sharif won the general election held in February 1997 with one of the largest democratic mandates in Pakistan's history. He immediately set about consolidating his hold on power by repealing major elements of the 1985 Eighth Constitutional Amendment. This transferred sweeping executive powers from the president to the prime minister. Within the next few months Nawaz Sharif dismissed his Chief of Naval Staff, arrested and imprisoned Benazir Bhutto's husband for ordering the killing of a political opponent, and froze the Bhutto family's assets. In March 1998, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Benazir Bhutto on charges of misuse of power during her tenure as prime minister.

Nawaz Sharif gained a popularity boost when Pakistan successfully tested five nuclear devices on 28 May and 30 May 1998. This was in response to India's nuclear tests earlier in the month and raised international concerns over a potential nuclear confrontation between Pakistan and India. Tensions eased when Nawaz Sharif and India's prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, signed the historic "Lahore Declaration" on 21 February 1999, committing their countries to a peaceful solution of their problems.

In May 1999, however, several hundred Pakistani troops and Islamic militants infiltrated the Indian-held Kargil region of Kashmir. Two months of intense fighting brought Pakistan and India to the brink of all-out war. Under intense diplomatic pressure from the United States, but against the wishes of Pakistan's military, Nawaz Sharif ordered a withdrawal from Kargil in July 1999. This unpopular decision contributed to the prime minister's eventual downfall.

The Musharraf Years

Distrustful of his army chief of staff, General Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif dismissed Musharraf on 12 October 1999 while he was in the air returning from a visit to Sri Lanka. However, when the general's plane was denied permission to land at Karāchi Airport, army troops loyal to Musharraf seized the airport, arrested Sharif, and returned Pakistan to military rule for the fourth time in the country's history.

General Musharraf declared yet another state of emergency, suspended the constitution and assumed power as chief executive. Many Pakistanis welcomed the military takeover as a change from the corruption and abuses of Nawaz Sharif's rule. Musharraf introduced modest economic reforms (mostly in the area of revenue collection), restricted the activities of Islamic extremists, and instituted policies to curb lawlessness and sectarian violence. On 23 March 2000, Musharraf announced local elections to be held over a period of seven months between December 2000–July 2001. Significantly, however, no mention was made of national elections or a return to civilian rule. Moreover, the independence of the judiciary was seriously compromised in January 2000, when Musharraf required all judges to take an oath of loyalty to his regime. Nawaz Sharif was tried and found guilty of hijacking and terrorism for trying to prevent Musharraf's plane, a commercial flight with civilians on board, from landing at Karāchi in October 1999. Sharif was sentenced on 16 April 2000 to life in prison. In December he went into exile in Saudi Arabia after being pardoned by military authorities.

On 20 June 2001 General Musharraf named himself president of Pakistan while remaining head of the army.

After 11 September 2001, Musharraf supported the US-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan and ties between the two countries were greatly strengthened. The United States removed some sanctions imposed on Pakistan after its 1998 nuclear tests and after the Taliban were removed from power in Afghanistan in late 2001, the United States moved to strengthen counterterrorism operations in Pakistan.

On 13 December 2001, the Indian Parliament was attacked by five suicide fighters, and India blamed the attack on two Pakistan-based Islamic organizations, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, accusing Pakistan of supporting the groups and giving their leaders sanctuary. Tensions between the two countries flared, and they began to amass hundreds of thousands of troops along their shared border. Pakistan banned Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, although it claimed India had not provided evidence of the groups' involvement in the attack. The standoff between India and Pakistan continued for 10 months, and through 2003, the two countries continued to test-fire ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Pakistan's ties to the United States and proximity to Afghanistan made it home in 2002 and 2003 to series of violent acts against Westerners or Christians. Nevertheless, in April 2002, Pakistan's military regime held a referendum on General Musharraf's presidency; 98% of the votes cast were in favor of Musharraf, giving him another 5-year term as president. In August, he unilaterally implemented 29 amendments to the constitution to grant himself the power to dissolve parliament and to remove the prime minister. He also gave the military a formal role in governing the country for the first time by setting up a National Security Council that would oversee the performance of parliament, the prime minister, and his or her government. Parliamentary elections were held on 10 October, with Quaid-e-Azam, a political faction of the Muslim League supportive of Musharraf, taking the most seats.

India and Pakistan declared a formal cease-fire in Kashmir in November 2003, and relations between the two countries were slowly improving. A bus link between the India- and Pakistan-controlled portions was established in April 2005, and both countries cooperated to some degree with the distribution of humanitarian aid following a deadly earthquake that struck the region on 8 October 2005.

GOVERNMENT

Pakistan came into being as a self-governing dominion in the British Commonwealth in 1947 and declared itself a republic in 1956. Under a constitution framed by Zulfikar Bhutto and effective as of 14 August 1973, it is federal in nature, and Westminster-style cabinet systems operate at the federal and provincial levels. All powers not otherwise specified are reserved for the federal government, which is armed also with extensive emergency powers in the event of a breakdown in constitutional government.

Pakistan is governed under the constitution of 12 August 1973 (as amended) which declared Islam the state religion and provided for a president as a nominal head of state and a prime minister as executive head of government. The president and prime minister were chosen by members of parliament, and the prime minister was responsible to that body, which was elected under universal suffrage at 18 years of age (the voting age was subsequently raised to 21, but then lowered once again to 18 in the October 2002 elections). In 1973, the parliament consisted of a national assembly of 200 elected members plus 10 seats reserved (until 1982) for women and 6 for tribal areas, these reserved seats filled by vote of the elected members. A senate of 63 members included 14 legislators from each of the four provincial legislatures, plus 5 seats reserved for tribal areas and 2 for the federal capital area.

Despite the presence of a constitution, much of Pakistan's governance has been under military rule. The constitution was suspended 5 July 1977, and restored with amendments on 30 December 1981. It was suspended again on 15 October 1999 by General Pervez Musharraf and restored 31 December 2002. Musharraf imposed a series on amendments on 31 December 2003.

The first suspension and subsequent restoration of the constitution is tied to the rule of army chief. General Zia-ul Haq. Zia revived much of the 1973 constitution, although its Fundamental Principles and its electoral provisions remained suspended until martial law was lifted in 1985. The CMLA was initially assisted by an appointive council of advisors, then by an advisory Federal Council of 277 appointed members that was formed in 1982 to assist and advise the martial law government.

Amendments that, following the lifting of martial law in December 1985, redressed the balance of powers between the positions of prime minister and president, who also remained commander-in-chief of the armed forces. It established term limits of five years for the incumbents, and provided that their successors in 1990 would be elected, the president by an electoral college composed of members of the national assembly, the senate, and the provincial assemblies, and the prime minister, by the national assembly.

After a 12 October 1999 military coup staged by the army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, the constitution was suspended again. On 21 August 2002, Musharraf announced 29 amendments that established a National Security Council and granted new powers to the president, including the right to dissolve the national assembly at his or her discretion, to appoint governors and to dissolve provincial assemblies in consultation with them, and to appoint the joint chiefs of staff and the three service chiefs in consultation with the prime minister.

Under the constitution, the president is to be elected by Parliament every five years. Musharraf's term was extended in 2002 and the next election was scheduled for 2007. One of the branches of Parliament—the National Assembly—is responsible for choosing the prime minister. Shaukut Aziz was chosen in 2004 for a five-year term.

The parliament, also known as Majlis-i-Shura, has two chambers. The first chamber, the Senate, as of January 2006 consisted of 100 members who were elected indirectly by provincial assemblies to serve four-year terms. The second chamber, the National Assembly, consists of 342 members who are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. New elections were to take place in October 2006. Of the 342 National Assembly seats, 60 are reserved for women and 10 for minorities.

POLITICAL PARTIES

Political parties have existed in Pakistan during all of its turbulent political history, but the dominant force in Pakistani politics remains the military. Parties have been frequently banned or restricted by the government, which in many cases has rendered them ineffectual. Islamic ulema (or clergy) and traditional landowners also command much authority in Pakistan.

Parties operate at both the national and regional level. A total of 14 parties held seats in Pakistan's Parliament in 2006.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Pakistan is divided into four provinces, each with deep historic roots and both linguistic and cultural associations. Outside the provinces, there are Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan and the federal capital of Islāmābād, In addition, provincial governments directly administer tribal areas within their territories.

The provinces, in order of population size, are Punjab (with its capital at Lahore), Sindh (Karāchi), Northwest Frontier Province (Peshāwar), and Baluchistan (Quetta), the largest in area. Under the 1973 constitution, provinces have popularly elected provincial assemblies, a governor appointed by the president, and a chief minister in whom executive power is vested. The governor acts on the advice of a chief minister who is elected from the party commanding the support of the assembly.

The senior administrative officer of each province is the chief secretary. Each province is divided administratively into divisions headed by commissioners who, like the chief secretary and the secretaries of provincial ministries, are senior members of the Pakistan Civil Service (CSP). Divisions are further subdivided into districts headed (depending on local usage) by deputy commissioners, district officers, or collectors, also members of the CSP, who manage development funds, collect the revenues, supervise the police, adjudicate disputes, administer justice, and interface with the elected councils at the local level which have limited taxing authority, decide on priorities for local development programs, and try certain local legal cases.

The Pakistan-controlled third of the original state of Jammu and Kashmir is divided into two areas. The southern portion, referred to as Azad Kashmir, is administered from Muzaffarabad by an appointed president and council of ministers. The larger portion to the north is known as the Northern Areas and is administered by a Commissioner and an elected council.

The number of seats in the provincial assemblies was increased in October 2002, and seats were reserved for women and non-Muslims. In the provincial assembly elections held on 10 October, the MMA won a landslide victory in the Northwest Frontier Province. In Punjab, the Quaid-e-Azam faction of the PML took the most seats, with Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party coming in second. The PPP came in first in Sindh, and the MMA came in first in Baluchistan.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Pakistan's judicial system stems directly from the system that was used in British India. The Supreme Court has original, appellate, and advisory jurisdictions. The president of Pakistan appoints the justices. Each province has a high court, the judges of which are also named by the president. Below the high courts are district and session courts, and below these are subordinate courts and village courts on the civil side and magistrates on the criminal side. There are no jury trials in Pakistan.

The British tradition of an independent judiciary has been undermined in Pakistan by developments over the last 50 years. In May 1991, for example, the National Assembly adopted legislation which incorporated the Islamic legal code, the Shariah into Pakistan's legal system. A Federal Shariah Court has the power to nullify any law it finds repugnant to Islam.

The position of the judiciary in Pakistan has also been affected by periods of military rule in the country. When General Zia al-Huq imposed martial law in 1977, military courts were given jurisdiction over trial and punishment of civilians found guilty of violating martial law regulations. The verdicts could not be appealed to a higher civilian court. Moreover, a provision of the 1973 constitution that judges could be removed only by the supreme judicial council, consisting of the chief justice and two ranking judges from the Supreme Court and the high courts, was revoked by the military government in June 1979. Under the 1981 interim constitution, a new oath was imposed on all Supreme Court, high court, and Shariah court judges, and all laws promulgated by the martial law regime were exempted from judicial review. The Supreme Court chief justice and several other judges were replaced after refusing to take the oath. Although the military courts were abolished in December 1985, their decisions still cannot be appealed to civilian courts.

Similarly, in January 2000, Musharraf required all judges to take an oath of loyalty to his regime. The Supreme Court chief justice, Saiduzzaman Siddiqui, and five colleagues refused and were dismissed. This was just a week before the court was due to hear the first of several cases challenging the legality of the new government. Legal experts argue this action did irreparable harm to Pakistan's judiciary; with all sitting judges having accepted the military regime, there is no independent judiciary to protect the constitution.

ARMED FORCES

In 2005, Pakistan's armed forces totaled 619,000 active personnel. The Army comprised the largest portion, accounting for 550,000 active members, followed by the Air Force at 45,000 and the Navy at 24,000 personnel (including an estimated 1,400 Marines). The Army's major weapons systems included more than 2,461 main battle tanks, 1,266 armored personnel carriers, over 4,291 artillery pieces, and 22 attack helicopters. Major naval units included 8 tactical submarines, 7 frigates, 10 patrol/coastal vessels, and 3 mine warfare ships. The Navy's air arm included 9 maritime patrol aircraft and 12 antisubmarine warfare helicopters. The Air Force's primary striking force was made up of 331 combat capable aircraft, which included 143 fighters and over 51 fighter ground attack aircraft. Pakistan's paramilitary forces had an active strength of 302,000 personnel that included the Pakistan Rangers (up to 40,000), the Frontier Corps (up to 65,000), a maritime security agency (estimated at 2,000), a National Guard (185,000) and the Northern Light Infantry (estimated at 12,000). It is suspected that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal consisted of between 24 and 48 weapons, with the capability to produce more. Pakistan was a participant in UN and peacekeeping operations in 10 countries or regions. The defense budget in 2005 was $3.74 billion.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Pakistan became a member of the United Nations on 30 September 1947 and is a member of several specialized agencies, such as ESCAP, the FAO, UNESCO, UNHCR, the World Bank, ILO, UNIDO, and the WHO. As an Islamic state, Pakistan is an active member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Pakistan also belongs to the Asian Development Bank, the Colombo Plan, the Commonwealth of Nations, G-24, G-77, and the WTO. In 1960, Pakistan and India signed an Indus water basin treaty opening the way to the peaceful use and development of water resources. Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran established a tripartite arrangement, called Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), in 1964. In 1985, Pakistan and six other South Asian countries, including India and Bangladesh, formed the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The country holds observer status in the OAS

Pakistan is part of the Nonaligned Movement. The government has offered support for UN missions and operations in Kosovo (est. 1999), Western Sahara (est. 1991), Liberia (est. 2003), Sierra Leone (est. 1999), East Timor (est. 2002), Georgia (est. 1993), Burundi (est. 2004), and the DROC (est. 1999), among others. The UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was established in 1949 to observe the cease-fire between the two countries. Nine countries participate in this peacekeeping effort, yet strained relations between Pakistan and India have often lead to acts of violence.

In environmental cooperation, Pakistan is part of the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP), the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the London Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change, and Desertification.

ECONOMY

Despite steady expansion of the industrial sector during the 1990s, Pakistan's economy remains dominated by agriculture. Agriculture and industry made roughly similar contributions to GDP—21.6% and 25.1%, respectively—in 2005, although 42% of the labor force was in agriculture and only 20% in industry. About 70% of export revenues are generated by agriculture or agriculture-based manufactures, with cotton alone accounting for about 60% of the total. Exports of primary agricultural products are concentrated in cotton and rice. One-fourth of the land is farmed or used for grazing, and much of this is planted to food crops for domestic consumption. Pakistan is generally poor in natural resources, although extensive reserves of natural gas and petroleum are being exploited. Iron ore, chromite, and low-quality coal are mined.

This strong performance not withstanding, a growing debt-servicing burden, large government expenditures on public enterprises, low tax revenues, high levels of defense spending, and a rapid rise in imports with burgeoning domestic demand contributed to serious fiscal and current account deficits during the late 1980s. In response, in 1988 the government initiated a major structural reform program with World Bank and IMF support. When the country was created in 1947, there were no industries, and few banks or mercantile firms. Since that time, industrial production has risen significantly. In 1998, industry accounted for about 26% of the GDP, compared with only 7% in 1950. Thanks in part to significant expansion of power facilities, largely in the Indus basin, the pace of economic development was particularly rapid during the 1980s. For most of the decade, the annual GDP growth rate averaged 6.5%, reflecting an expansion of over 4% annually in the agricultural sector and over 7% in value added in the industrial sector.

The government pursued policies aimed at private sector-led development, macro economic stability, and structural reforms. Overall growth indicators remained promising with the reform measures, as GDP increased by 5.5% in 1990/91 and 7.8% in 1991/92, and export growth averaged a robust 14% between 1989 and 1992. These improvements notwithstanding, reform efforts secured less than expected reductions in the country's balance of payment deficits, due in part to deteriorating terms of trade in the wake of rising oil prices during the 1991 Gulf War. Severe floods in the Sindh and Punjab provinces in late 1992 and a contraction in international commodity markets weakened Pakistan's export sector during 1992/93, further exacerbating the country's trade and current account deficits and helping to reduce GDP growth to only 3% in 1993. In March of 1994 the government received IMF approval of a three-year Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) to support reforms. The IMF wanted austerity measures aimed at reducing the government deficit to 4% of GDP, a reduction in the maximum tariff rate from 70% to 45%, increased privatization of large state-owned enterprises, and a tax on agricultural income. However, the government's failure to follow the IMF recommendations and liberalize the economy caused the IMF to suspend the $1.5 billion loan in mid-1995. The suspension of the loan worried investors and damaged Pakistan's debt ratings. The trade deficit grew, foreign exchange reserves dwindled, and inflation remained high.

After the government recommitted itself to reform, the IMF approved a new $600 million standby arrangement in September 1995. Still, by 1996 the economy was in its worst recession in 25 years. Tax receipts were falling well below their targets and export earnings had declined, leaving the government with a deepening foreign-exchange crisis as reserves fell to only $500 million by the end of the year. By mid-1997, the government owed $1.6 billion in interest on $30 billion owed to foreign creditors, putting the country perilously close to default. Growth in GDP was only 1.2% in 1997, down from 6.1% in 1996. Growth rebounded to 4.2% in 1998/99 as per capita income reached $434, up from $400 in 1990. However, Pakistan came under international economic sanctions following its six nuclear bomb tests in May 1998, and then again after the elected government was overthrown in a military coup in 1999. The growth rate declined to 3.9% in 1999/00 and then to 2.5% in 2000/01, as per capita income fell to $397. Net public debt in 2000/01 rose to 103.8% of GDP. In November 2000, the government entered into a 10-month stand-by agreement with the IMF preliminary to the rescheduling of $1.8 billion of sovereign debt with the Paris Club countries in January 2001. After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, more concessional finance was made available. In December 2001, Pakistan entered into a three-year arrangement with the IMF under its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), and under a new Paris Club agreement, over $12 billion of national debt was rescheduled. Net public debt in 2001/02 decreased marginally to 96.2% of GDP. GDP growth rose slightly to 3.6% and inflation eased to 2.7%, down from 4.4% the year before. The most improved economic indicator was foreign reserves, which rose from about $900 million in 1999 to over $10 billion in March 2003.

In October 2005, a devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan and Kashmir killed some 80,000 people and left more than 3 million homeless, mostly in Pakistan, to survive the winter. Foreign donors in November 2005 pledged over $6 billion to support reconstruction in the wake of the earthquake. Despite the earthquake, however, the economy was expected to perform strongly in 2006: real GDP growth was projected to reach 6.6% in 2005/06 and 6% in 2006/07. The annual inflation rate was forecast to average 8.6% in 2006 and 6.7% in 2007. Although substantial progress had been made on macroeconomic reforms, by 2006 progress on more politically-sensitive reforms had slowed. For example, in the 2006 fiscal year budget, the government did not impose taxes on the agriculture or real estate sectors, despite Pakistan's severely-low tax-to-GDP ratio. Despite Pakistan's low level of development, prospects for job creation and poverty reduction were good in the medium term. GDP growth, prodded by double-digit gains in industrial production over 2005, has become less dependent on agriculture, and stood at 8.4% in 2005. Foreign exchange reserves continued to reach new levels in 2005, spurred on by steady workers' remittances. Real GDP growth averaged 5% over the 2001–05 period, and inflation averaged 5.2% over the same period.

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Pakistan's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $385.2 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $2,400. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 8.4%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 9.2%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 21.6% of GDP, industry 25.1%, and services 53.3%.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $3.964 billion or about $27 per capita and accounted for approximately 4.8% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $1,068 million or about $7 per capita and accounted for approximately 1.3% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Pakistan totaled $60.57 billion or about $409 per capita based on a GDP of $82.3 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 4.0%. In 2001 it was estimated that approximately 45% of household consumption was spent on food, 19% on fuel, 6% on health care, and 5% on education. It was estimated that in 2001 about 32% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

LABOR

In 2005, Pakistan's labor force was estimated at 46.84 million. As of 2004, it was estimated that agriculture accounted for 42% of the total workforce, with services at 38%, and industry at 20%. Unemployment and underemployment are major problems. Although in 2005, unemployment was estimated at 6.6%, underemployment is known to be substantial. In addition, Pakistan's workforce is marked by the widespread export of labor, most of which is to the Middle East, and the use of child labor.

There are sizable numbers of Pakistani workers in the Middle East and European countries, most of them from the poor regions of Pakistan's NWFP. There are also several million refugees from Afghanistan who have become part of the Pakistan labor force in those regions and in Karāchi.

The trade union movement is of recent origin. The principal federations include the National Labor Federation and the All Pakistan National Federation of Trade Unions. Labor-management differences are handled by the central conciliation machinery, established under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947. Benefits such as bonuses, paid holidays, and job security regulations are set forth in the basic West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment Ordinance of 1968. In 2002, approximately 10% of the industrial labor force was unionized, and 3% of the total workforce. The government curtails union activity. Although collective bargaining is protected by law, government restrictions preclude bargaining by large segments of the labor force.

The practice of child labor is widespread. According to a government survey, three or four million children between the ages of five and 14 worked as of 2002. However, informal estimates have placed this figure as high as 8 to 10 million. There may also be some 20 million bonded laborers in Pakistan. Bonded labor is particularly common among the persecuted Christian minority. Children are often kidnapped to serve as forced labor. The minimum wage for unskilled workers was $30 per month in 2002. There is a maximum workweek of 48 hours, but most employees are unaware of these work restrictions.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture engaged 47% of the economically active population in 2000. Agricultural production increased by an annual average of 4.4% during 1990–2000, accounting for 23% of GDP in 2003. The development of a huge irrigation network covering two-thirds of the total cultivated area—together with massive land reclamation projects—has made possible the farming of vast tracts of previously barren and unusable land. The Indus Valley of Punjab is Pakistan's agricultural heartland. There are two principal growing seasons: the kharif season starts between April and June and ends between October and December, while the rabi season starts between October and December and ends during April or May. Grains constitute the most important food crops, with wheat, rice, corn, and citrus the major products. Cotton, the most important cash crop, generates more foreign trade income than any other export item. Cotton production suffered in the late 1990s from leaf curl virus. In 2004/05, production totaled 11.3 million bales. Rice, sugarcane, tobacco, rapeseed, and mustard are also large export earners. Rice covers 12% of all cropland—production in 2004/05 totaled 5.02 million tons.

Improved government policies over the past decade have made Pakistan a net exporter of guar products, tobacco, cotton, and rice. Other major agricultural exports include molasses, fruits and vegetables, guar and guar products, and tobacco. Principal crops with 2004 output (in thousands of tons) were wheat, 19,767; sugarcane, 53,419; and corn, 2,775. Production of sunflower seed amounted to 404,000 tons in 2004. Other crops include millet, barley, sesame, flax, groundnuts, mangoes, citrus fruits, and vegetables. Opium poppies are grown in the North-West Frontier Province (on an estimated 2,500–3,000 hectares/6,200–7,400 acres in 2003), government efforts to stamp out the opium and heroin trade have helped reduce production by over 95% since the mid-1980s.

Farming production remains limited by primitive methods, and mechanization is uncommon. The introduction of improved wheat and rice varieties has met with some success, although the greatest impact on agriculture has derived from the Indus basin irrigation schemes, which by the 1970s had provided Pakistan with the largest irrigated network in the world. The availability of water has made possible increased use of chemical fertilizers, with the most intensive consumption occurring in cotton production. The government has instituted soil conservation, farm mechanization, land reclamation, and plant protection programs.

To increase smallholders' equity and provide further incentives for agricultural improvement, the government decreed in 1959 that the maximum holding for any person should be 200 hectares (500 acres) of irrigated land or 400 hectares (1,000 acres) unirrigated. Land in excess of these amounts was acquired by the government and paid for in interest-bearing 30-year bonds. In March 1972, the maximum permissible size of a holding, measured in terms of production index units, was reduced by two-thirds, with the government empowered to confiscate without payment all excess land for free redistribution to landless peasants and small tenants. To help the new landowners, the government provided loans for purchase of seed, feed, and bullocks. In accordance with a statement of national agricultural policy issued in 1980, the Agricultural Price Commission was established to provide incentives to Pakistani farmers through higher prices for farm products.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Some 30 to 35 million people are engaged in the livestock industry. Camels are used for transport throughout the more barren south and west, and bullocks and donkeys elsewhere. Sheep range widely over the grazing lands of middle and northern Pakistan; the bulk of their wool is exported. Among local breeds of cattle, the Red Sindhi, the Tharparker, the Sahiwal are renowned for milk, and the Bhagnari and Dhanni for draft purposes. The production of powdered milk, cheese, butter, and ice cream is carried out by several large dairy plants. From 1984 to 1990, milk production increased by 41%, and meat production rose 48%. Even so, domestic milk production still falls short of demand. Poultry production has become prominent, especially through scientific research in breeding, feeding, and disease control. With the assistance of the Asian Development Bank, several livestock development projects were underway.

In 2005 there were 26.3 million buffaloes, 24.2 million head of cattle, 56.7 million goats, and 24.9 million sheep. Commercial poultry numbered 166 million in 2004. There were also an additional 3.5 million ducks. Modern poultry production in Pakistan is constrained by high mortality and incidence of disease in chicks and an inefficient marketing system. Production estimates for 2005 included (in tons): beef, 469,000; goat meat, 370,000; mutton, 166,000; poultry, 420,600; wool, 40,000; and milk, 29,474,000 (67% from buffalo). In an effort to increase domestic milk production, the government has initiated a comprehensive livestock development program with $55 million in assistance from the Asian Development Bank. The government has also broadened extension and artificial breeding services, taken measures to improve slaughterhouses, and introduced high-yield fodder varieties. Cattle dung is an important cooking fuel and fertilizer.

FISHING

With a coastline of 814 km (506 mi), Pakistan is rich in fishery resources that remain to be fully developed. Almost the entire population of the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan depends on fisheries for its livelihood. The fish catch in 2003 was 576,804 tons, 70% of it landed off coastal waters. Species include salmon, mullet, pomfret, mackerel, shrimp, and local varieties. About 10% of the annual catch is exported. Export earnings from fish products amounted to $136.9 million in 2003.

To exploit potential fishery resources, the government has undertaken such projects as construction of a modern harbor for fishing vessels at Karāchi, procurement of diesel-powered vessels, establishment of cold storage and marketing facilities, export of frozen shrimp, and encouragement of cooperative fish-marketing societies. An aquaculture project financed by the Asian Development Bank and the EU aimed to increase the annual fish catch and to promote prawn farming.

FORESTRY

Of Pakistan's depleted forest resources, amounting to about 3.1% of the total area, only about 1,748,000 hectares (4,319,500 acres) are classified as commercial or productive forests. Privately-owned forests cover some 3,783,000 hectares (9,348,000 acres), located primarily in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and Punjab. Hill forests predominate in the north and northwest temperate and subtropical regions. Fir, spruce, deodar, bluepine, chirpine, Chalghoza, and juniper, as well as broadleaved species like oak, maple, walnut, poplar, and chestnut are found in the hill forests. These forests are the main source for constructional timber and supply great quantities of fuelwood, while providing groundcover to the fragile mountain ecosystems (thereby lessening floods and droughts in the plains). Forests in the foothills consist of broadleaved evergreens, with main species of olive and phulai. Irrigated plantation forests grow such species as sheesham, mulberry, bakain, and semal, mostly for timber, furniture, and sporting goods production.

About 500,000 cu m (17.6 million cu ft) of timber is produced annually by state forests, which are under the authority of the Pakistan Forest Institute. During 1990–2000, the annual average rate of deforestation was 1.5%. Pakistan has a 25-year forestry master plan outlining the development of the industry through 2018. The total timber cut in 2004 was 28.28 million cu m (998.2 million cu ft), with 91% consumed as fuelwood. Since forest resources are limited, Pakistan must import wood and wood products in increasing volumes to satisfy rising demand. In 2004, forest product imports totaled $137 million.

MINING

Except for petroleum and natural gas, mineral reserves in Pakistan were meager and of poor quality. Chromite was one of the few valuable minerals available. Production of chromium (by metal content) rose to an estimated 13,000 metric tons in 2003 from an estimated 12,500 metric tons in 2002. Construction materials were a leading industry in the country. In 2003, small quantities were produced of aragonite and marble, barite, bauxite, bentonite, chalk, dolomite, natural emery, feldspar, fire clay, fluorspar, fuller's earth, crude gypsum, kaolin (china clay), limestone and other stone, crude magnesite, nitrogen, ammonia, phosphate rock, natural mineral pigments, rock and marine salt, bajir and common sand, glass sand, caustic soda, soapstone, strontium minerals (celestite), native sulfur, soapstone talc and related materials.

Pakistan's inadequate infrastructure, poorly educated workforce, and pervasive violence have been major obstacles to attracting foreign investment. The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources invited the Iranian government in 2000 to invest in copper exploration and development, and to manage the mothballed Saindak copper-gold-molybdenum-silver mining and metallurgical complex, in Baluchistan's Chagai Hills. Also interested in acquiring the Saindak project were China, China Metallurgical Construction Corp. built the mine and plant, and BHP of Australia. Mining stopped at Saindak in 1996. BHP and Australia's Mincor Resources formed an alliance to explore and develop large porphyry-style copper deposits in the Chagai Hills. The joint venture initially was to focus on the Reko Diq Complex, possibly one of the world's largest copper deposits with more than 7 million tons of copper and 342,000 kg of gold. The Geological Survey of Pakistan reportedly discovered a total of 400 million tons of commercially viable iron ore in Baluchistan and the North West Frontier (NWF), to be mined by open-cut methods. The NWF government was considering reviving the Swat emerald mine, at Mingora. The discovery of a large low-ash, low-sulfur lignite deposit in the Tharparkar desert may increase the importance of Pakistan's coal.

ENERGY AND POWER

Pakistan is a net importer of petroleum, but is self-sufficient in natural gas. It has relatively small coal deposits. Its electric power sector relies heavily upon fossil fuels to produce power.

As of 1 January 2004, Pakistan's proven oil reserves were estimated at 288 million barrels. In 2003, oil production averaged an estimated 61,769 barrels per day, of which crude oil production accounted for 60,000 barrels per day. However, Pakistan's demand for oil in 2003 came to an estimated 360,000 barrels per day, making the country a net importer. Imports that year were estimated to average 298,231 barrels per day. As of 1 January 2004, Pakistan's crude oil refining capacity was estimated to average 268,975 barrels per day.

Pakistan's proven natural gas reserves are more robust. As of 1 January 2004, the country's proven natural gas reserves were estimated at 26.8 trillion cu ft. Natural gas output and domestic consumption were each estimated at 0.81 trillion cu ft.

Although coal plays a relatively minor part in Pakistan's overall energy picture, the country does have recoverable coal reserves estimated at 2.5 billion short tons, as of 1 January 2004. In 2002, Pakistan produced an estimated 3.7 million short tons of coal. However, demand outstripped output that year, coming in at 4.7 million short tons, and necessitating the importation of 1.1 million short tons of coal.

Pakistan's electric power generating capacity in 2002 totaled 18.038 million kW, of which 12.537 million kW of capacity was dedicated to conventional thermal generation. Hydroelectric dedicated capacity amounted to 5.039 million kW, while nuclear power accounted for 0.462 million kW of capacity. Electric power output in 2002 totaled 72.443 billion kWh, of which 48.516 billion kWh came from conventional thermal sources and 22.127 billion kWh came from hydroelectric sources. Nuclear power generation provided 1.800 billion kWh. Despite increases in installed generating capacity, Pakistan faces electricity shortages due to rapid demand growth, transmission losses due to outdated infrastructure, power theft, and seasonal reductions in the availability of hydropower. Rotating power outages still needed in some areas and many villages are not yet electrified. As of 2002, less than half of Pakistan's population was connected to the nation's power grid.

INDUSTRY

During the 1960s and 1970s, light industry expanded rapidly—especially textiles, sugar refining, fertilizers, and other manufactures derived from local raw materials. Large government investments in the 1970s established the country's first large-scale ship-building and steel milling operations; the production of chemical fertilizers was also given special government support. The Pakistan Industrial Development Corp., established in the early 1980s with IDA credit, developed industrial estates for small- and medium-scale industries, assisting their occupants in obtaining credit, raw materials, technical and managerial assistance, access to production facilities, as well as marketing support. Despite steady overall industrial growth during the 1980s, the sector remains concentrated in cotton processing, textiles, food processing and petroleum refining.

The 1973 nationalization program, which placed 10 basic industries wholly within the public sector, was reversed in 1991 with the enactment of an ambitious privatization program. In 1992, the government began auctioning off majority control in nearly all public sector industrial enterprises, including those manufacturing chemicals, fertilizers, engineering products, petroleum products, cement, automobiles, and other industrial products requiring a high level of capital investment, to private investors. In 1995, however, the speed of privatization began to slow as the sale of some large state-owned units were stalled and postponed. In 2002, the public industrial sector, under the Production Wing of the Ministry of Industries and Production consisted of eight public holding companies—Pakistan Steel, the State Cement Corporation (PACO), Federal Chemical and Ceramics Corporation (FCCC), State Petroleum Refining and Petrochemical Corporation (PERAC), State Engineering Corporation (SEC), the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), the state fertilizer corporation, and Pakistan Automobile Corporation. The majority of the 74 production enterprises controlled by these holding companies have been privatized, and most of those remaining are scheduled to be sold. The public sector continues to dominate in steel, heavy engineering, automobiles, petroleum and defense-related production.

Cotton textile production is the most important of Pakistan's industries, accounting for about 19% of large-scale industrial employment, and 60% of total exports in 2000/01. Pakistan has become self-sufficient in cotton fabrics and exports substantial quantities. Some long and extra-long staple cotton is imported to meet demand for finer cottons. About 80% of the textile industry is based on cotton, but factories also produce synthetic fabrics, worsted yarn, and jute textiles. Jute textile output amounted to 70,100 tons in 1999/00. The textile industry as a whole employs about 38% of the industrial work force, accounts for 8.5% of GDP, 31% of total investment, and 27% of industrial value-added. In January 2005, the WTO lifted textile-import quotas in Europe and the United States, and Pakistan, having invested $4 billion in the four years up to the lifting of the quotas, was well-placed for growth in the textile industry.

Other important industries include food processing, chemicals manufacture, and the iron and steel industries. Food processing is considered Pakistan's largest industry, accounting for slightly more than 27% of value-added production. Pakistan Steel, the country's only integrated steel mill, employs about 14,500 workers and has an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tons. The government plans to expand the mill's annual capacity to 3 million tons. Pakistan Steel produces coke, pig iron, billets, hot and cold rolled coils and sheets, and galvanized sheets. In June 1999, the first tinplating plant began operation, a joint venture with Japan.

As of 2005, Pakistan had 10 fertilizer plants, 4 state-owned and 6 private, with a total annual production capacity of 5.75 million tons. There were 24 cement plants, four state-owned and 20 private, with an annual production capacity of 19.55 million tons. Pakistan's chemical industry produces an number of basic chemicals used in its other industries, including soda ash, caustic soda and sulfuric acid. Industrial output from other major industries also includes refined sugar, vegetable ghee, urea, rubber tubes, electric motors, electrical consumer products (light bulbs, air conditioners, fans, refrigerators, freezers, TV sets, radios, and sewing machines), and pharmaceuticals

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Pakistan has made notable advances in nuclear technology since the 1980s, when its Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) developed a nuclear plant for electric power generation and research programs. The AEC's three nuclear centers for agricultural research have employed nuclear techniques to improve crop varieties. Six nuclear medical centers provide diagnosis and treatment of patients with radioisotopes produced from Pakistan's own uranium resources. In May 1998, Pakistan conducted nuclear weapons tests in the desert of the Chagai Hills in response to Indian testing earlier that month. Five nuclear bombs were fired on 28 May and a sixth on 30 May.

The Karāchi Export Processing Zone (EPZ), established in 1980, has attracted foreign capital investment in advanced technologies. Another EPZ has been proposed for Lahore. EPZ now include those for computer assembly and parts manufacture, television assembly, other electrical and electronic products, and engineering.

Scientific learned societies include the Pakistan Academy of Science (founded in 1953 at Islāmābād), the Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science (founded in 1947 at Lahore), and the Scientific Society of Pakistan (founded in 1954 at Karāchi). The Pakistan Council for Science and Technology is the chief government advisory body. The Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Pakistan Medical Research Council (both in Karāchi), and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (in Islāmābād) promote research in their respective fields. In 1996, Pakistan had 28 universities and colleges offering courses in basic and applied sciences. In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 32% of college and university enrollments.

In 2002, research and development (R&D) expenditures totaled $758.491 million, or 1.67% of GDP. In that same year, there were 88 scientists and engineers per million people that were engaged in R&D. High technology exports in 2002 totaled $36 million or 1% of Pakistan's manufactured exports. In 1996, Pakistan had 28 universities and colleges offering courses in basic and applied sciences.

DOMESTIC TRADE

The government supervises the supply and pricing of essential commodities, including fruits, vegetables, livestock, and dairy products, and has established several cooperative marketing and distribution organizations. Foreign goods are brought in by large importing concerns, centered at Karāchi, and distributed to retailers through many intermediaries.

There are several produce exchanges at Karāchi, and the trade organizations are represented by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Large supermarkets and department stores have not yet developed in the nation. Chain stores for clothing have become popular in major cities, with shops carrying locally produced goods. Most retail establishments are small or medium-sized, owned by a family or an individual. Government-owned "Utility Stores" carry food and household items at controlled prices. There are about 200,000 retail outlets throughout the country. Steps have been taken to improve marketing and distribution facilities throughout the country. Advertising remains small in scope, in part because of the high rate of illiteracy. Outlets include television, newspapers, posters, handbills, and color slides shown in the motion-picture houses.

Banks are customarily open from 9 am to 1 pm, Mondays through Thursdays and Saturdays, and from 9 am to 12 pm on Fridays. Private businesses usually operate from 9 am to 5 pm, Mondays through Thursdays and Saturdays, and from 9 am to 12 pm on Fridays. Most businesses are closed on Sunday. During Ramadan, shorter hours are observed. Many international firms are also closed on Saturdays.

FOREIGN TRADE

Pakistan has suffered a weak trade position since the early 1970s, as the cost of oil imports have risen while prices for the country's main exports have declined on the international market. Exports fell 2.5% and imports dropped 20% in 1998, but by 2000 they were back on the upswing, growing at 8.3% and 19%, respectively. Pakistan's commerce ministry estimates that up to $1.5 billion of unregistered trade occurs annually, mostly from smuggled imports. Smuggled goods (tea, soap, domestic appliances, batteries, tires, bicycles, and televisions) enter the country primarily from Afghanistan.

The important commodity exports for Pakistan are cotton, textiles, and clothes. Other major exports include rice and leather. In 2003, Pakistan's major exports were: cotton fabrics (10.8% of all exports); cotton yarn and thread (9.6%); and rice (5.3%). Primary imports were: machinery and transportation equipment (26.7% of all imports); mineral fuels and related (23.8%); and chemicals (16%).

During the 1980s, the United Kingdom, traditionally Pakistan's most important trading partner, slipped behind the United States, Japan, and Germany. In 2004, Pakistan's leading markets were: the United States (21% of all exports); the UAE (10.9%); the United Kingdom (7%); and Germany (5.1%). Leading suppliers were: China (12.2% of all imports); the United States (11.1%); the UAE (10.7%); and Saudi Arabia (10.4%).

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

Pakistan's payments problems have been chronic since the 1970s, with the cost of oil imports primarily responsible for the trade imbalance. The growth of exports and of remittances from Pakistanis working abroad (mostly in the Middle East) helped Pakistan to keep the payments deficit in check. Remittances from overseas workers peaked at $2.9 billion in 1982/83, then dropped to $1.4 billion by 1997/98 and $1 billion from 1999 to 2001. This trend especially accelerated during the 1991 Gulf War, when nearly 80,000 Pakistanis in Kuwait and Iraq lost their jobs. Only about 25% of these jobs had been regained a year after the end of the conflict. Increased imports and softer demand for Pakistan's textiles and

apparel in major markets also caused the current account deficit to further increase. The balance of payments position weakened in 1995/96 as imports grew by 16% and exports by only 6%. The rupee was devalued by 11% during 1995 and 1996 to encourage exports. Nevertheless, foreign reserves fell to around $800 million by mid-1997. By 2000, foreign debt equaled 100% of GDP.

The government took steps in the early 2000s to liberalize and deregulate the exchange and payments regime. Pakistan moved to a dual exchange rate system in 2000. An increase in liquid foreign exchange reserves in 2001 was due in part to outright purchases from the kerb market and inflows from international financial institutions. Export growth in 2000/01 was primarily due to higher exports of primary commodities such as rice, raw cotton, and fish, and other manufactures such as leather, carpets, sporting goods, and surgical instruments. Imports increased in 2000/01 primarily due to higher imports of petroleum and petroleum products, and machinery.

In 2004, merchandise exports stood at $13.4 billion and imports at $16.7 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $3.4 billion. The current-account balance averaged 1.6% of GDP over the 2001–05 period. The current-account balance was estimated at -$1.43 billion in 2005. The current-account deficit was expected to widen to 3.8% of GDP in 2006 and to 4.3% of GDP in 2007, in line with the rising merchandise trade deficit.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

The central banking institution is the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), established in 1948 at Karāchi and with branches in the larger cities. The government holds 51% of the bank's paid-up capital; 49% is held by corporations, societies, and individuals. The State Bank has exclusive responsibility for the issuance of currency; it is the financial agent of the central and provincial governments, and is responsible for the flotation and management of the public debt. As of 2002, there were 44 commercial banks and 36 nonbanking financial institutions (NBFI's) in Pakistan. Of the commercial banks, 25 were domestic (with over 7,000 branches) and 19 were foreign (with 78 branches). Citibank is the largest foreign bank operating in Pakistan. NBFI's included 10 development financial institutions, 16 investment banks, four housing finance companies, two venture capital companies, and four discount houses. Consumer banking in Pakistan is largely undeveloped; commercial banks lend predominantly to corporations. There is a minimum capital level of 8% on all risk assets. The total volume of default loans from all financial institutions in 1998 was $2.8 billion.

The nation's largest commercial banks were nationalized in 1974 and regrouped under five state banking institutions: the National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank, United Bank, Muslim Commercial Bank, and Allied Bank of Pakistan. The government-controlled banking system thus comprised all but a few of the nation's banks and accounted for a large share of total bank deposits and outstanding domestic credit. In 1981, in accordance with the Islamic condemnation of usury, virtually all banks opened special accounts for depositors who preferred, in lieu of interest, to share in the profits or losses from investments made with their money. In 1985, all savings accounts stopped yielding interest and converted to sharing in profit and loss. Pakistan instituted banking reforms in 1991. The Muslim Commercial Bank and the Allied Bank of Pakistan Ltd. reverted to private ownership shortly thereafter. In 1991 banking licenses were granted to private commercial banks that wanted to establish foreign bank branches in the country. Major weaknesses persist and are particularly marked in the case of the four remaining government-run commercial banks, which account for the bulk of deposits and advances. The government announced plans to privatize Habib Bank in 1998.

The portfolios of the state-owned development finance institutions, which provide the bulk of long-term lending to industry and agriculture, likewise tend to be of poor quality. Their lending is less diversified and more risky than that of commercial banks, while their costs are higher and margins lower. The state provides credit through the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan and the House Building Finance Corp. Industrial loans are made available through the Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corp. (established in 1957), the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (1961), and the National Development Finance Corp. (1973). The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to $15.6 billion. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was $26.6 billion. The money market rate, the rate at which financial institutions lend to one another in the short term, was 8.49%. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 10%.

There are stock exchanges at Lahore, Karāchi, and Islāmābād, with Karāchi accounting for a major share of the business. In 2001, there were 747 listings on the Karāchi Stock Exchange, the largest of the country's three bourses, down from a peak of 782 in 1996. Total market capitalization was $4.9 billion, down 25% from the previous year and well below the peak of $12.2 billion in 1994. The KSE 100 Index was also lower than the previous year, by 15.6% at 1,273. As of 2004, a total of 661 companies were listed on the Karāchi Stock Exchange, which had a market capitalization of $29.002 billion, that year. In 2004, the KSE 100 Index rose 39.1% from the previous year to 6,218.4.

INSURANCE

Pakistan's life insurance sector, nationalized in 1972, operated under the aegis of the State Life Insurance Corp. and Postal Life Insurance until 1992, when the government opened it to private sector participation. Foreign companies are no longer barred from the life insurance business, but they are restricted to minority ownership. Private companies function in nonlife insurance areas, but the government insurance business is controlled by the National Insurance Corp. One of the state's first steps was to standardize and reduce premium rates and to encourage coverage among a wider segment of the population. In 2003, the value of all direct insurance premiums written totaled $434 million, of which nonlife premiums accounted for $269 million. In 2002 Pakistan's top nonlife insurer was Adamjee, which had gross domestic written nonlife premiums of $75.4 million, while the country's leading life insurer was State Life, which had gross written life insurance premiums of $140.4 million.

PUBLIC FINANCE

The fiscal year extends from 1 July to 30 June. The federal government frames two separate budgets: revenue (current account) and capital. Deficits have appeared since 1971/72, a combined result of the loss of revenues from East Pakistan, stepped-up defense expenditures, lax spending controls, and a low and inelastic tax base. Expenditures (debt service, defense, administration) consume over 70% of the budget, while development needs (education, health, energy, and rural development) receive the remainder. Tax revenues have not kept pace with expenditure growth due to widespread evasion, corruption among tax officials, overreliance on foreign trade taxes, and a tax exemption for agricultural income, which comprises 24% of GDP. The budget deficit was hovering at about 6.2% of GDP in 1995 and 1996 and was projected to

reach almost 7% in 1997. Interest payments on the accumulated debt threatened to bankrupt the government by mid-1997. As a condition for a $1.6 billion loan from the IMF and World Bank, the government agreed to reduce the deficit to 4% of GDP. To do so, the government attempted to raise revenues by expanding the tax base beyond the 1% of Pakistanis who then paid income tax. Other proposals included a reduction in government payrolls, improved tax administration, and an end to the tax exemption for agricultural income. The IMF approved an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility in January 1999, when Pakistan was almost halfway through the three-year Structural Adjustment Program worth $1.6 billion. In April 2000, the IMF discovered that the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had purposely minimized reports of the government's budget deficit, by about 1%, in order to keep the extra $2 billion in funds.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Pakistan's central government took in revenues of approximately $15.4 billion and had expenditures of $18.4 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$2.9 billion. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 54.3% of GDP. Total external debt was $39.94 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2004, the most recent year for which it had data, central government revenues were r795,466,000 and expenditures were r905,549,000. The value of revenues was us$13,654,000 and expenditures us$15,541, based on a market exchange rate for 2004 of us$1 = r58.258, as reported by the IMF. Government outlays by function were as follows: general public services, 66.5%; defense, 19.9%; public order and safety, 1.7%; economic affairs, 8.5%; housing and community amenities, 0.3%; health, 0.8%; recreation, culture, and religion, 0.3%; education, 1.9%; and social protection, 0.2%.

TAXATION

Pakistan lives predominantly by foreign trade, and its import tariffs and export tariffs are essentially revenue-producing. The national government does not levy income tax on agricultural income; only about 1% of the population pays income taxes. Rates are progressive, rising from 5% in the lowest category to 35% in the highest, with a net wealth tax of up to 2.5%.

As of 2005, Pakistan effectively had three corporate tax rates: a 35% rate for public companies; a 39% rate for private companies; and a 41% rate for banking companies. There also a 0.5% tax on turnover. However, the rates for banks and private firms are scheduled for reduction in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, the rate for banks and private firms will be cut to 38% and 37%, respectively, and to 35% for both in 2007. The rate for public companies will not be changed. Generally, capital gains for companies and individuals are taxed as part of income. Capital gains resulting from assets held 12 months or less are taxed at the full corporate rate. Gains resulting from the sale of assets held longer than 12 months are taxed only at 75% of the total capital gains amount. Dividends are subject to a withholding tax of 5% (for those paid to public firms or insurance companies); 7.5% (dividends paid by power companies, certain privatized power projects, and by those firms solely engaged in mining operations, except petroleum); and 10% (for all other dividends). Generally, interest income is subject to a 30% tax rate, while royalties and technical services fees are each subject to a 15% rate.

A sales tax of 15% is levied on the value of goods. However there are exemptions for certain items and for certain classes of people. Exports are zero-rated.

Established proportions of the various taxes levied by the federal government are distributed to the provincial governments. In addition, the provinces collect, for their exclusive use, taxes on land revenue, immovable property, vehicles, professions and services, and mineral rights, as well as excise taxes. Municipalities and other local governments also levy taxes.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

Pakistan's customs tariffs bring in the largest single share of national revenue. Most dutiable items are subject to ad valorem duties that range from 0–30%. There is, in many cases, a 15% sales tax on imported goods (food, raw materials, and capital goods are exempt from this tax). Alcohol is levied at a rate up to 65%, but can be as high as 225%. However, maximum rates average at around 35%.

Tariffs are levied on major items of export, but these rates are subject to change as measures are taken to encourage or discourage the export of raw materials. Exports of certain foods, used copper and brass utensils, and some hides and skins are banned. Trade with Israel, South Africa, and Taiwan is prohibited.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Foreign aid and investment have played a critical role in Pakistan's economic development since the first years of independence. Since 1954, the government has tried to attract foreign investment to maintain economic development, provide specialized technical knowledge, and bring in much-needed foreign exchange. Incentives for private investment include guarantees for the repatriation of capital invested in approved industries, facilities for remittance of profits, and guarantees for equitable compensation in the event of nationalization of an industry. In addition, special tax concessions available to certain local industries are also available to foreign investors. Since the late 1980s, a series of regulatory reforms related to exchange controls, repatriation of profits, credit for foreign-owned firms, issuing of equity shares, foreign currency accounts, and transactions on the stock exchange have significantly reduced the restrictions on general foreign investor activity in the wider Pakistani economy.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) peaked in 1995/96 at $1.1 billion, then dropped to $548 million in 1996/97 in response to a foreign-exchange crisis. Investors were also deterred by Pakistan's listing as the second-most-corrupt nation in the world, after Nigeria. In the tension leading up to the nuclear bomb tests in May 1998, FDI fell to $432.7 million in 1998/99, and then decreased further after the military coup in 1999, to $420 million, in 1999/00. In 2000/01, FDI fell to an annual rate of less than $275 million. After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Pakistan received a windfall in foreign assistance, raising foreign reserves from $908 million in 1999/00 to $4.3 billion in 2001/02. In March 2003, on the eve of the US-led invasion of Iraq, foreign reserves stood at more than $10 billion. However, the overall investment climate in terms of security was worsened by Pakistan's role in the US-led war on terrorism.

The United States has traditionally been the largest source of FDI in Pakistan, with total investment of $1.2 billion as of mid-2002. Over the three years 1998/99 to 2000/01, the US-based investment totaled $250 million. The United Kingdom was the second-largest source, with $241 million. The total for 1998/99 was $327 million, including $135 million from US sources, $77 million from the United Kingdom, and $51 million from Japan.

In 2004/05, total FDI inflows amounted to $1.524 billion, with the UAE investing $367.5 million in the country, the United States $326 million, and the United Kingdom $181.5 million. From July to November 2005, Saudi Arabia invested $265.6 million in Pakistan, the United States $170.8 million, the United Kingdom $56.2 million, while the UAE's FDI total was in the negative figures, at - $31.5 million. Such shifts in investment were due in part to foreign countries' reactions to Pakistan's privatization efforts: certain Gulf states, flush with capital, have placed bids on Pakistani contracts only to pull out. This happened in the case of the Pakistan Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (PTCL). In June 2005, the UAE's company Etisalat (Emirates Telecommunications) offered the highest bid of $2.6 billion to acquire 26% shares and management control of PTCL. This bid price offered by Etisalat was 100% higher than market price and reserve price fixed by the government. The second-highest bidder was China Mobile of China, offering a bid of $1.4 billion, followed by Sing Tel of Singapore, with a bid of $1.17 billion for 26% shares. In October 2005, the PTCL privatization transaction failed to materialize when Etisalat failed to make payment of the balance bid amount by the agreed-upon timeline. This was the second major privatization deal that had failed within a year: earlier in 2005, Kanooz-al-Watan of Saudi Arabia, the highest bidder of Karāchi Electric Supply Corp. (KESC), backed out of its offer. However, in January 2006, Etisalat and the Pakistani government came to an agreement over payments for PTCL, so the deal went through.

FDI inflows to Pakistan averaged 0.8% of GDP over the 2001–05 period.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

After the founding of the Pakistani state in 1947, the government's economic policy concentrated attention on developing an economic infrastructure, achieving self-sufficiency in food, and developing export industries. A major new land reform program introduced in March 1972 had resulted by March 1975 in the confiscation (for eventual redistribution) of 45.3% of all privately cultivated farmland. By November 1973, the government had nationalized industries in 10 major categories of production. In a third major step, most of the commercial banks were nationalized on 1 January 1974, resulting in control of more than 90% of all banking business by the State Bank and the five newly created units.

By the late 1970s, however, Pakistan's martial law government, claiming the nationalization program had stifled production and discouraged private investment, moved to restore private sector confidence by fostering economic stability and by redressing the balance-of-payments deficit, which was causing large overseas debt obligations. A new five-year plan (1978–83), Pakistan's fifth, reserved 48% of industrial investment for the private sector and set goals for an annual economic growth rate of 7.2%, a 4.2% rise in per capita income, and increases of 6% in agricultural output and 10% in industrial production. The plan was allocated a budget of $21 billion, of which 25% was to come from external sources. Indications were that the agricultural sector would meet its target, but that rising oil costs and the burden of providing for the Afghan refugees had impeded progress in other sectors.

The sixth five-year plan (1983–88), with a proposed outlay of r210 billion, envisioned further investments in water and power development, deregulation to increase private sector activity, and a new emphasis on provision of social services and infrastructural improvements for rural areas. Prime Minister Junejo announced a program for 1986–90, with an outlay of r70 billion, focusing on rural development, particularly in the areas of education, village electrification, potable water supply, roads, health care, and employment.

By the late 1980s, a number of structural factors resulted in increasingly critical fiscal and balance of payment deficits. With less than 30% of the budget devoted to infrastructural development and other needs in health and education, the prognosis for long-term social and economic development remained poor. In response, a medium-term structural reform program was developed under the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for implementation in 1989–91. Aimed at correcting fiscal and external imbalances, the program targeted a reform of the tax collection system, tighter government spending controls and monetary management, the privatization of state-owned industrial enterprises, banks and utilities, the phasing out of state monopolies in the transportation, insurance, telecommunications and energy sectors, and liberalization of investment and foreign exchange regulations. Implementation of the ambitious program proceeded under the government of Nawaz Sharif who assumed the prime minister's office in 1991. Results were somewhat uneven, with little effective improvements scored in the country's tax system or its fiscal and balance of payments deficits. While the rapid change of government in 1993 and ongoing political tensions dampened private investment, officials assured that structural reform and privatization would continue.

Fiscal indecision and post-nuclear test economic sanctions dried up foreign investments while budget and trade deficits soared in 1999. The United States lifted some sanctions, clearing the way for the IMF to negotiate a bailout package of $1.5 billion with Pakistan. Key demands included cuts in government budget deficits, further privatization, and improved tax collections. After suspension of payments under a previous arrangement, Pakistan entered into a 10-month stand-by arrangement as a prerequisite to rescheduling. In December 2001, the government entered into a three-year program under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) in preparation for a second rescheduling of debt by Paris Club members, in this case for over $12 billion.

Since the early 1950s through 1993, Pakistan was estimated to have received about $37 billion in aid disbursements, including both long-term and medium-term loans and grants, making it one of the largest recipients in the developing world. For the Indus Valley project, Pakistan received funding of more than $1.3 billion from the IBRD, IDA, ADB, United States, United Kingdom, and other countries. In addition to US aid, Pakistan has also received aid from Iran and the Arab states. New economic aid from the United States was halted in 1990, under the terms of a Congressional amendment requiring certification of Pakistan's status as a nuclear weapons-free country. These sanctions were alleviated in 1996 by the Brown Amendment, but the nuclear tests of 1998 caused further economic sanctions that were only partially lifted by 2000. Since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Pakistan has substantial international financial resources and concessions have been mobilized in exchange for the government's support of the US-led war on terrorism.

By 2006, the government was continuing with economic and institutional reforms initiated by the pre-October 2002 military government, but progress had slowed. The civilian government appeared to be less committed than the military establishment to improving accountability and attacking corruption. The government announced it would pursue a five-year plan to revive the economy and increase foreign investment inflows. In order for the economy to improve, the privatization program must follow an accelerated course, as must the expansion of exports, and the maintenance of inflows of remittances through official channels. Inflation remains a significant threat to the economy: annual inflation was forecast to average 8.6% in 2006 and 6.7% in 2007. The current-account deficit was predicted to widen to 3.8% of GDP in 2006 and 4.3% in 2007, in line with the rising merchandise trade deficit.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The social security plan covers employees of firms with 10 or more workers. Family and self-employed labor is excluded, and there are separate systems for the armed forces, police, and other public employees. Social security coverage includes old age, disability, and survivor benefits, as well as sickness and maternity payments, workers' compensation, and unemployment benefits. This program is funded by contributions from employers and employees and subsidies from the government. The Worker's Compensation Act is supplemented by a Social Insurance Law and provides disability and worker's injury benefits to workers earning 3,000 rupees or less a month. The labor code requires employers with more than 20 employees to pay a severance gratuity in the amount of 30 days wages for each year of employment.

An Islamization program to promote social welfare in accordance with Islamic precepts was introduced in 1977 under martial law. Islamic welfare taxes, the zakat and ushr, were levied to redistribute wealth. The ushr tax on landowners took effect in 1983. Islamic beliefs are inculcated in the public schools and disseminated widely by the mass media. Laws against drinking alcoholic beverages, adultery, and bearing false witness have been strictly enforced.

Women face serious social and legal discrimination. In a court of law, the testimony of women is not permitted in serious cases which may result in harsh corporal punishment (lashing, stoning, amputation). In cases dealing with financial matters, the testimony of two women must be introduced as evidence. Islamic precepts are ingrained into the Penal Code. Women who have been raped are subject to charges of adultery and fornication under these provisions. The incidence of rape is high in Pakistan, and most women are afraid to file charges. Honor killings are on the rise, and domestic violence is prevalent. Between 70 and 90% of women are victims of family violence; women are killed by their husbands for trivial matters. Most women are unaware of their legal rights concerning inheritance, and in following with Muslim custom, widows give up their share of the joint assets. The Supreme Court has ruled that men may divorce their wives without any legal or written notification. In 2004, the practice of buying and selling brides persists.

The use of child labor in Pakistan is widespread. Children not only work in the agricultural sector, but are also engaged in low-paying work in carpet weaving centers. Bonded child labor, in which the employer makes a payment to the child's parent and keeps the child to work off the long-term debt, has been made illegal but still may affect hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of children.

Human rights violations include arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, and torture. Pakistan's human rights situation is dismal.

HEALTH

Health facilities in Pakistan are inadequate, mainly due to a lack of resources and a high population growth rate. In 1993, 85% of the population had access to health care. Public health care expenditures equaled 1% of GDP, and total health care expenditure was estimated at 4% of GDP.

The country needs food, a proper water supply, and adequate sanitation. However, Pakistan is the first country to nearly completely eradicate dracunculiasis. Pakistan is also working toward universal immunization, disease prevention, health promotion, and curative and rehabilitative services. In the 1990s there were several programs under way to improve health care coverage and control tuberculosis, leprosy, and cancer. One such program was a Child Survival/Primary Health Care program to reduce mortality, malnutrition, and deaths due to diarrheal diseases. Approximately 36% of children under five years old were considered malnourished. The goiter rate was high in 1996; 40 of every 100 school children were affected by goiter. Around 90% of children up to one year of age were immunized against tuberculosis; 74% against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus; 74% against polio; and 74% against measles.

In 2004, there were an estimated 66 physicians, 47 nurses, and 3 dentists per 100,000 people. Many medical students have been sent abroad under an advanced medical training program. Special attention has been given to the training of nurses, and several training centers are in operation. However, medical personnel ratios, though much improved, remain inadequate. There were 302 health centers with 2,462 beds serving the rural population. Centers for the disabled included 11 physical therapy centers, 12 mental retardation centers, 11 centers for the visually impaired, and 12 centers for the hearing impaired.

Malaria, tuberculosis, intestinal diseases, venereal diseases, and skin diseases remain Pakistan's main public health problems. Common diseases were diarrheal diseases, leprosy, malaria, and tuberculosis. Drug addiction, especially among university students, is an increasing concern, and government detoxification centers have helped many addicts recover.

In 2005, the infant mortality rate was 72.44 per 1,000 live births. Major causes of infant mortality are immunizable diseases, diarrhea, malnutrition, and poor environmental sanitation. It was estimated that 88% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 61% had adequate sanitation. The estimated overall mortality rate was 9 per 1,000 people in 2002. The leading causes of death were diarrhea, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Average life expectancy in 2005 was estimated at 63 years.

The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.10 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 74,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 4,900 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

HOUSING

The rapid increase in urbanization, coupled with the rising population, has added to the housing shortage in urban areas. About 25% of the people in large cities live in katchi abadis (shantytowns). The Public Works Department has built more than 8,000 units in Islāmābād, Lahore, Peshāwar, and Quetta at a cost of r1,588 million. Under the 1986–90 program, the residents in the katchi abadis were to be given proprietary rights. In 1987, the National Housing Authority was created to coordinate the upgrading of the existing katchi abadis and prevent the growth of new ones.

As of 1991, 171 abadis had been renovated at a cost of r454 million, and 522 more were under development. In 1998, there were 19,211,738 housing units nationwide with an average of 6.8 occupants per unit. About 54.97% of all units had two to four rooms; 38.11% had one room. About 81% of all dwellings were owner occupied. The most common building materials for residential dwellings were baked bricks, blocks or stones for walls (58% of all units) and wood or bamboo for the roofs (57%). Only 32% of all housing units are linked to piped drinking water. About 70% are linked to an electrical network for lighting. Only 32.7% of all housing units had a separate kitchen and 33.29% had a separate bathroom.

EDUCATION

The education system is poor, notwithstanding a massive educational reform announced in 1972 and aimed at providing free and universal education through the 10th year of formal schooling for both boys (by 1983) and girls (by 1987). As an initial step, private educational institutions at all levels were nationalized. Additional steps included a reform of the curriculum away from general education and in favor of agricultural and technical subjects, equality of access to formal schooling for low-income groups and females, financial aid programs for poor students, and broad expansion and improvement of higher-level facilities. Curriculum bureaus were set up at federal and provincial levels, and the National Council of Education was established to formulate and evaluate educational development policy.

As of 2004, education is compulsory for five years, which are covered through primary school. This is followed by three years of middle school and two years of basic secondary school. Students may then choose to continue in a two-year higher secondary program or a two-year technical school. Girls attend separate schools at both primary and secondary levels.

In 2001, about 54% of children between the ages of three and four were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school enrollment in 2001 was estimated at about 59% of age-eligible students; 68% for boys and 50% for girls. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 40:1 in 2003.

Arts and sciences colleges are affiliated with the universities of the Punjab (at Lahore, established 1882), Sind (at Hyderābād, 1947; at Karāchi, 1951), Peshāwar (1950), Baluchistan (1970), and Multan (1975). An agricultural university was established in 1961 at Lyallpur (now Faisalābad). Two engineering and technological universities have been founded at Lahore (1961) and Islāmābād (1966). Research institutions include the Institute of Islamic Studies at Lahore, the Iqbal Academy at Lahore, and the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs at Karāchi. In 1995, there were a total of 29 universities, seven of which are privately operated. Urdu and English are the languages of instruction. Many adult literacy centers, including women's literacy centers, have been established, the majority in Sind. In addition, the People's Open University was established at Islāmābād (1974) to provide mass adult education via correspondence and the communications media. In 2003, about 3% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 64.5%, with 74.8% for men and 53.9% for women.

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 1.8% of GDP, or 7.8% of total government expenditures.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

The National Library of Pakistan in Islāmābād holds 130,000 volumes. The largest university library in Pakistan is that of the Punjab University at Lahore, with a collection of about 398,000 volumes, including some 20,000 manuscripts. Sizable collections are also found at the University of Karāchi (105,000 volumes) and the University of Sindh (244,000 volumes). Other important libraries are the Punjab Public Library in Lahore (259,000 volumes), the Liaquat Memorial Library (147,000 volumes), the Central Secretariat Library (110,000 volumes), and the National Archives (35,000 volumes), all in Karāchi. The International Islamic University in Islāmābād holds 100,000 volumes. There are about 300 public libraries in the country, but only about 30 libraries have a collection of 10,000 or more volumes. The Punjab Public Library in Lahore is the largest with a collection of about 256,000 volumes.

The National Museum of Pakistan (Karāchi) contains prehistoric material from the Indus Valley civilization, Buddhist statues and carvings, and material from the Islamic centuries, including the renowned Mughal period. The Peshāwar Museum has a splendid collection of Buddhist sculpture of the Gandhara style. The Lahore Museum has an outstanding collection of Greco-Buddhist sculpture. Fine mosques, shrines, and mausoleums of the Islamic centuries are scattered throughout the country. Among the best of the surviving gardens of the Mughal period are those at Lahore, including the Shalimar gardens. There is a museum dedicated to the work of Shakir Ali in Lahore and the Pakistan Army Museum is in Rāwalpindi. There are archaeological museums in Harappa, Banbhore, Moenjodaro, and at the universities of Karāchi and Peshāwar.

MEDIA

Postal, telegraph, and telephone services are owned and operated by the state. Automatic telephone service has been installed in most cities and large towns. Radiotelephone and radiotelegraph services are available within the country and to foreign countries. Pakistan's Indian Ocean INTELSAT communications stations began service in 1971 near Karāchi. In 2003, there were an estimated 27 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people; about 190,300 people were on a waiting list for telephone service installation. The same year, there were approximately 18 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.

Through Azad Kashmir Radio and the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, the government operates 18 shortwave radio stations. Karāchi is the broadcasting center, and there are important transmitters at Hyderābād, Quetta, Lahore, Rāwalpindi, Peshāwar, Multan, Bahawalpur, and Islāmābād. Government-run Pakistan-TV broadcasts at least 10 hours a day through 28 transmitters. In total, as of 1999, there were 26 AM, 3 FM, and 22 television stations in use. In 2003, there were an estimated 105 radios and 150 television sets for every 1,000 people. About 26.7 of every 1,000 people were cable subscribers. Also in 2003, there were 4.2 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 10 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There were 37 secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.

Daily newspapers–most of them with very small circulations—are published in Urdu, English, and a few other languages. English-language newspapers are read by less than 1% of the population but are very influential, especially Dawn (2002 estimated circulation, 80,000), published in Karāchi, and Pakistan Times (50,000), published in Lahore and Rāwalpindi. Leading Urdu-language dailies (with 2002 circulations) are Jang (750,000) and Hurriyet (600,000), both in Karāchi, and Jang Lahore (1,200,000) and Nawa-e-Waqt (560,000), in Lahore.

While freedom of the press has always been provided for constitutionally, censorship was imposed on the press by the martial law governments. Between 1979 and 1982, local censors reviewed items prior to publication, and some books and periodicals were confiscated. Even after the lifting of censorship, the government continued to influence press coverage by controlling the availability of newsprint, which must be imported, and the placement of government advertising, which is a source of newspapers' revenue. There are no longer restrictions on the importation of newsprint. There is a constitutional prohibition on the ridicule of Islam, the armed forces, or the judiciary.

ORGANIZATIONS

Most major cities contain chambers of commerce and there are numerous employers' associations, such as the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association, the Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association, and the Pakistan Shipowners' Association. There are also professional associations representing a variety of fields, particularly technical and scientific fields.

The Islamic community is represented by several flourishing organizations, and other religious communities, such as the Zoroastrians, have their own groups. The Pakistan Historical Society, the Scientific and Cultural Society of Pakistan, and the Research Society of Pakistan all serve to promote interest and study in national and Islamic culture.

National youth organizations include the Baloch Student Organization, the Pakistan Progressive Student Alliance, the Adventure Foundation of Pakistan, Junior Chamber, the Pakistan Boy Scouts Association, and the YMCA/YWCA. There are also a number of sports associations for all ages. National women's organizations include the All Pakistan Women's Association, the Pakistan Association for Women's Studies, the Pakistan Federation of University Women, the Women's Resource Center, and the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International is a national human rights association. International organizations with national chapters include Amnesty International, Caritas, Habitat for Humanity, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and the Red Crescent Society.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

On 8 October 2005 an earthquake severely damaged Pakistan, which caused the tourism industry to suffer.

Pakistan Tours, a government subsidiary, provides daily tours of Karāchi, Rāwalpindi, and other main cities. Adventure tours are set in northern Pakistan, while the cultural tours showcasing the archaeology are in Taxila, Moenjodaro, and Harrappa. In Karāchi are the National Museum and the Mausoleum of the Quaid-e-Azam. In Lahore, the "city of gardens" and Pakistan's foremost cultural and educational center, remnants of the Mughal Empire are resplendently preserved.

Islāmābād, the wholly planned capital, offers notable examples of architecture in the modern style. Popular recreations include mountain climbing in the Himalayan foothills, sailing, and deep-sea fishing off the Arabian Sea coast. Hockey and cricket are the leading sports, but polo and golf are also popular, with courses in Lahore, Rāwalpindi, Islāmābād and other cities.

Most visitors to Pakistan are required to have a visa and a valid passport. Tourists planning to stay more than 30 days must register with the government. Road permits are available for land crossings into India at Wagah (between Lahore and Amritsar in India). There are no health restrictions on visitors entering Pakistan except in regard to cholera and yellow fever immunizations for those who have been in infected areas.

In 2005, the US Department of State estimated the daily cost of staying in Islāmābād at $263, and in Karāchi, $218.

FAMOUS PAKISTANIS

Several figures of monumental stature are associated with the creation and establishment of Pakistan. The poet and philosopher of a revitalized Islam, Mohammad Iqbal (1873–1938), who wrote in Urdu, Farsi, and English, first called for the establishment of a Muslim state on the subcontinent in a statement made in 1930. Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948), the Quaid-e-Azam, or "Great Leader," rallied the Muslims to this cause and became the first governor-general of the Commonwealth of Pakistan. His "right hand," Liaquat Ali Khan (1896–1951), was the first prime minister of the nation until his assassination. Chaudhury Mohammad Ali (1905–80), a former prime minister, played a key role in the organization of the new government in 1947. Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan (1908–74) served as commander-in-chief of the Pakistani army, as minister of defense in 1954–55, and as president of Pakistan from October 1958 to March 1969. Sir Mohammad Zafrulla Khan (1893–1985), a distinguished jurist, was several times minister of foreign affairs and later a member of the World Court at The Hague; in 1962, he served as president of the 17th UN General Assembly. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928–79), who rose to prominence as founder and leader of the socialist-leaning Pakistan People's Party, was prime minister during 1973–77 and guided the country's political and economic transformation following the loss of East Pakistan. After Bhutto's execution in 1979, his elder daughter, Benazir (b.1953), became titular head of the Pakistan People's Party. She became the first woman to lead a Muslim country when she assumed the post of prime minister in 1988; she was deposed 20 months later but was reelected in 1993 to serve for three years. Gen. Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq (1924–87) came to power in 1977 and assumed the presidency in 1978. Pervez Musharraf (b.1943) took power in 1999 after a coup d'état and assumed the title of president of Pakistan in 2001. The Pakistani-born scientist Abdus Salam (1926–96) shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work in electromagnetism and the interaction of elementary particles.

In literature, the paramount position is still held by the great Urdu writers who lived before the establishment of Pakistan. Ghalib (1796–1869) and Iqbal are recognized as the two greatest Urdu poets. Contemporary writers who have won fame include the Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911–84), imbued with a strongly socialist spirit, and the Urdu short story writer Saadat Hasan Manto (1912–55). Foremost among Pakistan's artists is Abdur Rahman Chughtai (1899–1975).

DEPENDENCIES

Pakistan has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ali, Akhtar. The Political Economy of Pakistan: An Agenda for Reforms. Karāchi, Pakistan: Royal Book Co., 1996.

Burki, Shahid Javed. Historical Dictionary of Pakistan. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1991.

Chopra, Pran. India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir Tangle. New Delhi: Indus, 1994.

Contemporary Issues in Pakistan Studies. Edited by Saeed Shafqat. Lahore: Gautam Publishers, 1995.

Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. Edited by S. S. Shashi. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1996.

Khan, Adeel. Politics of Identity: Ethnic Nationalism and the State in Pakistan. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2005.

Kukreja, Veena and M.P. Singh (eds.) Pakistan: Democracy, Development, and Security Issues. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2005.

Malik, Iftikhar H. State and Civil Society in Pakistan: Politics of Authority, Ideology, and Ethnicity. Houndmills, U.K.: Macmillan, 1997.

Mitra, Subrata K. (ed.). A Political and Economic Dictionary of South Asia. Philadelphia: Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2006.

Saliba, Therese, Carolyn Allen, and Judith A. Howard (eds.). Gender, Politics, and Islam. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.

Stern, Robert W. Democracy and Dictatorship in South Asia: Dominant Classes and Political Outcomes in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2001.

PAKISTAN

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Major Cities:
Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar

Other Cities:
Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Hyderabad, Multan, Quetta, Sargodha, Sialkot, Sukkur

EDITOR'S NOTE

This chapter was adapted from the Department of State Post Report 1999 for Pakistan. Supplemental material has been added to increase coverage of minor cities, facts have been updated, and some material has been condensed. Readers are encouraged to visit the Department of State's web site at http://travel.state.gov/ for the most recent information available on travel to this country.

INTRODUCTION

For 3,000 years, the trade routes that cross the Indus Valley linking the Middle East, India, and the Orient have attracted countless invaders and settlers from as far away as Greece and Mongolia. In one way or another, they all have contributed to the rich cultural diversity of the country that for five decades has been known as Pakistan. In 1947, millions of Muslims from India made their way to a new homeland. Since then, the heritage of Islam has been the cohesive factor enabling this ethnographic amalgam to survive and grow. Pakistan's fascinating culture is complemented by a spectacular and variegated landscape stretching from the second highest peak in the world to the shores of the Arabian Sea. The spectacular mountainous areas are a result of the collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia.

MAJOR CITIES

Islamabad

Islamabad is a new capital, built on a specially selected site near the older cantonment town of Rawalpindi. It consists primarily of government offices, foreign diplomatic missions, and residential areas for senior government servants and employees of foreign missions, and has a population of some 350,000. The busy bazaars and back streets common in other South Asian cities are absent, but the loss of local color is offset by Islamabad's convenient layout. Broad avenues, many lined with trees, divide Islamabad into self-sufficient quarters, each with a central shopping area and a few neighborhood markets. Islamabad is considerably greener, quieter, less crowded, and dusty than most cities in this part of the world.

Rawalpindi, 10 miles away and still the major city in the capital area, is typical of the cantonment towns built by the British in India and Pakistan during the mid-19th century. These towns served as residential and operations centers for the British Army. Rawalpindi, located on the Grand Trunk Road that ran from Kabul to Calcutta, developed as a transportation, communications, and administrative center. The city remains an important military base and is the site of the General Headquarters of the Pakistani Army and Air Force. Rawalpindi has many narrow back streets that wind through bustling bazaars as well as the broad, tree-lined thoroughfares established by the British.

Until recently, Rawalpindi's importance rested on its strategic location for military operations. Aryan-speakers fought over it in 1400 B.C., and Alexander the Great arrived in 326 B.C. It was completely destroyed by the Mongol invasion in the 14th century. The area was part of the Moghul Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries. Later, the Sikhs conquered and controlled the area, establishing the largest Sikh military cantonment at Rawalpindi in the 18th century. The Sikhs laid down their arms in 1849 to the British 53rd Regiment, which then established its northern command headquarters in Rawalpindi. The town became one of the largest cantonment stations of the British Empire. In 1960, Rawalpindi became the interim capital of Pakistan until Islamabad was constructed and government offices moved there.

Utilities

Since electricity in Pakistan is 220v, 50 cycles, all U.S.-made appliances require transformers. Adapters to convert U.S.-type plugs to fit Pakistani outlets for dual voltage appliances or lamps can be purchased on the local market.

With in-town housing there are frequent power outages, especially in period of "load shedding" during winter and summer months. There are also frequent fluctuations in voltage. Therefore, voltage regulators are recommended for sensitive equipment such as personal computers, stereos, TVs, VCRs, and microwaves. They are available locally.

Pakistan's power requirements for TV sets are also 220v, 50 cycles and 625-line PAI European standard. Quality TV sets (PAI or multi-system) of English, Dutch, and Japanese origin, comparable to those in the U.S. are available for purchase in Islamabad and in Peshawar. Only PAL and multi-system TVs and VCRs can be used with tapes avail able at local video rental shops.

Electric typewriters may need cycle adaptation. It is easier to bring a battery operated clock than to adapt an electric one. Many 220v appliances, can be purchased in Islamabad and Peshawar. The price of items in these stores is less than those found on the open market.

Water in Pakistan is not potable.

Food

Most newcomers miss some American food items but find a fairly large range of quality food available in Islamabad supermarkets. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are of high quality and are cheaper than in the U.S. Many imported goods are available in Islamabad, although sometimes higher in price than similar items found in the Islamabad commissary. Pakistan is a Muslim country and pork and alcoholic products cannot be found in local markets. Wild boar is available locally, if you prefer a "gamey" taste to your pork. There is one local brewery in Pakistan which sells an "export" quality beer for Christian Pakistanis and foreigners.

Many Americans shop in local markets and stores for chicken, beef, veal, lamb, mutton, goat, seafood, eggs, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Some local meats such as beef do have a "gamey" taste and may be slightly tougher than that to which Americans are accustomed. Local chicken is almost always tougher than that found in the U.S. Meats including chicken may be bought locally at prices cheaper than those in the commissary. Bakeries sell a variety of baked goods, croissants, pastries, French bread, sliced wheat or white sandwich breads, and oversized hot dog and hamburger buns. Fresh milk is never available, but long-life (UHT) milk is available locally. Yogurt and tofu are also available on the local market. Locally bottled soft drinks are both cheap and available, but the quality is uneven and the taste is sometimes not good.

Quality and availability of fruits and vegetables vary according to the seasons. Bananas, apples, mangoes, plums, cherries, pomegranates, strawberries, peaches, plums, citrus fruits, lychees, grapes, raisins, prunes, and watermelons are of good quality but seasonal. Lettuce and tomatoes are found seasonally, and when grown locally they are very good. Other local vegetables found in season are carrots, cabbages, eggplants, turnips, cucumbers, cauliflower, artichokes, parsley, green beans, green peas, onions, potatoes, spinach, bean sprouts, mushrooms, scallions, Chinese cabbage, pumpkins, peppers, and mustard and turnip greens. The variety of vegetables tend to diminish during the rainy season.

Produce is inexpensive in season, yet the duration of the season is limited. Some employees and family members have brought canning equipment and supplies and some people freeze freshly squeezed orange juice, which is cheaper in season than the frozen varieties available in the commissary. Kitchen gardens are common here, so vegetable and flower seeds should be brought along with gardening supplies. Local seeds produce well, but U.S. varieties of herbs, lettuces, radishes, peppers, and greens fare even better.

Poor refrigeration and unhygienic handling of meat, seafood, produce, and other food items continue to be of concern in Islamabad. Most seafood is transported by air from Karachi in baskets filled with ice. Oftentimes these baskets are left to sit outdoors, allowing the ice to melt and the seafood to thaw. It is more difficult to guarantee good seafood during the summer months and care should be taken to purchase food items from established shops. All produce should be washed thoroughly and meats should be fully cooked.

Paper products bought in the local markets, including toilet paper, disposable diapers, feminine sanitary products, personal care products, and other paper items, are considerably higher in price than those found in the U.S. American tobacco products are available locally and usually at lower prices than in the U.S.

Clothing

Islamabad's weather is basically of two types: 6 months of hot summer (100°F, half dry and half monsoon rains) and about 4 months of winter (temperatures sometimes near freezing at night and 40°-60°F in the daytime). In between these seasons are about 2 months with warm days (about 80°F) and cool nights (about 40°F). As a result, you need a larger supply of light clothing than warmer winter wear, but both are necessary.

Acceptable dress for the workplace is similar to that in the U.S. For a woman, however, the necessity to wear modest clothing should be considered. During the winter months (mid-December to mid March), most men wear long-sleeved shirts and tie. During the warmer summer months, however, short-sleeved shirts are worn.

The national dress is called a "shalwar kameez" and is a long tunic top worn over a pair of Pajama-type pants. It takes about 5-1/2 yards of material to make a shalwar kameez. Pakistani men, women, and children all wear this outfit. A good number of American women also follow this custom, especially in the hot summer months. Local tailors will make the shalwar kameez for about $5-7.

A good tailor can copy Western clothing even from a photograph, but most tailors cannot sew from a pattern. Lightweight cottons are available in colorful profusion in summer and there is a limited supply of somber-colored light wool, sturdier cotton, and polyester in winter. Not all the local fabrics are colorfast though, and calicos, stretch fabrics, felt, and knits are unavailable. Imported silks are available. Cotton clothing is advisable for summer, as synthetics are often sticky in the hot, humid weather. Light wool and polyester is best for winter.

It is difficult to find shoes to fit American feet or tastes, although some people have been pleased with shoes they've had copied from shoes brought from home. Shoe repair is unpredictable. Bring an adequate supply of all types of shoes. This is especially important if you plan to take part in the many available sports activities. If hiking is a hobby, a good pair of hiking boots is a must.

Clothes that require dry-cleaning are not recommended. Although dry-cleaning facilities in Pakistan are improving, they are still largely unsatisfactory. While some people consider it inadvisable to send clothes made of silk or delicate fabrics to be dry-cleaned in Pakistan, others have had no problems.

Winter jackets and accessories are useful for trips to northern areas. Many Americans in Islamabad make at least one trip to Murree during the winter to play in the snow.

Bring an adequate supply of lingerie, underwear, nylons, socks, washable sweaters for winter, sport clothes (e.g., tennis outfits). Do not forget washable lightweight raincoats, umbrellas, and swimwear (suits, goggles, caps, etc.).

However, one can find in Pakistan a large quantity of export quality ready made cotton clothing available in Islamabad and Lahore stores at prices considerably lower than U.S. department store prices. These include jogging suits, casual shirts, tops for women and children, as well as cotton, gabardine, and denim pants for boys and young men.

Men: In Pakistan men dress conservatively. Men do not wear shorts in public (although some men do while jogging), nor do they appear without a shirt. Even small boys will be embarrassed by the stares and titters they receive if they go shirtless in public.

Women: Women should not bring an abundance of halter tops, sundresses, shorts, etc. Pakistan is a Muslim country and these types of clothing are not acceptable in public. Women must dress modestly in public (including inside your own house if you have male servants). Women do not wear short skirts, shorts, or sleeveless or low-cut blouses. In addition, dress codes vary depending on the city. Islamabad is somewhat liberal in its acceptance of Western dress. When shopping at the bazaars in Rawalpindi, however, women are expected to dress modestly and usually wear the shalwar kameez with the dupatta (the long scarf draped over the shoulders).

Children: Bring plenty of clothing for babies and children, as local Western-type clothing is expensive and not always sturdy. This will, then, allow you time to determine which local suppliers are trustworthy. Children's sleepers are nice for the winter nights. School dress in Pakistan is casual, similar to that worn in the U.S. except that there is a dress code based on Muslim sensibilities. Skirts for girls, and shorts for both boys and girls, must be at least knee length and shoulders must be modestly covered (e.g., no sleeveless tops, but short sleeves are acceptable). This dress code affects only the middle and high school-aged children. However, more mature-looking elementary girls are expected to adopt this dress. Jeans, casual slacks, and sweatsuits are staples in winter, and they are available locally. Girls, however, may wish to purchase these items in the U.S., since the Pakistani varieties do not always fit well. Students at ISI celebrate Halloween by wearing costumes and U.N. Day by wearing their national dress. If there is a style of dress typical of your region of the U.S., bring it with you.

Supplies and Services

Don't replace 110v appliances if you think you want to buy 220v here. Indeed, some people continue to use their American appliances exclusively. Most items can be found locally or can be ordered from the U.S.

Car parts are expensive locally, if they are available at all. Bring common extra parts. Slow delivery time for mail orders makes it important to have enough baby and children's clothes. Shoes are also difficult to find locally.

Children's toys and games sold locally are rudimentary and may be unsafe by American standards. Plastic dolls, balls, simple puzzles, etc., are easy to find. Elaborate games and educational toys are not. Imported toys such as Barbie dolls or Transformers are expensive. A limited selection of children's books are available. Local handicrafts make nice gifts, particularly for women and girls. Embroidered clothes, purses, scarves, jewelry, brass and copper articles, marble and inlaid work are all popular.

Bring useful miscellaneous items: bicycles (available locally but expensive and, except for the Chinese-made, of poor quality), parts and tires for U.S./European bikes.

Since most families have their washing done at home by a "dhobi" (laundryman), there is no need for commercial laundry facilities in Pakistan.

Color film can be developed and printed in Pakistan (usually with 24-hour service for prints and 7-day service for transparencies or enlargements) at prices below those in the U.S. The quality of processing varies but is generally good. It should be noted, however, that slide development in Pakistan is limited to Fujichrome and Ektachrome. Bring Kodachrome mailers from the U.S. Black and white film is available locally but printed on matte-finish paper only. B&W glossy prints are not available.

Domestic Help

Most American households employ at least one domestic employee, with the majority of families employing two or three. The quality of domestic staff in Pakistan varies depending on the length of service and the prior contact the domestic has had with expatriates. Most domestics who have worked with foreigners have a working knowledge of English. Many claim that they are English speakers but experience has proven that they do not always understand instructions. Pakistan's labor force is extremely rigid. A cook will cook, and a dhobi washes and irons. (However, the latter will not sew on a button nor notify the employer when a button has been removed.) Most domestics will do only what they are asked to do and nothing more. Most domestics require instruction and close supervision until they have become familiar with their new employer.

The following types of domestic employees are available: a cook or cook-bearer who does the shopping, cooking, serving, some cleaning, and general supervising of the house; a nanny (ayah) who cares for young children; a bearer, who does most of the housework, helps with serving, and washes dishes; a sweeper who cleans bathrooms, verandas, walks, and driveways (usually part-time, but necessary because most indoor servants will not clean outside areas, floors, or bathrooms, as these are considered low-class chores); a gardener (mali); and a twice-a-week laundryman (dhobi).

Average monthly salaries for domestic employees are: cook-$13 5; bearer-$90; cook-bearer-$110; dhobi-$36; sweeper-$30; mali$40; ayah-$105. (These are U.S. Dollar equivalents, but domestics are paid in rupees.) In addition to their salaries, domestics are usually provided living quarters (at least for the main employee), a bed (charpoy), uniforms, tea, sugar, and milk (or tea money), time off (average 4 days a month), and an annual bonus (sometimes split into two bonuses). Most employers pay for medical examinations and routine medical expenses. Workmen's compensation for domestic staff is available locally at low rates.

Religious Activities

Pakistan is 97% Muslim, but religious minorities are free to practice their faiths. Proselytizing is subject to restrictions. Pakistan has about 1.6 million Christians, many of whom live in the Punjab. A number of Embassy employees also have christian servants, especially cooks. Christian congregations may be a mixture of foreign nationals and Pakistanis. Services are in both Urdu and English.

Islamabad has an Apostolic Nunciature, a Roman Catholic church, and two interdenominational Protestant churches: The Protestant International Church (PIC), and St. Thomas (Church of Pakistan) which has an Episcopalian format. Rawalpindi has a Catholic cathedral and other Protestant congregations. Also in Islamabad is a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). Jewish services are held in private homes available in the area. International Bible Study groups also meet in homes.

Education

The International School of Islamabad (ISI) is sponsored by the Department of State. ISI offers an enriched American curriculum to students of all nationalities in grades K-12. The school also has a nursery program for children who are four years of age. The school is fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. ISI is divided into elementary (grades K-5), middle school (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12).

Total Americans in the school are 30%, Pakistanis are 18%, and nationals of 44 other countries comprise the remaining 52% of the school's population. The school year is based on a semester system which begins in the third week of August and ends the first week of June. ISI offers Advanced Placement courses but there is no IB program at ISI.

The elementary program includes specialists in art, music, PE, and host nation cultural studies. The secondary program offers instruction in science, math, social studies, foreign language (French or Spanish), English (including English as a Second Language), and electives (art, technical drawing, accounting, computer science, debate, publications, creative writing, choir, band, drama, photography). Advanced placement courses are offered in English, biology, chemistry, American history, mathematics, French and Spanish, and independent study may be arranged. Three computer labs containing approximately 60 Apple Macintosh computers and an excellent library housing almost 22,000 books, magazines, and periodicals form the backbone of the instructional program.

Full-time teachers at ISI number 49. Most of the teaching faculty are educated in the U.S., hold U.S. certificates, and have many years of teaching experience in the U.S. and/or other overseas schools. Of the 14 full-time high school teachers, 12 hold master's degrees. There are 11 Americans on the high school faculty.

The $3 million, 20-acre ISI campus (composed of three red-brick classroom quads, a gymnasium, and auditorium) was completed in 1986 and is located in the educational sector of the city between Islamabad and Rawalpindi, about ten miles from most employee residences in Islamabad. The campus also includes an open-air theater, a physical education center, swimming pool, track, tennis and squash courts, playing fields, music room, science labs, cafeteria, and separate libraries for elementary and secondary school. A full hot lunch program is offered. The school has several buses, and children are bused to and from school.

The ISI American High School diploma is awarded at the end of grade 12 to students who have satisfactorily met the course requirements and total of 23 credits. The following credits must be completed: English (4), math (3), science (3), social studies (4)-including 1 credit each in U.S. and world history, physical education (2), foreign languages (2), electives (5), and students must demonstrate computer literacy. A student is required to have a minimum of six classes per day. The school day is divided into eight periods, with one period for lunch.

Activities are held within the school day and after school. Included are drama, photography, student council, pep club, National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, Model U.N., French Club, Key Club, and a yearly trek in the mountains of northern Pakistan. In addition, the ISI supported Satellite Center organizes a variety of after school and weekend activities. Active Scouting programs also attract many ISI students.

Athletic activities include basketball, soccer, field hockey, swimming, track, volleyball, and intramural activities. ISI students participate in four sports conventions or tournaments and one cultural convention with other international schools from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

ISI's music program, including both band and chorus, is open to students in grades nursery to 12. Several musicals and plays are presented annually by the school's music department.

Children who have attained the age of five years by October 1 are eligible for admission to the kindergarten. Children with birth dates between October 1 and December 31 may be admitted if the school determines that the child is ready.

ISI administers the PSAT, NMSQT, SAT, ACT, and Achievement Tests of the College Board. The SAT mean scores for the Class of 1995 were as follows: entire class-verbal 452, math 547; native English-verbal 459, math 478. Some 98% of the Class of 1996 are attending 4-year colleges and universities. Some students of the Classes of 1995,1996 and 1997 are currently attending The Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University, Cornell University, Hofstra University, Babson College, Michigan State University, University of Texas, Luther College, Queens College, Mary-mount College, Smith College, Richmond College, The George Washington University, California Institute of technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and The College of William and Mary.

The International School of Islamabad's local address is Sector H 9/1, Post Box No. 1124, Islamabad, Pakistan. From the U.S., use this address: Superintendent's Office International School of Islamabad (ISI), Unit 62202, APO AE 09812-2202.

Some American children attend other schools. A nursery school at the British Embassy compound is used by some Americans. There is usually a waiting list.

Some other private nursery schools in Islamabad are used by Americans (including a Montessori nursery). These are less expensive than ISI and closer to residences, but they do not offer transportation, nor can they offer the range of facilities and specialists, such as music and PE teachers, that ISI can offer.

Some Americans also choose the British School for their elementary age children. The school offers education only up to age 10, after which the British usually opt for boarding schools in England. Bear in mind that the school, educational philosophy, and vacation schedules are somewhat different from American schools.

Islamabad also has a small French school and a Japanese school.

Special Educational Opportunities

Few formal educational opportunities for adults are available. However, an Asian Study Group has monthly meetings on such topics as Asian literature, religion, music, dance, carpets, films, etc. In addition, the Asian Study Group sponsors many lectures, films, and cultural programs and frequently organizes trips to points of historical interest. The hiking and photography groups are very active.

Sports

The USEA operates the American Club in Islamabad located on the U.S. Embassy compound. For those Americans not employed by the U.S. Government or who are citizens of other nations, membership is available with some limitations and fees.

The American Club has four tennis courts (two clay and two hard) with two full-time tennis instructors, an Olympic-size swimming pool, a children's pool, a Universal equipped exercise/weight room, a volleyball court, a basketball court, a softball diamond, a soccer field, a children's playground, and a circumferential path used as a track. Also, there is a community and youth center which is reserved for various activities. It has a pool table, a foosball table, a ping pong table, VCR, and TV.

The tennis courts are lit for night use and tournaments are held throughout the year, both within the club and in the international community. Bring your own tennis equipment and clothes. The club sells tennis balls and restrings rackets. Rackets and balls are available on the local market, tennis shoes are generally inexpensive but of low quality (unless imported).

In the hot weather the pool is a favorite place to relax and enjoy meals poolside or in the Terrace Cafe. Swimsuits are not available here and sunblock is available only in the Commissary. The pool is open for the warm summer months, usually March to late October.

The American Club sponsors softball leagues for adults and youths which are very popular. A snack bar operates at the ball field during games. Bleachers are covered for spectators. Indoors, the International community has a weekly dart league.

The Islamabad Club offers an 18-hole golf course, tennis and squash courts, and horseback riding. Membership fees are reasonable. Capitol Stables offers horseback riding and lessons (bring a helmet, riding pants and boots-British type).

Touring and Outdoor Activities

Hunting for wild boar is available, while partridge, grouse, pigeon, and duck are scarce in the area.

Fishing is possible at nearby lakes. Trout fishing is enjoyed primarily in the northern locations, such as the Kaghan Valley. The best trout streams seem to be a long drive away over poor roads and require at least a long weekend. However, the scenery is always a reward in itself. Bring your own tackle. Rawalpindi has one tackle shop with a limited supply of equipment.

Pakistan has no developed Alpine ski areas nor is there ice skating or ice hockey. Hiking and bird watching on weekends are popular in the nearby Margalla Hills. Trails abound in these rugged hills at the edge of the city. The Asian Study Group organizes hikes with varying degrees of difficulty. Within the city, international running groups have a weekly "hash" that is both social and athletic.

A number of interesting car trips are possible from Islamabad. The old British hill stations of Murree and Nathiagali have snow in winter and are cool in summer. Murree at 7,500 feet above sea level is a 2 hour drive on a winding road. The altitude offers some relief from the hot summer weather in Islamabad. Accommodations at the few hotels may be hard to obtain during the tourist season, and are far below U.S. and European standards, except for the new five-star Pearl Continental at Bhurban. It takes another hour to reach Nathiagali at 8,200 feet. Fine views of snowcapped mountains are possible from many points.

For the adventurous, the valleys of Swat and Kaghan have mountain streams with good fishing. Hiking and climbing are excellent in all the hill locations. A few hotels and rest houses may be found. Because of the distance from Islamabad, a long weekend is generally needed.

Camping may be prohibited in some areas, but it is often possible to tent on the grounds of a rest house. Get permission to camp wherever you stop. Always bring food and water, as local supplies may not be acceptable. You should not camp alone in any part of the country.

Near Islamabad it is not difficult to drive into the Margalla Hills and to Taxila, one of the subcontinent's most important archeological sites. The ancient city sites, only 25 miles from Islamabad, were inhabited more than 2,000 years ago. The museum at Taxila has fine examples of Gandhara sculpture from the Buddhist period.

Entertainment

The movie theaters in Islamabad usually show Urdu-speaking films.

A limited amount of entertainment is available in Pakistan, since many Pakistani activities center around the family. The Folk Heritage Center has a yearly festival, Lok Mela, that is well worth attending. Occasional meena bazaars and industrial exhibitions may be interesting. There are a number of restaurants in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, serving Continental, Pakistani, Chinese, Afghan, Tex Mex and Persian cuisine.

The Pakistan Arts Council and foreign missions sponsor musical performances and plays. The Rawalpindi Amateur Theatrical Society (RATS), an international group, has one or two productions a year and sponsors periodic play readings. The plays and musical events of the International School are well attended.

The Asian Study Group also conducts trips within Pakistan. This group has evening meetings of cultural interest, covering carpets and textiles, religion, archaeology, and other aspects of life in the subcontinent.

Apart from schools, most children play at other children's homes. There are few external facilities for youth recreation. The aforementioned is also true for teens.

Social Activities

Social life is informal and centers around the home or the American Club. Informal dinners and buffets are the most common entertainment. Parties within the American community are frequent, especially around holiday seasons. Traditional parties at Christmas, New Year, and Independence Day and for special occasions are sponsored by the American Club. Musical groups give performances during the year.

The American Women's Club (AWC) is open to all American women, women who are married to Americans, and women from the British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand communities. The AWC offers a chance to meet Americans and other women outside the diplomatic community. The AWC sponsors social service projects, and along with other diplomatic groups, supports the Diplex, a small thrift shop.

Many Pakistanis enjoy entertaining Americans and appreciate return invitations. It is not unusual for a husband to attend without his wife, and it should not disturb the host if no advance warning is given. Should you visit a home where women are secluded, it is important for the female guests to pay their respects by visiting the women's area of the house. If you receive an invitation to a wedding celebration, you may want to ask for details as to what you will encounter. A city wedding may be an elaborate affair in a hotel, but a country wedding could mean a long walk on rough paths to a village.

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi, 10 miles away from Islamabad and still the major city in the capital area, is typical of the cantonment towns built by the British in India and Pakistan during the mid-19th century. These towns, with a few broad tree-lined streets and sturdy brick buildings, served as residential and operational centers for the British Army along the Grand Trunk Road, that ran from Kabul to Calcutta. Rawalpindi developed as a transportation, communications, and administrative center. The city remains an important military base and is the site of the General Headquarters of the Pakistani Army and Air Force.

Besides the main thoroughfares established by the British, Rawalpindi has many narrow back streets that wind through bustling bazaars. About 928,000 Pakistanis live in Rawalpindi, a large proportion originally from other parts of the country. In the city today are locomotive works, an iron foundry, oil refinery, and textile mills.

Until recently, Rawalpindi's major importance rested on its strategic location for military operations. Aryan-speakers fought over it in 1400 B.C., and Alexander the Great arrived in 326 B.C. The city was completely destroyed by the Mogul (also written Moghul and Mughal) invasion in the 14th century. Later, the Sikhs conquered and controlled the area, only to lay down their arms (1849) to the British 53rd Regiment, which then established its northern command headquarters in what was to become one of the world's largest cantonment stations. Rawalpindi became primarily a civilian city in 1960, when it was chosen as the interim capital of Pakistan. The American Embassy moved here from Karachi in 1966, and remained until quarters were established in Islamabad in 1973.

The majority of American children in the capital area attend the International School of Islamabad, which is supervised by an American and staffed by qualified American, Pakistani, and third-country national teachers. Its curriculum, from nursery through grade 12, parallels that of U.S. schools.

Karachi

Karachi is Pakistan's largest and most cosmopolitan city. As the center of Pakistan's economic, commercial, and communications activity, it links areas inside the country with the rest of the world through both its port and its busy international airport.

Located northwest of the mouth of the Indus River, Karachi separates the blue waters of the Arabian Sea from the brown sands of the Sindh Desert and is the gateway to the fertile region of the Punjab, the historic Northwest Frontier, and to Afghanistan. A four-lane highway connects Karachi with Hyderabad, located 2 hours northeast on the Indus River, and continues as a narrow road 800 miles north to Lahore (a 2-3 day trip).

Karachi's excellent harbor is the source of both business and pleasure. It serves as the center of Pakistan's seaborne trade, which consists largely of textile goods, and also as a place to boat and fish. Unlike other Pakistani cities, Karachi has a short history. A hundred years ago, it was a small fishing village with a ditch called "Karachi jo-Kun." When the Suez Canal opened for international shipping in 1865, the British needed a nearby seaport. They developed the harbor and built the fishing village into a city of close to 300,000 people. However, up to partition in 1947, Bombay, now in India, served as the major harbor for the eastern region of former British India. Following independence, Karachi, as Pakistan's only major harbor, took on new significance and rapidly expanded to its present population of about 10 million people. Though Karachi has few of the architectural and historical attractions that distinguish Lahore, Peshawar, or other areas, it is the main commercial, financial, and industrial center in Pakistan. Teeming with the undisciplined traffic of a variety of vehicles, Karachi is a vibrant place in which to live and work.

Utilities

Pakistan's electric power is 220v 50 hertz, but fluctuations between 200v and 250v are common. Voltage spikes and power outages are frequent and irregular. Appliances made for U.S. current will require a step-down transformer, and some appliances with DC motors or requiring specific rpm output, such as some tape recorders, record players, and clocks, will require conversion to 50 cycles. Parts for such conversion are scarce in Karachi. Residential power outlets vary. Common varieties include the British three-prong, grounded or the round, two-prong, ungrounded style. Parts and labor for rewiring plugs are more readily available than adapters. Water supply is frequently inadequate.

Food

Food stores in Karachi sell dry and frozen goods but are not up to Western standards of quality or variety. Imported goods are available in uncertain quantities at higher prices.

Local dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and ice cream have occasionally been found to be contaminated. Many employees use long-life products from the commissary and make home-made yogurt and ice cream.

Fresh meat, including lamb, mutton, goat, beef, and veal, is available in local markets at very reasonable prices. American cuts are not available, however, and quality is below Western standards. Local meat must be cooked thoroughly to prevent parasitic infection. Seafood is readily available. Snapper, king mackerel, promfret (a pan or grill fish), shrimp, and crab are relatively expensive staples.

Clothing

Local taste and tailoring in men's clothing are similar to that in the U.S. Coats and ties may be worn year round in the office, although they are not required. During the long, hot summer, entertainment is usually casual and either short-sleeved or sport (bush) shirts are worn.

Women's dress is similar to that in the U.S. but more modest. In the office, within the Western community, and at social affairs with Western-educated Pakistanis, anything which would be acceptable in the U.S. would be appropriate. On the street, however, and in the bazaars or in rural areas, women are advised to wear skirts with hem-lines below the knees and to avoid low necked or sleeveless dresses, or tight, revealing pants. Shorts are not appropriate. More suitable bazaar or street wear is pantsuits, slacks, or calf-length skirts; arms and shoulders should be covered. Cocktail dresses or pants outfits are worn for evening entertainment.

Karachi's winter is delightful, but unfortunately, lasts only about 8-10 weeks. From December to late February, temperatures vary from 50°F at night to 80°F in the daytime.

Summer weather is quite hot and humid and usually lasts from the end of February to November. A larger supply of light clothing is needed than in Washington. All cotton and drip-dry fabrics are the most comfortable; synthetic fibers are sticky in the hot, humid weather.

Because the winter is short and not very cold, winter suits, dresses, and coats are rarely worn, but a sweater or evening wrap is useful. Attractive shawls are available locally and are often used to keep the chill off during winter evenings. The most practical winter fabric is washable synthetic knit, but regular wash-and-wear and summer clothing may be worn throughout the year.

Except for locally embroidered things for women and children, local ready-made clothing is not satisfactory. Local dressmakers and tailors can make better clothing to order for women and girls than for men and boys, although men's casual wear or "bush suits" are well made and attractive. Tailoring and dressmaking services are available to make, alter or repair clothing. Quality of work varies, but with a little trial and error you can usually find a good tailor. Some tailors can copy from pictures, but a few have Western-style patterns and most do best by copying an existing piece of clothing. Fabrics available locally include plain wash-and-wear, washable woolen and cotton prints, and silks, all of which must be checked for color fastness.

In any case, bring an adequate supply of lingerie, underwear, hose, socks, washable sweaters, and bathing suits and caps. Bring baby supplies such as rubber pants, diapers or Pampers, underwear, and pajamas. Get as many washable things as possible, and avoid "dryclean only" clothing if possible.

Bring an adequate supply of shoes. Locally made sneakers and sandals are cheap and reasonably good. Other shoes are available, but many find the style, fit or quality unacceptable. Some people have had trouble finding properly fitting children's shoes.

Supplies and Services

See Islamabad.

Domestic Help

The comments on domestic help covered under Islamabad apply to Karachi, except that rates run somewhat higher in Karachi.

Religious Activities

Christian churches in Karachi include: Holy Trinity Church, Brooks Memorial, and St. Andrew's (all Protestant); and St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Anthony's Church, Christ the King, and Stella Maria Chapel (Catholic). All have Sunday and Friday services and school (Saturday for Seventh Day Adventists). No Jewish services are held in Karachi.

Education

Virtually all American children attend the Karachi American School (KAS), which offers nursery and kindergarten, elementary and junior and senior high school education. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools based on American teaching methods and curriculum. The school has 48 full-time teachers, 31 of them Americans, and uses U.S. materials. The student body of approximately 360 includes roughly equal numbers of Pakistanis, third-country nationals and Americans. Parents of new students to KAS should be aware that the academic program is rigorous and that pupils coming from other school systems have found it challenging. There is no special education program. The Karachi American Society, a parent organization, elects a seven-member Board of Directors who develop school policy. The school year runs from mid August through May.

New students should have a thorough physical examination within six months prior to admission and should bring with them all previous school records.

Address questions (official mail only; must be 16 oz. or less) about the school to: Superintendent, American Consulate General/KAS Unit 62403, APO AE 09814-2403 Tel. (92) (21) 433557 FAX: (92) (21) 437305.

The Convent of Jesus and Mary offers instruction by Roman Catholic nuns for boys and girls in the primary grades and secondary level schooling for girls only. The school year is July-December and January-May, and studies are patterned on the English school system. The British Overseas School offers instruction in the nursery and primary grades. It admits a limited number of non-British students.

Karachi Grammar School, using the British curriculum, is one of the oldest day schools in the subcontinent, and caters to English-speaking students. It has about 1,500 pupils of many nationalities-most Pakistani, but a few Americans, and its three departments (kindergarten, primary, and secondary) cover ages 5-18. The secondary department prepares students for the entrance requirements of English and American universities. Its school year consists of three terms: mid-January through mid-May; mid-June through mid September; and mid-September through mid-December.

The Karachi American School preschool starts at age four, the British Overseas School (BOS) accepts 3-year-olds and the Alliance Francaise (English Program) accepts two-year-olds. The BOS program is 4-1/2 hours long; KAS is three; and the Alliance Francaise is 2-1/2. All are daily morning programs. The BOS and Alliance Francaise are located in Defense and Clifton, respectively. The Goethe Institute runs a German language nursery and the Alliance Francaise also has a French language school. Other local nursery schools exist, including numerous Montessori schools.

Adult education is unavailable at the university level. Foreign language programs are available at the Goethe Institute, Alliance Francaise, and Friendship House.

Sports

Saltwater bathing is excellent throughout the year, except during the June-August monsoon, when surf at nearby beaches rises dangerously, undertow is powerful, and poisonous jellyfish abound. Some consider it a bit cold for bathing during the short winter months. Beach huts (less than an hour's drive from town) may be rented on Hawkes Bay or Sandspit beaches by people who have the time and patience to find a suitable but and go through the negotiating process.

Freshwater pools are available on a membership basis at the Sindh Club, Gymkhana Club, the Pearl Continental Hotel, the Avari Hotel, KLM pool at Midway House near the airport, the Marriott, and the Sheraton. The Karachi Recreation Association (pool, tennis courts, squash courts, walking/running course, gymnasium and weight room) operates out of Karachi American School and is open to Americans for membership, whether they have children in the school or not.

Small boat sailing is good most of the year and especially in the summer with the monsoon winds. The Karachi Yacht Club offers excellent small boat sailing opportunities. This private club races primarily fourteen foot Enterprises, but similar size boats partake as well. Because of the club's roughly 40% ex-pat membership, there is usually a boat for sale at any given time. Boat prices run $3,000 and up but can be paid for on monthly installments or simply rented by the day.

A 27-hole course is available at the Karachi Golf Club, although the membership cost is high.

Entertainment

The Pakistan American Cultural Center (PACC) occasionally puts on an English language play. Infrequent music concerts are sponsored by local choral groups and the various cultural centers. Occasionally, the latter import professional artists. Most Americans bring or import tape recorders, record players and accessories, and borrow or dub each other's tapes. VCRs have become a popular source of entertainment. Video rental shops are located throughout the city, but quality varies. A multi-system VCR is suggested, as U.S. tapes are usually VHS format while locally available tapes are UK-PAL format. Those wishing to take advantage of this source of entertainment should ship a VCR and compatible TV in their household effects.

Karachi has a moderate variety of restaurants, concentrated around the major hotels and the boat basin. The American Club caters to the American palate.

Lahore

Lahore is a city of 5 million people, 800 miles north-northeast of Karachi (1-1/2 hours by jet), and 170 miles south-southeast of Islamabad (35 minutes by jet). Lahore lies 17 miles west of the Indian border, 700 feet above sea level, in the middle of the Great Punjab Alluvial Plain. It is Pakistan's second largest city after Karachi.

Lahore has been the capital of several empires in the subcontinent, with a history going back at least 1,000 years. The old city and its environs have many examples of the art and architecture of the Moghul empire, such as the Lahore Fort, Badshahi Mosque, Emperor Jahangir's Tomb, and the Shalimar Gardens. The city was the capital of the Sikh empire in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One pleasant legacy of British rule (1849-1947) is Lahore's wide, tree-lined streets. Extensive suburbs have repeated this pattern.

Today, Lahore is the capital of Pakistan's largest and most populous province. The Punjab, heartland of Pakistan, produces 69% of Pakistan's agricultural output. It is a major governmental, political, media, cultural, and economic center. Two of the country's largest engineering firms are located in Lahore, as is the headquarters of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the Pakistani railway system. In addition, hundreds of industrial firms produce textiles, steel products, carpets, processed food, shoes, electric motors, and a wide variety of consumer goods. Lahore has the country's two largest printing plants; newspaper circulation is the largest in the country. Six English dailies and two English weeklies are available.

Lahore has two major universities: the University of the Punjab and the Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology, along with many training institutions. The private Lahore University of Management Sciences is a leading business school. The Lahore Museum, the oldest in the country, has outstanding examples of the nation's heritage.

The city is on the Ravi River, one of the five great rivers from which the Punjab (Persian for "five rivers") takes its name. The climate is delightful from November to April. December and January are dry and almost cold with night temperatures occasionally dropping to near freezing.

Summer starts with dry, very hot days in May and becomes humid from June through August, with daytime temperatures regularly reaching 100°F for weeks and occasionally soaring to 114°E Activities slow down markedly during summer. Monsoon showers give some relief from the hot summer breezes and dust storms, but increase the humidity to uncomfortable levels. Temperate weather returns at the beginning of October. Air quality is noticeably affected by industrial pollution, dust, and pollen in summer and smoke in winter.

Utilities

Electric power failures and scheduled outages occur frequently in Lahore. In the winter, "load shedding" is scheduled daily. The power may build up to 250-280v, and the usual step-down transformers offer U.S.-made appliances limited protection. Voltage regulators with automatic cutouts should be used for VCRs, stereos, and small appliances. These regulators are available locally in a wide variety of models. Telephone service is erratic; wrong numbers and crossed lines are frequent. Calling the U.S. direct is possible if the telephone has that facility or, if not, by booking a call via the operator.

Food

With the exception of chicken, meat is not sold in shops or restaurants on Tuesday or Wednesday in Lahore. Meat and meat cuts are different from those in the U.S. Meat must be well cooked, since markets often have no refrigeration.

High quality seasonal fruit and vegetables are available, including bananas, oranges, grapes, tangerines, mangoes, pomegranates, apples, peaches, melons, apricots, potatoes, green beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, broccoli, okra, ginger, cucumbers, eggplants, and peas.

Clothing

Dress in Lahore outside the office is much more conservative than in Islamabad. American women generally wear Western clothes to work. Conservative Western dress is often acceptable outside the office, but many foreign women feel more comfortable in a shalwar kameez (Pakistani national dress) or slacks with a loose, thigh-length, long-sleeved blouse with a high neck. Either western or Pakistani dress is acceptable at evening functions, except that long dresses or skirts are rarely worn. Clothing for social functions, particularly weddings, is sometimes quite dressy. Sandals are popular for daytime and evening wear.

All-cotton clothing, including underwear, is most comfortable in hot weather. Dry cleaning service is unreliable, and clothing wears rapidly due to the need for frequent washing. Women should be well covered all year round. Tight-fitting or low-cut clothing, sleeveless or halter tops are not acceptable in Lahore. Western style ladies wear is not available in local stores, nor is there variety in children's clothes.

If you intend to use local tailors, bring a supply of buttons, interfacing, zippers, thread, and especially elastic. Locally made items of this type are often not satisfactory. Tailoring is cheap but not always of good quality. Tailors usually do not follow patterns, but can copy clothing. A woman's blouse costs about $10 to make, pants $15. Men's pants can be made for $20 and a suit for $70 to $90.

Domestic Help

Help is plentiful, but good servants are scarce and becoming more expensive. Current monthly estimates are: cook $100-120; bearer $80; gardener $60-70; laundryman $20-30; nursemaid $80.

Religious Activities

English-language religious services are readily available at Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Seventh-Day Adventist churches. The International Christian Fellowship, an interdenominational English language congregation that meets in the Chapel of Forman Christian College, also conducts services. Also, there is a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). No Jewish services are available in Lahore.

Education

Most American children attend the Lahore American School (LAS) operated by the Lahore American Society. LAS has about 450 students in all grades, divided among American, Pakistani, and third-country students. It is fully accredited and certified by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. It follows a standard American curriculum and calendar (mid August to end of May) for kindergarten through grade 12. A nursery class is also available. The majority of faculty is American. The high school program is college preparatory, with 25 credits required for graduation: 4 credits of English, 3 of science, 2 of foreign language, 3 of social studies, 3 of mathematics, 3 of physical education (including health), and 7 credits in electives. The college placement record of LAS is excellent. For specific information write to: Superintendent, Lahore American School, c/o Principal Officer AmConsul Lahore Unit 62216, APO AE 09812-2216. Tel. 870895/873603.

The French and German Cultural Centers in Lahore offer language instruction.

Sports

Facilities for sports include golf, swimming, riding, tennis, squash, hunting, and fishing. Two local clubs offer combinations of golf, tennis, and swimming. Membership fees vary, but membership is not required to play golf. English riding instruction is offered at the Lahore Polo Club, and men's rugby by the Lahore Rugby Football Club. Americans may use the Lahore American School's pool and basketball courts for a nominal charge whenever school sports are not scheduled. Spectator sports include cricket, field hockey, world-class polo, and rugby.

Some sports equipment, when locally available, is reasonable in price, but not always of high quality. Excellent locally made squash racquets may be bought here but bring a supply of golf and tennis balls. Hobby materials are generally unavailable or expensive.

Entertainment

Dinners and parties in private homes are the most common form of entertainment.

Lahore is often said to have the best restaurants in Pakistan, offering Continental, Chinese, and Pakistani cuisine.

Ample opportunities exist to study area history and culture and to acquire folk products and art objects. Shopping, especially for Oriental/Pakistani rugs, is a favorite event.

Local cinemas are rarely attended by Americans. Video cassettes in the PAL mode, of varying quality, are readily available for rent at reasonable prices on the local market. If you decide to bring a VCR, the most suitable is the VHS-type that can show three systems (PAL, SECAM, and NTSC). The American, British, and French Cultural Centers regularly show films.

PTV, the Lahore government-run television station has a 10-minute nightly news program in English. There may also be a rerun of an English or U.S. program. A second, privately owned and operated channel began operation in 1991. STN runs many U.S. and British reruns and several hours of CNN programming around the clock. Pakistani television is on the PAL system which is not compatible with the standard U.S. system. Indian television may also be viewed in Lahore. No local FM radio exists, and English language short-wave reception is only fair. Pre-recorded cassette tapes are readily available. CDs are difficult to obtain.

The American Women's Club is active and provides opportunities for meeting people as does the International Women's Club.

In 1977 the Government of Pakistan passed legislation dramatically restricting the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Some hotels have "bars" where foreigners and non-Muslims with the proper permits can purchase a limited selection of alcoholic beverages, but at exorbitant prices.

Peshawar

Peshawar, an ancient city in the heart of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), lies 15 miles east of the famous Khyber Pass, 35 miles from the Afghanistan border, and close to the Pakhtun tribal agencies. Peshawar is a city of approximately 1,000,000 and is situated on a flat plain surrounded on three sides by mountains. The city is divided into three parts: the Old City, Cantonment area, and University Town. The Old City is a typically crowded central Asian town, with a colorful bazaar teeming with people and every kind of moving vehicle. Houses of mud bricks line the narrow twisting streets. By contrast, the Cantonment has a suburban atmosphere with spacious houses set back from quiet, tree-lined avenues. Much of the Cantonment area is occupied by military installations of the Pakistan Army and Air Force. University Town, to the west of the airport and south of the university campus is the modern section of the city, with development dating from the late 1950s. The NWFP and Peshawar host well over a million Afghan refugees, many of whom have established businesses in the Old City.

Pakhtun Culture

Pakhtuns are the dominant ethnic group of the NWFP. Although cultural mores are slowly changing, particularly in Peshawar, Pakhtun culture is conservative, religious, and largely concerned with the notion of honor. The "Pakhtun Code of Honor" (Pakhtunwali) is usually defined in terms of three basic, and much romanticized, concepts: "melmastia"-hospitality to every guest, not only providing food and shelter but also protection; "badal"-revenge under any circumstances; and "nanawati"-obligation to protect or forgive an offender when he submits himself at the doorstep of the man from whom he is seeking forgiveness. However, Pakhtunwali is a much wider code than these three concepts. Any action taken to protect the honor, as seen by Pakhtuns, is a part of Pakhtunwali. Consequently, Pakhtun men are greatly protective of their women and their women's honor. Although education is slowly preparing Pakhtun women for a more public role, few Pakhtun women work outside of the home or participate actively in public affairs. The Pakhtun Code of Honor is especially strong in the tribal areas, the western third of the province that is not under provincial administration and where traditional rules of tribal justice are applied.

Food, Clothing, Supplies and Services

Fresh meat (no pork products), vegetables, and fruits are available year round. Frozen meat is also available locally, although a greater variety is found in Islamabad. Frozen fish and seafood is also available through local vendors.

Local tailoring shops produce western-style clothes and dresses at reasonable prices. Locally purchased thread is not strong or preshrunk; a supply of good quality thread is recommended for those who plan to sew or have garments made. Quality, durable shoes and hiking boots are not available locally.

The electrical current is 220v, 50 Hz. Computers, stereo components, VCRs, radios, televisions, and other sensitive electronic equipment require voltage regulators (available locally) due to frequent voltage fluctuations.

Laundry, dry-cleaning, film developing, and barber and hair dressing facilities are available in Peshawar. Slide film is not locally available, nor is slide developing reliable. Several book stores sell office supplies, maps, magazines, and a wide variety of hard cover and paperback English books.

Religious Activities

Peshawar has Protestant and Catholic churches but no synagogues. Services are conducted in both English and Urdu. Numerous mosques serve the Sunni, Shia, and Ismaeli communities.

Education

The International School of Peshawar was established in 1987. Offering classes from kindergarten through grade 8, ISP enrollments currently average 60 students a year from the American and European expatriate communities. All classes are taught in English by certified teachers, and standard American textbooks are used for all subjects. The school year begins mid-August and ends the last week of May. Classes are conducted Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with a 2-1/2-week mid-year break at Christmas. The American school has no boarding facilities nor special education programs.

Other children have commuted to Islamabad to attend the International School of Islamabad (ISI) or the Murree Christian School, located 30 miles northeast of Islamabad. Murree provides boarding facilities for children of all ages and has been used extensively in the past by foreign families in Peshawar. ISI does not have boarding facilities and attendance at this school requires the cooperation of an American family in Islamabad to board the child during the week. Other possibilities include the Woodstock School about 150 miles north of Delhi, in Mussoorie, India, U.S./European boarding schools, or various home study programs as used by a number of families.

Sports

Peshawar has three clubs: the Peshawar Golf Club with an excellent 18-hole course; the Peshawar Club with its swimming, squash, and year-round tennis on grass courts; and the Peshawar American Club with two clay tennis courts, a swimming pool, as well as basketball and volleyball courts. The single international class hotel in Peshawar recently has opened a health club and also has a pool. A variety of other sports or exercise activities, including volleyball and aerobics classes, have been organized by volunteers in the expatriate community and are generally available to interested participants. Places for hunting, fishing, and trekking are available in nearby Swat and Chitral. Arrangements can also be made for horseback riding.

Touring and Outdoor Activities

The Khyber Pass, a romantic, historical landmark 15 miles away on the main road to Afghanistan, is the pass through which conquerors of the subcontinent have come and fought over for centuries. Tourists can take advantage of a periodically scheduled steam train safari to the Khyber Pass after obtaining the required permits. The village of Darra Adam Kehl, 25 miles from Peshawar, is the site of "tribal gun factories," where handmade rifles and shotguns are manufactured by and for the Pakhtun tribesmen. Ten miles beyond the factories is the Kohat Pass, less well-known, but more spectacular than Khyber. Currently, visits to these tourist areas are restricted because of armed conflict in nearby Afghanistan and tribal unrest.

Chitral, the northernmost mountain district in the NWFP, is accessible by scheduled air service from Peshawar, and by Jeep for about 6 months a year. Chitral offers dramatic views of 26,000-foot Tirich Mir (the "King of the Hindu Kush"), fine trout fishing, interesting visits to the exotic Kalash mountain valleys, and native polo matches among a friendly, hospitable people. Other scenic areas include the Swat and Kaghan valleys, northeast of Peshawar, where trout fishing is also available.

The Northwest Frontier Province is also home to a number of significant archaeological sites related to the 2,400-year-old Buddhist Gandhara civilization. Most important is the Buddhist monastery at Takht-IBhai, near Mardan, a site still revered by Buddhists. The Peshawar Museum houses what is considered the finest collection of Gandhara civilization statuary, including the famous "Starving Buddha."

Entertainment

Few English films are shown publicly and most foreigners do not frequent local cinemas. The American Club, however, has a large number of NTSC VCR movies for rent. Several local video shops rent PAL videos. VHS VCRs using the PAL, SECAM, and NTSC systems are recommended. Tapes in the Beta format are limited and not available at the Peshawar American Club.

Restaurant selection is limited to one or two good Pakistani restaurants, two Chinese restaurants, several Afghan establishments, and the Pearl Continental and Khan Club Hotel restaurants, which serve continental cuisine. The Peshawar American Club has the most popular restaurant in town among the foreign community and, perhaps, the liveliest members-only bar in Pakistan. In accordance with local law, however, Muslims and Pakistani citizens may not be served alcohol. Recommended hotels in Peshawar are the Pearl Continental and several good guest houses that have recently opened in University Town. Rooms are sometimes available at the American Club for official travelers, and the Golf Club has recently opened a limited number of rooms for guests.

Peshawar is famous to shoppers of the world for its Afghan carpets, tribal jewelry, lapis, and furniture. More than a hundred Afghan carpet stores offer a wide variety of Afghan carpets, kilims, and other woven products. In the Old City Sarafa bazaar, one can find tribal jewelry, old coins, war medals, lapis, and other semi-precious stones, as well as modern Pakistani gold jewelry. Peshawar's furniture makers craft excellent wood furniture to order at relatively inexpensive prices. Several outlet stores are operated by the volunteer agencies marketing handicrafts made by Afghan refugees.

The two main shopping areas in Peshawar are the Saddar Bazaar in the Cantonment and the various bazaars found in the Old City. Although Saddar has several gift shops and carpet stores, most visitors to Peshawar prefer to shop in the colorful, exotic environs of the Old City. Shops usually open between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and remain open until dark. Except for a few meat and grocery shops, businesses remain closed on Fridays.

Special Information

The people of Peshawar and the NWFP observe conservative social standards. Both men and women should dress modestly. Men should not wear running shorts and T-shirts in public. Women should cover up and, in particular, not wear shorts, tight clothing, sundresses, etc., in public. Women should avoid eye contact with men passing them on the streets. Behavior around mosques, especially during prayer time, should be discreet.

Peshawar and the surrounding tribal areas can be fraught with unexpected dangers to uninitiated newcomers. Visitors should travel only with U.S. Government Agency officials, volunteer agency representatives, or with a reputable travel guide. Personal information and trip schedules should be given only to authorized government and hotel officials. The Government of Pakistan must approve all visits to Afghan refugee camps and tribal areas, including the Khyber Pass. Such visits are normally limited to daylight hours, and special permits are required. Do not leave vehicles unattended while traveling in the NWFP Night travel on NWFP roads can be hazardous and is not recommended. Although the indiscriminate bombings which were a hallmark of terrorist campaigns in Peshawar at the height of the Afghan conflict have largely disappeared, Afghan-related violence in the city continues to be a problem and could threaten the security of expatriate residents and visitors.

OTHER CITIES

Ruled by the Afghans in the early 19th century, BAHAWALPUR joined Pakistan in 1947. It is situated about 225 miles southwest of Lahore, near the Sutlej River. The city trades in soap, cotton, and pottery. The population here is over 400,000.

FAISALABAD (also known as Lyallpur) is located in a cotton and wheat growing area about 175 miles southeast of Islamabad. With a metropolitan population of over 1.9 million, Faisalabad is an important commercial center, particularly for grains and cloth. Manufactures include textiles, textile machinery, bicycles, hosiery, flour, sugar, vegetable oil, soap, and pharmaceuticals. Founded and named for Sir James Lyall in 1892, but now usually called Faisalabad, the city is the site of Punjab Agricultural University (founded in 1961), several colleges affiliated with the University of Punjab, and numerous experimental farms and cattle-breeding stations.

The capital city of Gujranwala District, GUJRANWALA has a population of approximately 1.2 million… It is situated 42 miles north of Lahore. The city trades in grain, and manufactures copper and brass utensils. Formerly the capital of Sikh power in its early period, Gujranwala is the birthplace of Ranjit Singh.

HYDERABAD , with a population of more than one millio n, is located in southern Pakistan on the Indus River, near the Indian border. Long known for its silk, gold, and silver embroidery, and its enamelware and pottery, Hyderabad is now an industrial city with chemical engineering, food processing, cotton, cement, cigarette, glass, and match factories. Founded by Ghulam Shah Kalhora in 1768, the city was designed by his son, Sarfaraz Khan in 1782. Hyderabad was the capital of the emirs of Sind and was occupied by the British East India Company when Sind became a British protectorate in 1839. The University of Sind, founded in 1947, is located here; there are also several other colleges in the city. Numerous mosques, palaces, and the arsenal are found in the city's fort. Umarkot, a town in the Thar Desert near Hyderabad, was the birthplace of the Mogul emperor Akbar.

MULTAN , situated on the Chenab River in east central Pakistan, is about 280 miles south of Islamabad. The city is an important road and rail junction, an agricultural center, and a market for textiles, leather goods, and other products. Industries here include metalworking, flour and oil milling, and the manufacture of cotton textiles, shoes, carpets, and glass. Pottery and enamelwork are some of the city's noteworthy handicrafts. Multan is one of the Indian subcontinent's oldest cities, deriving its name from an idol in the temple of the sun god. Multan is thought to have been conquered by Alexander the Great about 325 B.C., and visited by the Chinese Buddhist scholar Hsüan-tsang in 641. The city was taken by the Arabs in the eighth century, captured by Muslim Turkish conqueror Mahamud of Ghazni in 1005, by Tamerlane in 1398, ruled by the emperors of Delhi from 1526 to 1779, and by the Afghans until 1818. In 1818, Multan was seized by Ranjit Singh, leader of the Sikhs. The British held Multan from 1848 until Pakistan achieved independence in 1947. Landmarks include a surrounding wall and fort enclosing the tombs of two Muslim holy men, and an ancient Hindu temple. More than a million people live in Multan.

QUETTA is located in west-central Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border and about 450 miles southwest of Islamabad. The city is situated on a plain enclosed by high mountains at an altitude of 5,500 feet, and has a population of close to 600,000. Quetta's name comes from the Pushtu word for fort—kawatah. The city commands the entrance through the strategic Bolan and Khojak Passes into Afghanistan, and is a trade center for Iran, Afghanistan, and much of central Asia. Chief items traded here include fruits, vegetables, hides, and wool. Cottage industries in the city produce textiles, foodstuffs, and carpets. Coal and chromite are also mined nearby. Historically, Quetta was occupied by the British during the First Afghan War, 1839-1842, and following the Second Afghan War in 1876. It became prominent as the seat of British resident Sir Robert Sandeman, and was a strongly fortified British military station. In June 1935, a severe earthquake nearly destroyed Quetta, but the city has since been rebuilt. Quetta has a military staff college, founded in 1907, and a geophysical observatory. It is also known as a summer resort town.

SARGODHA is located in east Pakistan, about 105 miles northwest of Lahore. The metropolitan area has a population of approximately 455,000. A railroad and industrial hub, Sargodha produces soap, flour, textiles, and chemicals. There is a grain market here.

The birthplace of philosopher-poet Muhammad Igbal, SIALKOT is in eastern Pakistan 120 miles from Islamabad. A rail junction and a major trade and processing center, Sialkot has a population of about 420,000. Bicycles, surgical instruments, sporting goods, rubber products, and ceramics are manufactured here. Textile weaving is also an important industry. Landmarks include a fortress built in 1181 by Muhammed of Ghor and the mausoleum of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion, who died in 1538.

The city of SUKKUR lies in a hot, desert region, about 240 miles northeast of Karachi, near the Indus River. It is a commercial hub, manufacturing leather, cement, cigarettes, and textiles. Barley, rice, wheat, and millet are grown nearby. Major trade is conducted with neighboring Afghanistan. The town was built up by the British in 1843 when they established a garrison. Sukkur's population exceeds 300,000.

COUNTRY PROFILE

Geography and Climate

Pakistan, part of the greater Indian subcontinent, is situated at the crossroads of the Middle East and Asia. The country covers an area about the size of the states of Washington, Oregon, and California combined. It is bordered by Iran and Afghanistan on the west; China on the north; the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir on the northeast; India on the east; and the Arabian Sea on the south. Pakistan lies between latitudes 24 and 37 degrees north (e.g., from the southern tip of Florida to the southern border of Virginia).

The major political divisions of the country are the Provinces of Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, Northwest Frontier, and the federally administered Northern Areas, Tribal Areas, and Azad Kashmir. The provinces roughly correspond with the country's major geographic, ethnic, and linguistic regions.

There are five distinct geographic regions: The Thar Desert and Lower Indu Valley, located in the southernmost province of Sindh, consists largely of arid valleys and rocky hills that extend into neighboring India. Farming is successful only in the irrigated areas nearest to the Indus River.

The Balochistan Plateauis a broad, arid tableland that lies between 1,000 and 3,000 feet above sea level in the western province of Balochistan. The plateau is encircled by rugged mountains and covers nearly one-half of the country's territory.

The Indus Basin features the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world. "Punjab," the name of the province in which much of the basin is located, means "five waters" in Persian, referring to the five major rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej) in the basin. The province of Punjab comprises the northeastern quarter of Pakistan.

The Northwest Frontieas a region of barren mountains sheltering rich irrigated valleys. The provincial capital of Peshawar is situated on an ancient trade route that leads through the Khyber Pass and into Afghanistan.

The Far Nortloffers Pakistan's most spectacular scenery with towering snowcapped mountains, deep narrow valleys, and glaciers. The world's second highest mountain, K-2, is located in the Far North, as are a dozen other peaks of more than 25,000 feet elevation, including Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrun, and Rakaposhi.

Seasonal temperatures vary widely in these five regions. With the exception of the Far North, summers are hot throughout the country with temperatures ranging from 90°F to 120°F and little nighttime relief. Trade winds provide some relief during the hot and humid summers in Karachi and a brief cool season comes between December and February. In Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar, a distinct winter season brings daytime temperatures of 60°F or less and cold nights. Islamabad and Peshawar may have light frosts. Spring and fall are delightful seasons in these three cities. Altitude governs climate in the Far North, with pleasant summers in the lower regions and perpetual snow in the higher mountains.

The average annual rainfall varies from 6 inches in Karachi, 15 inches in Peshawar, and 18 inches in Lahore, to about 30 inches in Islamabad. Most rain falls during the summer monsoon from July to September, although parts of the Punjab and the Northwest Frontier experience a moderate winter rainy season as well.

Population

Pakistan is a relatively poor country with a rapidly growing population. Annual per capita income is approximately $470. The population is currently estimated at 135 million, making Pakistan the seventh most populous country in the world. Conservatively estimated to be growing at an annual rate of 3.0 percent, one of the highest rates in the world, Pakistan's population could double in 27 years.

One of Pakistan's major problems is illiteracy; only 38% (1994) of the adult population is literate with the rate being significantly lower for women than men. About 47.5% of Pakistan's labor force is engaged in agriculture, while 10.9% works in industry. Pakistani society traditionally assigns a subordinate role to women with the result that 65% of boys ages 6 to 11 and only 33% of girls attend primary school. Women are reported to be only 13.1% of the labor force, but this does not include the large number of women engaged in agricultural and household work. Substantial disparities exist in living conditions between urban areas and the countryside where over two-thirds of Pakistan's people live.

Pakistan's population is unevenly distributed throughout the country. More than 1.5 million Afghan refugees have sought refuge in its borders while employment abroad has taken 2 million Pakistanis away. Population density in parts of Sindh and Punjab is well above the average distribution of 381 persons per square mile. The barren uplands of Balochistan is the least inhabited area of the country.

Internal migration, particularly from rural to urban areas, has begun to alter the ethnic and linguistic character of each of the Provinces, but it is still generally true that Sindh is the home of the Sindhis who speak Sindhi; Balochistan is the traditional home of the Balochi-speaking Baloch; Punjabi is the language of the Punjab, home of Pakistan's largest and most influential ethnic group; and the Northwest Frontier is the tribal homeland of the Pushtu-speaking Pathan. The most notable exception to this pattern is seen in the urban areas of Sindh. Immediately after independence, a significant number of Muslim "muhajirs" or refugees of various ethnic backgrounds poured into these areas from India. More recently, internal migration has brought many job-seeking Pathans to Karachi. In addition, the movement of large numbers of Pathans and some Punjabi farmers into Balochistan over the past decades has made the Baloch a minority in their own Province. The remote valleys of the Far North are inhabited by a few smaller ethnic groups, such as the Gilgitis, Kashmiris, and the people of Hunza.

Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. Although it is the first language of only 7% of the total population and 25% of the urban population, educated Pakistanis are usually conversant in Urdu. The status of English has declined somewhat as a result of "Urduization" efforts by the government, but it is still used extensively in business and government.

Although geographically, ethnically, linguistically, and socially Pakistan is the picture of diversity, its religious homogeneity is an important unifying factor. Members of the Sunni sect constitute the largest number of the Muslims in Pakistan; most of the rest are Shia Muslims. Several hundred thousand Ismaelis live in Karachi and the northern areas. Religious minorities include Christians (1.6 million, 80% of whom live in Punjab), Hindus (1.6 million, 80% of whom live in Sindh), and Parsis (7,000, most of whom live in Karachi).

Public Institutions

The land that is now Pakistan is the site of one of the world's oldest civilizations. As a western gateway to the Indian subcontinent, this area has seen successive waves of people move down through the passes from central Asia and the Iranian Plateau, bringing new ethnic strains and a wide variety of cultural contributions. Over the past 3,000 years, it has been ruled or invaded by Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Kushans, Mongols, Afghans, Turks, Moghuls, Sikhs, British and others.

Pakistan came into being in August 1947 as a result of the Muslim League's determination, once the British rulers departed, to have its own state in the Indian subcontinent, separate from the Hindu majority. The partitioning of British India led to the migration on a massive scale of Muslims to Pakistan and Hindus to India. In the process, hundreds of thousands died and the legacy of partition remains a source of bitterness between India and Pakistan to this day.

In 1947, Pakistan faced a unique and ultimately unsolvable problem of ethnic and geographic division. The new nation was divided into two parts more than 1,000 miles from each other and on opposite sides of the Indian subcontinent. Slightly less than half the people inhabited West Pakistan (presentday Pakistan) and the rest occupied East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in the humid delta region of the lower Ganges in East Bengal. The two halves of the country differed greatly in language, customs, and daily life and were held together only by a common religion and mutual distrust of the Hindu majority in India.

In its early years, Pakistan faced frequent political crises. The death in 1948 of its founder and first Governor General, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and the 1951 assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan deprived the country of two of its most able leaders. From 1951 to 1958, a succession of unstable governments did little to improve internal conditions. In 1958, the Army Commander-in-Chief, General Mohammed Ayub Khan, overthrew the civilian government and seized power as president. Ayub governed Pakistan for 10 years, first under martial law, and after 1962 under a constitution that provided strong executive powers and limited representative government. Ayub relinquished the presidency in early 1969 to Commander-in-Chief General Mohammed Yahya Khan, who dismissed the government, abrogated the constitution and ruled under martial law. In December 1970. however, he permitted Pakistan's first free nationwide elections to select members for both the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.

The election results profoundly affected the future of Pakistan. In the West. the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gained a majority. In the East, The Awami League of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman scored an overwhelming victory, one so great that the party gained a majority of all seats in both East Pakistan and in the National Assembly. A period of intense political maneuvering followed, with the main issue being the degree of autonomy to be accorded East Pakistan. This period ended abruptly in March 1971, when the Army arrested Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka and attempted to suppress his followers. Resulting disorders in East Pakistan grew into a widespread insurrection, during which 10 million refugees fled into neighboring India, Growing tension between Pakistan and India over developments in East Pakistan led to the outbreak of war in December 1971. India invaded East Pakistan and after a short campaign, West Pakistan's forces in the East surrendered. Then the former East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh.

From 1971 to 1977, Bhutto was in power, first as president, and then, following the construction of a new constitution in 1973, as prime minister in a parliamentary system. Following national election, in early 1977, a major confrontation emerged between Bhutto's PPP government and a multi-party coalition called the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA). Subsequently, Prime Minister Bhutto was removed in a bloodless coup led by Chief of Army Staff, General Zia-ul-Haq. Bhutto was eventually convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and hanged.

From 1977-1985, Pakistan remained under martial law with Zia serving both as President and as Chief Martial Law Administrator. Finally, in response to domestic and international pressures, Zia allowed a return to democracy. Non-party elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies were held in 1985. The new government. led by Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo, enjoyed the support of legislators associated with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) who provided Junejo comfortable majorities in the National and Provincial Assemblies. Groups of independents and opposition forces were also formed. Local elections were held in 1987 under civilian government auspices.

In August 1988, growing tensions between President Zia and PM Junejo led Zia to dismiss Junejo's government and call for new non-party elections. Zia's death in a plane crash, along with U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel later that month, however, altered the political environment. Senate Chairman Ghulam Ishaq Khan assumed the presidency and guided the nation through the elections in November of that year. The election was won by the Pakistan People's Party led by Z.A. Bhutto's daughter, Benazir Bhutto, which assumed power in December, 1988.

Although the largest party in Parliament, the PPP lacked a majority. Bhutto's administration struggled for most of its tenure and on August 6, 1990, the President, acting under the constitution, removed the Bhutto government. A caretaker regime held national and provincial elections in October 1990 which brought a coalition to power under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, who became Prime Minister in November 1990.

Sharif's government was dismissed in April 1993 by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, but it was later restored by the Supreme Court. The resulting constitutional crisis was resolved by the resignation of both the Prime Minister and the President. In elections held in October 1993, the PPP-led coalition won and Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister again.

In November 1996, President Farooq Leghari dismissed Bhutto's government on the grounds of corruption and abuse of power. In the February 1997 elections, the PML won a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and Nawaz Sharif once again became Prime Minister.

In October 1990 U.S. military assistance to Pakistan was halted and new economic aid was suspended after President Bush was unable to certify to Congress that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear explosive device. This prohibition, still in effect, is the result of the Pressler Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act. One of the results of the suspension is a significant reduction in assistance and U.S. military direct-hire and contract personnel in Pakistan.

Arts, Science, and Education

An Islamic presence in the subcontinent introduced new outside elements of creativity. The period of Moghul rule, particularly, was marked by great achievements in architecture, examples of which are still world famous. In Lahore, the palace-fortress called the Red Fort, begun at the time of Emperor Akbar, and the Badshahi Mosque (one of the largest in the world), erected during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb, are fine examples of Moghul buildings. Also at Lahore is Shalimar, the Garden of Bliss, a good example of a formal Moghul garden.

Because Islam prohibits pictorial likeness of the human form in art, representational art did not develop substantially among the Muslims in the subcontinent until the Mid-20th century, when declining Moghul influence and increasing Western contact resulted in less restrictive art forms. Abstract paintings and designs more in keeping with Muslim sensitivities have always been prevalent and are still popular today.

Recently, Pakistani artists, usually the young, have begun experimentation in many different media. As a result, art shows in most of the larger cities are becoming more common, and a new interest, especially in painting, is increasing. Most notable artistic expression is found in Pakistani handicrafts. The feeling for form, design, and color is best displayed in pottery, carpets, hand-woven textiles, articles made of marble, inlaid woodwork, and brass, copper, and silverware.

Strong literary traditions exist in Urdu as well as in the regional languages (Sindhi, Punjabi, and Pushtu). The largest share of popular academic and standard literary publications are in Urdu, the national language. Technical subjects and more advanced writings in the social sciences are in English.

A wide variety of music, ranging from folk to classical to Western popular styles, is enjoyed throughout Pakistan. Pakistani folk music, particularly melodies and rhythms of mountain tribes and rural areas, is most appealing to Westerners. Country-Western, jazz and rock, although not encouraged, are also gaining popularity, especially among young people. The Government of Pakistan patronizes and encourages artistic expression, intellectual pursuits, and Islamic culture through radio, television, universities, art councils, art galleries, and academic and professional associations (Pakistan Historical Society, Pakistan Philosophical Congress, Association for the Advancement of Science, Pakistan Writers' Guild, etc.). The government-sponsored National Council of the Arts aims at coordinating all cultural, artistic, literary, and intellectual activities in the country.

The government of Pakistan works continuously to improve the quality of the country's educational system, but reform efforts are hampered by lack of financial resources and qualified personnel, outdated instructional materials and techniques, and a reluctance among some elements of Pakistani society to participate fully in the education of the nation's youth. In general, education is controlled by the provincial governments, with strong inputs from the Federal government.

The Federal and Provincial governments are working together to combat illiteracy, which is one of the most serious obstacles to economic and social development. According to comprehensive 1991 figures, the most recent available, the overall literacy rate was 34.8% (male 47.3% and female 21.1%). It has been estimated that by 2000 the overall literacy rate will have improved to 43.6% (male 56.2% and female 29.8%). Education planners consider this improvement insufficient and are developing new programs to reduce illiteracy. These include model programs in each province and in the Capital district, and another program, called "User of Koranic Literacy for Promotion of Female Literacy," which takes advantage of the ability of many women to read the Koran in Arabic as a tool to learn to read Urdu.

Urdu is the national language and is emphasized in the official curriculum, although regional languages are used in primary school classrooms in some areas. Government authorities have stressed that English should receive prominence as a second language. English is taught at the upper levels and in private schools, and excellent knowledge of English is required for the top levels of government service and the study of science and medicine. Students also study Arabic and regional languages such as Sindhi, Punjabi, Pushtu, and Baloch.

The government is accelerating the universalization of primary education, and encouraging private sector involvement in the educational system. Improvements are also underway in technical and vocational education. In the fields of secondary and higher secondary, greater emphasis has been placed on scientific and technical education. Although expansion is under way at all levels, the educational system is not able to cope with rapid population growth. Enrollment levels are low, compared to other countries at Pakistan's stage of development. Similarly, the proportion of the budget allocated to education is very low. By the year 2002, the government expects to enroll all children in primary education (up from 73% at present) and half the children in secondary education (up from 32%).

Universalization of free primary education is being accelerated, and the private sector's participation in educational development is encouraged. Many Pakistanis who can afford the cost of private schools choose to send their children to these institutions, rather than public schools. In some areas, private institutions are setting a standard of high quality which the public schools have yet to attain. The Government is attempting to make improvements in technical and vocational training facilities. In secondary and higher secondary education, greater emphasis is being placed on science and technical education, and many schools are introducing computers into their instructional programs.

There are 24 universities in Pakistan. Some of the more prominent private universities are the Agha Khan Medical University and Hamdard University in Karachi, and the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore. The prestigious Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad conducts all its programs at the graduate level. The Allam Igbal Open University, also in Islamabad, offers courses through radio, television, and correspondence. Universities are monitored and financed by the University Grants Commission. Several universities follow the American semester system. Tuition at the public universities is negligible and meets virtually none of the cost of higher education. The private universities, on the other hand, charge high fees, but also offer financial assistance to deserving students.

It must also be emphasized that during any given year there are approximately 10,000 Pakistani nationals studying abroad at American colleges and universities.

Commerce and Industry

Pakistan's per capita income of U.S. $470 is the highest in the subcontinent, but it is still a poor country by world standards. The relative prosperity of the industrialized regions around Karachi and Lahore contrast sharply with the poverty of semi-arid Balochistan and the mountainous Northwest Frontier Province. The largest sector of the economy is service, which constitutes 49% of the gross domestic product (GDP). The economy also relies heavily on the agricultural sector, which contributes about 24% of the GDP Agriculture employs over half of the work force, and provides, directly or indirectly, over half of the export receipts. Cultivation of the rich alluvial soil of the Indus River Basin has always been the chief economic activity of the country. The major crops are wheat, cotton, rice, and sugarcane. However, despite developments in agriculture Pakistan still must import many major food items including wheat, consumable oil, and sugar.

Growth in the industrial sector, which accounts for about 18% of the GDP, has declined in recent years largely due to inconsistent economic policies of successive governments. However, significant progress has been made in diversification of manufacturing. Major industries include cotton textiles, fertilizer, cement, food processing, vegetable ghee, sugar, and steel. Although significant quantities of natural gas are present in Pakistan, and several major dams on the Indus River system provide a good deal of hydro-electric generating capacity, the country continues to rely on massive levels of imported oil to meet its energy requirements. In recent years, periodic power blackouts known as "load shedding" have been considerably reduced by sizable foreign investment under the Government's Private Power Policy.

Pakistan's balance-of-payments position remains weak. In recent years the dollar value of exports has stagnated at U.S. $8.5 billion level. Substantial inflows from abroad, not only in the form of remittances from Pakistanis working in the Persian Gulf and in Europe, but also foreign assistance, have contributed to easing the imbalance. Chief exports include rice, leather goods, carpets, and cotton yarn and textiles. Major imports are petroleum, machinery, consumable oil, wheat, iron, and steel. Pakistan's principal trading partners are the U.S. and Japan.

Transportation

Automobiles

Since driving is on the left-hand side of the road, right-hand drive cars are safer, although both left-hand and right-hand drive vehicles are used. Islamabad, with its wide avenues and four lane roads, lends itself to the use of left-hand-drive vehicles. However, in other areas, because of heavy congestion and narrow streets, use of a left-hand drive car can be dangerous. A number of road hazards, both animate and inanimate, place great reliance on sound suspension, horns, and good brakes. Persons whose cars have the new small emergency spare tire should consider investing in a full size rim and spare tire. Flats are frequent and reliable repair facilities are not always close at hand.

Car maintenance is adequate. Except for Japanese vehicles, spare car parts are scarce and expensive. Cars most commonly found in Pakistan are Toyota Corollas, Coronas, Cressidas, and Land Cruisers; Honda Accords and Civics; and Mitsubishi Pajeros (though Pajeros are not recommended for Karachi where they are a favorite target of thieves).

It is possible to order a new car from Japan. These cars are right-hand-drive vehicles, which cannot be imported into the U.S. without costly safety and emissions alterations because they do not meet U.S. standards. The good news is that they cost at least 40% less than an equivalent model that is manufactured for the U.S. market.

To receive a Pakistani driver's license, you must have a valid U.S. driver's license. Temporary licenses are not sufficient. International driver's licenses are not recognized by the Government of Pakistan. Legal driving age in Pakistan is 18 years for any type of vehicle.

Local third-party liability insurance is mandatory. Costs vary depending on the size of the engine: up to 1,000 cc, the premium is about $16 a year; 1,000-2,000 cc, about 21 a year; and over 2,000 cc, about $24 a year. Comprehensive and collision insurance is also recommended, available locally, and less expensive than in the U.S. Bring a certificate from your U.S. insurance company, or from another country, showing a 5-year claim-free record to obtain substantial premium reductions. Some keep their U.S. insurance or, if possible, insure with an overseas specialist (Lloyds or Clements). Arrange for transit insurance, marine and rail policy, to include final destination when shipping your car.

Gasoline and diesel are available throughout the country and the price is fixed by the Pakistani Government. Octane ratings lower than in the U.S. allow low-compression, six-cylinder engines to run better. Regular gasoline averages 80 octane, and super gasoline averages 87 octane. Occasionally, 100-octane gasoline is available. Regular gasoline lacks additives that make U.S. gasoline more efficient in high-compression engines. Presently, the price of "super" gasoline is about 42¢ per liter, and diesel prices are about 21¢ per liter.

Local

Public transportation includes buses, vans, taxis, horse-drawn tongas, and motor scooter rickshaws. Buses are overcrowded, of questionable safety, and are generally not used by Westerners. Taxis are unsafe due to the poor conditions of the vehicles and the unsafe driving practices of the drivers. Motor rickshaws are available in most cities except Islamabad. They are slow, poorly protected from the weather, and dangerous because of erratic driving habits. Most public transportation is not suitable for official Americans.

Regional

Pakistan is served by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and a number of international carriers. However, no U.S. carriers offer service to or from Pakistan although United Airlines recently entered into a "code share" arrangement with several other international carriers. Karachi maintains the nation's largest airport with service to and from a variety of destinations on both PIA and other international airlines. Air service is more limited in Islamabad with flights on only three carriers: PIA, Saudi, and British Airways. British Airways offers thrice weekly direct service from London. Inter-country travel is facilitated by PIA which flies to all major cities in Pakistan. However, these flights are often crowded and overbooked so take care to confirm your flight in advance.

Rail travel is also possible, though not advised. An express train from Karachi to Lahore takes about 20 hours; Rawalpindi is an additional 6 hours. Train travel can be dangerous due to a high accident rate and frequent incidents of crime.

Road transportation between major points is possible, but roads are usually crowded and in poor repair. Travel by car from Karachi to Lahore takes 2 days. However, travel outside of Karachi and into the Sindh interior must have prior approval of the Government of Pakistan due to severe law and order problems. Travel by land is therefore not advised. The drive from Lahore to Islamabad normally takes 4 hours on the modern express Motorway which was inaugurated in December 1997. The drive from Islamabad to Peshawar takes about 3 hours. Again, driving is dangerous on main trunk routes, with few clean rest stops available.

Communications

Telephone and Telegraph

Telephone service in Pakistan is adequate. Direct-dial service connects all major cities in the country, and international direct dial service is available from Pakistan to most foreign countries including the United States. Phone bills should be monitored closely to assure that you are billed only for calls placed from your phone.

Station-to-station calls to the U.S. cost Rs. 52 (U.S. $1.26) per minute. International direct-dial may be accomplished from your residence. International calls may also be booked with the local operator, but it takes time and the call is limited. During the rainy season the telephones are sometimes out of order; however, service is normally restored within one day.

E-mail and Internet services are also available at reasonable rates. FAX service to the U.S. costs Rs. 52 per minute.

Mail

International airmail service to and from the U.S. is available and many use international aerograms.

Radio and TV

There are two television stations in Pakistan: Pakistan Television (PTV) is countrywide, and Shalimar Television Network (STN) is available in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. PTV carries news, musical programs, documentaries, dramas, and sports in Urdu or other local languages. It also carries old American sitcoms and movies from time to time. News in English is broadcast at 7 p.m. daily. PTV is not regarded as an entertainment or recreation source for Americans. STN has started partial productions, airs acquired programs from many sources and carries CNN broadcasts for 8 hours per day. Acquired programs include British and American sit-coms, Urdu and English films, and Public Diplomacy-supplied documentaries on science, art, and wildlife. All programs on PTV and STN are censored to remove anything which might be objectionable.

Satellite dishes have become common here. With a dish, one can pick up CNN, Star (Hong-Kong based system featuring, BBC, MTV, sports and entertainment), and several Chinese and Arabic channels. Dishes and receivers are readily available and reasonably priced (currently from $150 to $500).

All television programming in Pakistan is 625 PAL standard. The American Club in Islamabad maintains a wide variety of movies in NTSC format for rental. Audio tapes are widely available in local stores but are also of uneven quality. CDs are readily available, but selection is still limited and prices are cheaper than in the U.S.

Quality English, Dutch, or Japanese television sets can be bought on the local market, but prices are sometimes higher than in the U.S. The most satisfactory sets are multi-system sets which can handle PAL and NTSC signals. Personnel can purchase multi-system VCRs at reasonable prices in Pakistan, especially in Peshawar. Prices are comparable to those available in the U.S. Converting NTSC systems to PAL is not advisable.

Most Americans bring a VCR and TV from the U.S. A multi-system TV which handles PAL as well as NTSC is advisable. Pakistan has a country-wide radio system. Most of the programming is in Urdu or other local languages. There are three short English language news broadcasts daily. Music aired is Pakistani.

A good short-wave radio can be helpful for wider coverage of world events. VOA, BBC, and other nations' broadcasts have special programs in English for this region. An outside antenna will improve reception, and a radio with pushbutton capability to lock-in a station makes shortwave hunting easier.

Newspapers, Magazines, and Technical Journals

Pakistani newspapers in English are readily available in major cities and may be home delivered. The International Herald Tribune and USA Today are flown in from Hong Kong and cost about $1.75 a copy. Hotel newsstands and bookstores carry international editions of Time and Newsweek. However, while books are government subsidized magazines are not which tends to make them rather expensive. Subscriptions from the local news dealer may be available for home or office delivery. Single copies of American magazines and comic books may also be found at newsstands and bookstores.

Health and Medicine

Medical Facilities

Pakistan has limited but usually adequate hospital facilities. Laboratory and X-ray facilities are available, but service, equipment, and cleanliness are not consistent with U.S. standards.

Bring your own supply of any medications, both prescription and over-the-counter, used on a regular basis, and make arrangements for resupply by mail. Pharmacies throughout Pakistan can fill some prescription needs and have a large variety of non-prescription drugs, some manufactured locally and some imported. Locally purchased drugs may cost less than in the U.S. Some non-prescription items are available at the commissaries. If you have specific questions about what to bring, write to the Regional Medical Officer.

Expectant mothers are advised not to deliver in Pakistan.

Although dental care is available in Pakistan, most employees prefer to have dental evaluation and treatment in the U.S. Orthodontia service is limited.

Standard prescriptions for glasses can be filled inexpensively, but no safety glass is available and standards are uncertain. Americans send eyewear to the U.S. for the filling of prescriptions. Have glasses checked before coming to post and bring a spare pair.

Islamabad: Civilian hospitals in the Islamabad/Rawalpindi area are adequate although not up to American standards. However, emergency surgery and trauma cases can be sent to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.

Karachi: Hospital facilities especially the modern and well-equipped Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi are occasionally used for inpatient emergency care and radiologist and laboratory services. Individuals requiring elective surgery, diagnostic tests not available in Karachi, or treatment for serious illnesses may be evacuated to London or Singapore.

Although dental care is available, have dental evaluation and treatment before reporting to post. Orthodontia service is limited. Fluoride tablets are provided for children.

Individuals taking any long-term medications are advised to bring an adequate supply from home.

Lahore: The Shaikh Zayed Hospital is used in emergencies and has a few British or U.S. trained doctors, but is not up to U.S. standards. In-patients often need round-the-clock supervision by family or friends.

Peshawar: There are hospitals in Peshawar, but standards are far below those found in the U.S. Persons living in Peshawar often choose to drive to Islamabad to get their health care.

Community Health

Americans are commonly plagued by diarrhea of multiple causes and upper respiratory infections. Because of its higher standards of sanitation and living conditions, frequent immunizations, and preventive medicines, the American community is fairly well isolated from malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, rabies, and polio. However, they still occur and reasonable precautions are necessary.

Sanitation throughout Pakistan is a constant problem, although overall health conditions where Americans live are generally good. The public water supply is unsafe everywhere and drinking water must be filtered and boiled. Sewage systems are antiquated or inadequate. Refuse collection is erratic. The burning of cow dung, leaves, and garbage often produce irritating dust and smoke. Refrigeration and sanitary packaging of foodstuffs in public markets are rare. To avoid enteric disorders, wash all fresh produce in chlorine solution or cook it thoroughly before eating.

Preventive Measures

Check your immunization record. If you are entering (or reentering after a trip) from South American or African countries, you will need a yellow fever immunization (more easily obtained in the U.S. than in Pakistan). For your own protection, also have typhoid, tetanus, and hepatitis A and B immunizations. Rabies is endemic in Pakistan, and it is recommended that anyone planning to stay in Pakistan should have the preventive rabies immunization series. Malaria prophylaxis is recommended and should be initiated 2 weeks before arrival in Pakistan. Do not neglect your immunizations or booster shots.

It is recommended that you include first-aid supplies in their luggage or airfreight. First-aid supplies should include the following items: first-aid manual, thermometer (for small children include a rectal thermometer), tweezers, scissors, Band-aids, gauze pads, gauze roll, tape, triangle bandage, ace bandage, skin cleanser (alcohol, Betadine, peroxide), aspirin and/or acetaminophen (Tylenol), antacid (Maalox, Gelusil, Mylanta), anti-diarrheal (Pepto Bismol, Kaopectate), antibacterial ointment (Bacitracin, Neosporin), sunscreen, insect repellent (Deet), dry-skin lotion, and calamine lotion.

NOTES FOR TRAVELERS

Passage, Customs & Duties

There are some direct flights to Islamabad, but you should check your itinerary carefully. One PIA direct flight from London stops in Tehran. Anyone flying to Pakistan via the Pacific must have a Chinese visa, if the plane stops in China, even though the traveler is only in transit and does not leave the plane.

Carry with you your valid American driver's license (a temporary one will not do), insurance papers, automobile registration if you are shipping a car, and special medicines.

A passport is required. The visa requirement may be waived for American Citizens not of Indian origin who arrive for a visit of less than 30 days. Please check with the Pakistani embassy or consulate before arrival. Information on entry requirements can be obtained from the Embassy of Pakistan, 2315 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC, 20008, telephone (202)939-6295 or 6261, Internet home page: http://www.pakistan-embassy.com. Travelers may also contact one of the Consulates General of Pakistan located at 12 East 65th St., New York, NY 10021, telephone (212)879-5800, fax (212)517-6987, or 10850 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90024, telephone (310)441-5114, fax (310)441-9256. If a traveler plans to stay longer than 30 days in Pakistan, he or she must register with the local police station and obtain a residence permit. This permit must be returned to the same office for an exit visa when the traveler is preparing to leave the country. Airlines may require travelers departing the U.S. to present multiple photographs and complete copies of passports and other travel documents. Tourist facilities are available in the principal population centers of the country.

American citizens living in or visiting Pakistan are encouraged to register at the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Pakistan and obtain updated information on travel and security within Pakistan. They are located at the following addresses:

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is located at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, telephone (92-51) 2080-0000; consular section telephone (92-51) 2080-2700, fax (92-51) 282-2632,

website http://www.usembassy.state.gov/islamabad or
www.usembassy.state.gov/pakistan.

The U.S. Consulate General in Karachi is located at 8 Abdullah Haroon Road, telephone (92-21) 568-5170 (after hours: 92-21-568-1606), fax (92-21) 568-0496, website http://www.usembassy.state.gov/pakistan or www.usembasy.state.gov/posts/pk2/ www.hamcn.html.

The U.S. Consulate in Lahore is located on 50-Empress Road near Shimla Road or Sharah-E-Abdul Hamid Bin Badees, (Old Empress Road), telephone (92-42) 636-5530, fax (92-42) 636-5177, website http://usconsulate-lahore.org.pk/. Email address: amconsul@brain.net.pk

The U.S. Consulate in Peshawar is located at 11 Hospital Road, Cantonment, Peshawar, telephone (92-91) 279-801 through 803, fax (92-91) 276-712, web site http://brain.net.pk/~consul/.

Pets

No regulations restrict importation of household pets (dogs, cats, birds); however, health and vaccination certificates may need to be presented. Certificates should be issued no more than two weeks prior to arrival in Pakistan. Rabies shots must have been given within four weeks preceding arrival. The easiest way to bring a pet into the country is to bring the pet along as accompanying air baggage. Special rules apply to the importation of pet monkeys. Be sure to check with all airlines for their specific requirements.

Rabies is endemic in Pakistan, heartworm is present, and ticks are plentiful, even in the city. Vaccinate your pets as applicable for rabies, distemper, leptospirosis, hepatitis, parvo, and feline leukemia. Bring an ample supply of special medicines for your pet, including heart-worm medicine, deworming medicines, flea/tick and mange/scabies preparations, pet vitamins, rawhide bones, and grooming needs. Ship bird seed and gravel, as the commissary only stocks dog and cat food and kitty litter.

There are a few veterinarians in Pakistan, but services and facilities are below U.S. standards. Fatal anesthesia overdosing during surgery is one risk to pets. There is one kennel of limited quality in Islamabad. There are no kennels in Karachi or Lahore. People with older animals or pets not in excellent health might want to consider leaving them behind. Between the climate and veterinary care, a tour in Pakistan can be hard on a family pet. Animals are not allowed in hotels in Pakistan.

Firearms and Ammunition

Only personnel with diplomatic or consular titles are authorized to import firearms.

Currency, Banking, and Weights and Measures

The currency of Pakistan is the rupee (Rs), which is divided into 100 paisa. The rate of exchange in late 1999 was about 51 rupees to the dollar. Paper money is used in notes from Rs. 1 to Rs. 1,000. Coins are in short supply.

Travelers are restricted in the amount of rupees they can bring into and out of the country. In Pakistan the rupee is the only currency that can be used.

Pakistan uses the metric system but be prepared to figure in miles and yards as well. Gasoline is sold by the liter (1.0567 quarts), cloth by the meter (39 inches), food by the kilogram (2.2 pounds), and distance is measured by the kilometer (0.625 miles).

Special Information

In 1956, Pakistan was proclaimed an Islamic Republic; Islam is, therefore, part of Pakistan's national identity. Some understanding of Islam and the social pattern it encourages is essential for Americans living in Pakistan.

In general, good taste and common sense will tell you how to avoid offending your Muslim acquaintances, but a few specific points may be helpful. For example, men shake hands with men without hesitation, but it is a good idea to wait for a woman to extend her hand first in greeting.

The custom of "purdah," strict seclusion and veiling of women, is gradually disappearing as more educated Pakistani women take their places in public life. Purdah is still observed, especially in small towns and rural areas, where women may still wear the traditional black veil and coat (burkah). Even among the unveiled, a certain reticence persists about socializing outside the home. In many cases, this is reinforced by the husband's attitude. A Pakistani guest may commonly appear at a dinner party without his wife whether or not she observes purdah.

This tradition also accounts for the advice that women should cover-up when in public areas. The crowd in the bazaar, for instance, is unaccustomed to seeing bare arms and short sleeves on a woman, and can lead to unwanted jostling and touching. Staring is culturally common, and while at times discomforting it should not be considered threatening.

Propriety is particularly important when visiting a mosque. Shoes are always removed for visits to mosques and holy places.

The public consumption of alcohol is banned in Pakistan. Foreigners registered in international hotels can get a permit to be served alcoholic beverages. These drinks are expensive. In their own homes, Americans are free to follow their usual customs concerning liquor. One should not offer alcohol to a Muslim Pakistani. It is thoughtful to have an adequate supply of soft drinks and juices for your Pakistani guests.

Devout Muslims will not eat or touch pork; some cannot bear the sight of it. To avoid embarrassment, do not serve pork or foods containing pork when Muslim guests are present. Some Muslim servants object to cooking pork. Dogs are considered unclean by some Muslims. Family pets should be confined when Pakistanis are in your home. It is a good idea to keep your dog away from maintenance workers when they are in your house.

Ramadan is a religious period observed by abstaining from eating, drinking, or smoking from sunrise to sunset for one month. You will want to refrain from daytime entertaining of your Pakistani friends during this month and should be considerate of your servants' physical limitations.

Photographs should be taken with discretion to avoid giving offense. Always obtain permission before photographing people, particularly women. For security reasons, it is also forbidden to photograph military installations, airports, and bridges.

LOCAL HOLIDAYS

Mar. 23…Pakistan Day

May 1…Labor Day

Aug. 14…Independence Day

Sept. 6 …Depfense Day

Nov. 9…Allama Muhammad Iqbal Day

Dec. 25 …Christmas Day

Dec. 25 …Quaid-e-Azam Birthday

…Muharram^*

…Ashura^*

…Id al Adha^*

…Ramadan^*

…Id al-Fitr^*

…Mawlid an Nabi^*

^*variable

RECOMMENDED READING

These titles are provided as a general indication of the material available on this country.

Blood, Peter R., ed. Pakistan: A Country Study. 6th ed. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress: Washington, 1995.

Burke, S. M. and Lawrence Ziring. Pakistan's Foreign Policy: An Historical Analysis. Oxford University Press: Karachi, 1990.

Burki, Shahid Javed and Robert LaPorte, Jr., eds. Pakistan's Development Priorities: Choices for the Future. Oxford University Press: Karachi, 1984.

Collins, Larry and Dominique LaPierre. Freedom at Midnight. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1975.

Cohen, Stephen P. The Pakistan Army. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press: Karachi, 1992.

Durrani, Tehmina. My Feudal Lord. Vanguard Press: Lahore, 1991.

Hasan, Aitzaz. The Indus Saga and the Making of Pakistan. Oxford University Press: Karachi, 1996.

Jalal, Ayesha. Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: A Comparative and Historical Perspective. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1995.

Kipling, Rudyard. Plain Tales From the Hills. Macmillan: New York, 1888.

Lamb, Alastair. Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy. Roxford Books: Hertfordshire [England], 1991.

Mittmann, Karin and Zafar Ihsan. Culture Shock! Pakistan. Graphic Arts Center: Portland, 1991.

Mumtaz, Khawar and Farida Shaheed. Women of Pakistan. Vanguard Press: Lahore, 1987.

Mustafa, Sayyid Ghulam. General Zia, His Winged Death and the Aftermath. Shah Abdul Latif Cultural Society: Karachi, 1994.

Naipaul, V S. Among the Believers. Penguin Books: New York, 1981.

Newberg, Paula R. Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1995.

Rafat, Taufiq. Arrival of the Monsoon: Collected Poems. Vanguard Books: Lahore, 1985.

Russell, Ralph. Hidden in the Lute: An Anthology of Two Centuries of Urdu Literature. Carcanet: Manchester, 1995.

Santiago, Jose Roleo. Pakistan-A Travel Survival Kit. Lonely Planet Publications, 1987.

Shaw, Isobel. Pakistan Handbook. The Guidebook Company Limited, 1989.

Shafgat, Sayeed. Contemporary Issues in Pakistan Studies. Gautam Publishers: Lahore, 1995.

Sidhwa, Bapsi. The Crow Eaters: A Novel. 2nd ed. Milkweed Editions: Minneapolis, 1992.

Sidhwa, Bapsi. The Pakistani Bride. Penguin Books, 1990.

Sisson, Richard. War and Secession: Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh. University of California Press: Berkeley, 1990.

Syed, Muhammed Aslam, ed. Islam and Democracy in Pakistan. National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research: Islamabad, 1995.

Wolpert, Stanley. Jinnah of Pakistan. Oxford University Press: New York, 1984.

PAKISTAN

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Islami Jamhooria Pakistan

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

LOCATION AND SIZE.

Pakistan is a country located in South Asia that covers an area of 796,095 square kilometers (310,410 square miles), almost twice the size of California. In the south, it borders the Arabian Sea, with a coastline of 1,046 kilometers (650 miles) and stretches north to the great Hindukush and Karakoram mountain ranges, with peaks as high as the Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters, 26,660 feet) and the K2 (8,611 meters, 28,251 feet). Pakistan is edged between India, with whom it shares a 2,192-kilometer (1,362-mile) borderline to the east, and Afghanistan and Iran, with whom it has 2,430 kilometers (1,510 miles) and 909 kilometers (565 miles), respectively, of common border. It also shares a 523-kilometer (325-mile) border with China in the north.

The country's temperatures are amongst the most extreme on earth, ranging from 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) or more at the height of summer in the deserts of Sindh to-50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit) and below in the depths of winter on the northern mountain ranges. Until 1947, Pakistan was part of British India, which was then divided into the largely Hindu India and the Muslim state of Pakistan. Until 1971, this state consisted of a large territory to the west of the newly established Republic of India and a smaller territory in the northeastern part of historic British India, separated from each other by 1,600 kilometers (995 miles). East Pakistan succeeded in that year to become independent Bangladesh.

POPULATION.

The government of Pakistan estimated that Pakistan's population was 137.5 million in June 2000, excluding about 1.5 million refugees from Afghanistan. Pakistan's Afghani refugee population increased significantly in the fall of 2001 after a U.S. bombing campaign against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime caused thousands to flee to Pakistan. A large majority of Pakistanis are very young, owing to the high rate of population growth in recent decades. About 41 percent of the population is under the age of 14 years, and 55 percent is between the ages of 15 and 64 years. Population growth is still quite high at around 2.2 percent in 2000. Pakistan has a very high infant mortality rate, with 88 deaths per 1,000 live births, but, on average, every woman in the country gives birth to more than 4 children. According to government figures, only about a third of the population lives in towns (33 percent in 2000), while two-thirds (67 percent) are rural. The population density was 175 people per square kilometer in 1999, according to World Bank figures, which makes Pakistan a heavily populated country despite its size. The largest towns are Karachi with 9.3 million inhabitants, Lahore (5.1 million), and Faisalabad (2 million).

Pakistan has 4 major provinces: the Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), as well as some federally administered tribal areas. In 1998, 55.6 percent of the population lived in Punjab, 23.0 percent in Sindh, 13.4 percent in the NWFP, 5 percent in Baluchistan, 2.4 percent in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and 0.6 percent in the northern areas and the federal capital of Islamabad. The provinces are, by and large, based on the 5 major ethnic groups prevalent in Pakistan. Punjabis live mainly in the fertile and most populous region, Punjab, in the center and east of the country. Sindhis live in the south; the Pashtuns share a common ethnic heritage with most Afghanis and live in the west. Baluchis live in the mountainous areas in the southwestern part of the country. Finally, the immigrants from India at the time of the partition and their descendants are called Muhajir (Muhajireen), after the Arabic term for immigrant.

Urdu is the national language of the state, and English is the official language, most widely used among the elite and in government ministries, since only 10 percent of the population speak Urdu as their native tongue. Punjabi is spoken by 48 percent of the population, while Sindhi is used by 12 percent; Siraiki, a Punjabi variant, is spoken by 10 percent, and Pashtu by 8 percent of the population. Only 40 percent of Pakistanis are able to read and write, compared to an average of 49 percent in South Asia and 53 percent in low-income countries worldwide. The literacy rate for women is even lower than for men, showing gender disparities in education.

Islam is the state religion of Pakistan, which was designed to be the homeland for Muslims living in British India. At the time of the census in 1998, 96.7 percent of Pakistanis were Muslims. The remaining 3.3 percent consist of non-Muslim minorities, such as Christians (1.6 percent of total population), Hindus (1.5 percent), and others. The majority of Muslims are adherents to the Sunni branch of Islam, but a minority, variously estimated at 15 to 25 percent, are Shia Muslims. An offshoot Shia sect, the Ismailis, led by Prince Karim Aga Khan, are prominent in some northern areas. Shia-Sunni tensions have increased in recent years and there have been occasional clashes.

OVERVIEW OF ECONOMY

Pakistan is a poor, heavily populated country on which internal political instability, phases of military dictatorship, and inefficient, corrupt governmental rule have taken a toll as much as the costly confrontation with neighboring India ever since partition in 1947. The economy is dominated by services, but agriculture still plays an important role. Pakistan's most important industry is textiles, which alone represents about 60 percent of the country's exports. After growing at an average rate of over 6 percent per year from 1980 to 1991, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed during the 1990s and dropped to 1.3 percent in 1996-97 due to a poor cotton crop and related setbacks in the textile industry. In 1997-98, growth hit 4.3 percent against a governmental target of 6 percent. Real GDP grew only by 3.1 percent in 1998-99 but went up to 4.5 percent during 1999-2000. Pakistan's GDP per capita was US$450 in 1999, which puts it slightly above the South-Asian average of US$440 per capita.

Since the late 1980s, Pakistan has pursued a program of market-oriented economic adjustment, reform, and development. With the support of international financial institutions—mainly the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and bilateral donors—this program has aimed at enhancing macroeconomic stability, promoting the private sector and export-led industrial development, and reversing past neglect of key social sectors such as health, education, and population planning. Specifically, the government has sought to reduce monetary and external imbalances, reduce trade barriers, modernize the financial sector, privatize state-owned industries, and offer specific incentives to attract foreign investment. Unfortunately, the implementation of this program has mostly lagged behind expectations.

Despite the availability of cheap labor, a large domestic market, and access to regional markets, foreign investors have shied away from investing their money in Pakistan because of its widespread corruption, lack of skilled labor, law and order problems (especially in Karachi, the industrial hub), and an outdated infrastructure . Domestic investment has also slowed in recent years. According to official figures, total investment has declined from an average of 17.1 percent of GDP a year between 1984 and 1994 to 7.9 percent between 1994 and 2000. One reason is that manufacturers, who are traditionally served by the domestic banking system (particularly yarn spinners and sugar refiners), have often failed to honor their debts, contributing to a banking crisis.

Underlying most of the economic problems faced by Pakistan is the "crisis of governance," as the World Bank calls it. This phrase refers to the poor performance of the public institutions in terms of accountability, efficient management, corruption, and tax collection. Among these, corruption is one of the most pressing problems. Transparency International, an international non-governmental organization monitoring governments, ranked Pakistan 2nd, 5th, and 11th, in its annual reports on the most corrupt countries in the world between 1996 and 1998. Corruption hurts the economy by raising transaction costs. Even if these payoffs are considered part of the cost of doing business, there is an economic loss as these payments are neither available for expansion and improvement in the quality of public services, nor for private sector investment. A 1994 survey conducted by the World Bank among 200 business firms in Pakistan revealed that a significant amount of time and money was wasted in numerous unpredictable interactions with petty and higher-level bureaucrats seeking bribes. Entrepreneurs reported spending about 12 percent of their time dealing with tax and regulatory requirements. Also, corruption depresses economic growth by lowering public investment. Only a part of the amount appearing in budget documents as expenditure on public projects may actually get spent on these projects; the rest is siphoned off by government functionaries and contractors. One study estimated that the value for money obtained in government construction of school buildings may be only 50 to 60 percent.

Another major problem is Pakistan's huge external debt and its continued dependence on financial aid. Foreign loans and grants provide approximately 25 percent of government revenue, and debt service obligations total nearly 50 percent of government expenditure, which means that as much as half of all government expenditures are used to repay loans. Defense and debt service together absorb more than two-thirds of total federal expenditure, or almost all revenues from federal taxes. Improving tax collection in the medium-to long-term is crucial if Pakistan is to maintain repayments on its combined foreign and domestic debt of about US$62 billion, almost equivalent to Pakistan's annual GDP. It is estimated that the country needs at least US$21 billion of aid up to 2004 just for debt repayment, a large figure for a nation with annual exports of less than US$9 billion and very little foreign exchange reserves . In the case of the provinces, the bulk of expenditure is taken up by establishment costs (civil servants' salaries, benefits, and pensions), interest payments, and subsidies . The government under General Pervez Musharraf, which overthrew the government under Nawaz Sharif in 1999, faced US$32 billion in external debt. General Musharraf's ambitious economic agenda includes measures to widen the tax net, privatize public sector assets, and improve its balance of trade position. Commitment to these reforms, however, has to withstand strong opposition from interest groups such as employees of state-owned corporations, private traders, landlords, and government bureaucrats. It is unclear how the U.S. war against the Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan, begun in 2001, will impact Pakistan's economy.

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND TAXATION

Democracy has not yet taken root in Pakistan. The military has intervened several times in Pakistan's history and has always remained an important political player even when not in power. A military intervention occurred as recently as 12 October 1999, when elected institutions were suspended. Under the suspended constitution, the parliament consists of 2 houses: a National Assembly elected directly through universal suffrage (voter eligibility begins at 21 years of age), and a Senate elected by the provincial legislatures. The prime minister is the head of government and is elected by and from the National Assembly. The president is the head of state and is chosen by an electoral college consisting of the National Assembly, the Senate, and the provincial assemblies. The constitution requires that the president be a Muslim and provides for a 5-year term. For all practical purposes, the prime minister has to be a Muslim as well.

Each of Pakistan's 4 provinces had its own directly elected provincial assembly, a government headed by a chief minister, and a governor appointed by the president upon recommendation by the prime minister. After 12 October 1999, however, provinces had only governors, with no assemblies or chief ministers. The 217-member National Assembly is elected for a 5-year term and the 87-member Senate for a 6-year term. The National Assembly seats are currently divided, with 8 going to the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 1 to the federal capital of Islamabad, and 10 additional seats reserved for religious minorities. Each of the 4 provinces has 19 senators; there are 8 senators from the FATA and 3 from the federal capital area. Indirect elections for half the members of the Senate are held at 3-year intervals.

The constitution guarantees an independent judiciary. The supreme court is the highest court in the country; high courts in the provincial capitals of Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta stand at the head of the provincial judicial systems. In principle, Pakistan's press publishes freely. However, self-censorship is widely practiced by journalists, and advertising and other tactics are used by the government to influence media content. About 90 percent of Pakistan's paper-reading public reads papers and magazines in the Urdu language which are not noted for their objectivity, fairness, or accuracy. The electronic media are strictly controlled by the state and are notorious for their propaganda against domestic political opposition and India.

Pakistan came into existence in August 1947 with the partition of British India and has had a turbulent political history ever since. The country was designed to be the homeland for Muslims living in British India. The creation of a separate Muslim nation was accomplished largely through the efforts of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's first governor general, who is also remembered as "Quaid-e-Azam" (The Great Leader). Between 1947 and 1948, Pakistan and India fought the first of 3 wars over the Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir, claimed by both states. The conflict ended in a stalemate. Kashmir continues to be a disputed territory and the principal subject of discussion within the Pakistani establishment and media.

Initially, Pakistan consisted of 2 parts: East Pakistan and West Pakistan, separated by 1,610 kilometers (nearly 1,000 miles) of Indian territory. In 1970 general elections resulted in the Awami League sweeping the East Pakistan seats to gain a majority in Pakistan as a whole. The Pakistan People's Party (PPP), founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won a majority of the seats in West Pakistan. The outcome was a country completely divided, with neither major party having support in the other area. Negotiations to form a coalition government broke down, and a civil war ensued. In 1971, the eastern section declared itself the independent nation of Bangladesh. Leadership of the western part of Pakistan was handed over to Bhutto, who became prime minister and the first civilian chief martial law administrator.

In July 1977, Bhutto was deposed by the chief of army staff, General Zia-ul-Haq, who became president in 1978. (Bhutto was executed in 1979.) Under Zia, the government of Pakistan became increasingly Islamized and benefited from supporting mujahideen (holy warriors) efforts to counter the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. General elections were held in November 1988 after General Zia died in a plane crash, and the PPP, headed by Benazir Bhutto, daughter of the late prime minister, won a majority of seats in parliament and formed a coalition government. In August 1990, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan exercised his right under the constitution to dissolve the National Assembly, dismiss the prime minister, and call for new elections. In the general election held in October 1990, the Islamic Democratic Alliance won the largest number of seats, and Mian Nawaz Sharif, leader of its largest component party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), became prime minister. Nawaz Sharif, the first industrialist to lead Pakistan, continued a trend toward liberalization of the economy and promotion of private sector growth, though largely unsuccessfully.

In 1997, Nawaz Sharif was re-elected prime minister with a substantial majority, but on 12 October 1999 his government was removed in a bloodless military coup. The chief of army staff, General Pervez Musharraf, took over as "chief executive," suspended the constitution, established a military-dominated National Security Council as the country's supreme decision-making body, and named a mostly civilian cabinet. Many western countries, led by the United States—Pakistan's Cold War ally and partner in the jihad (holy war) of the 1980s that expelled the Soviets from neighboring Afghanistan—tolerated the coup, even though it seemed a throwback to a pre-Cold War era. After the nuclear standoff with India over the Kashmir dispute, it seemed favorable to have the army in command rather than have Islamists take over the country from a run-down civilian government.

Upon assuming power, General Musharraf set an ambitious reform agenda, which included fighting corruption, devolving power to the local level, and fighting sectarianism. In May 2000, the supreme court validated the coup, but gave General Musharraf 3 years from 12 October to return to a civilian government. Musharraf agreed to this time frame. Tensions with India, religious sectarianism, corruption, and political uncertainty are among the many challenges his government faces.

Plans have been put forward to implement well-designed and comprehensive civil service reforms. These reforms, as favored by the World Bank, could foster economic growth and sustained poverty reduction by reducing the obstacles to private sector development that the poorly performing public sector now creates. They are also designed to expand access of the poor to good-quality basic social services, and address serious problems of governance, such as corruption. The country's civil service is largely unchanged since the days of British colonial rule and is characterized by rigid, often irrelevant, and unevenly enforced rules and mismanagement. The erosion of real wages even of high-level officials (which is the consequence of high rates of inflation without attendant pay raises in the civil service) add to the factors that have eroded accountability and transparency, and led to widespread corruption. At the same time, the government is burdened by wage costs and rising pension costs, which are making important non-wage expenditures impossible.

An economic team, headed by the finance minister, has identified tax reform as the single most urgent measure needed to hold Pakistan together. Without a rise in tax revenues the state will simply not have the money to tackle any of the major problems facing the country. Economists warn that Pakistan must eventually raise its annual tax collection to 20 percent of GDP, up from a range of 10.7 to 15.5 percent in the past decade, to begin balancing its budget. At the moment, annual tax revenues just about pay for debt servicing and national defense, leaving other crucial areas to be financed through more loans. Only about 1 percent of the country's population of nearly 140 million pay income tax .

INFRASTRUCTURE, POWER, AND COMMUNICATIONS

Pakistan's infrastructure is poor and suffers from decades of neglect. Roads and railways are insufficient and in poor condition. Both the telephone system and the provision of electricity are hampered by corrupt and inefficient governmental service providers, which increasingly face competition from private entrepreneurs.

TRANSPORTATION.

Pakistan has a total of 247,811 kilometers (153,990 miles) of roads, of which 141,252

kilometers (87,774 miles) are paved. There are only 339 kilometers (211 miles) of expressway. Almost 90 percent of Pakistan's freight and passenger traffic travels by road. The major north-south and east-west link is Lahore and Rawalpindi to Peshawar and carries over half of Pakistan's goods and passenger traffic. The World Bank reports that Pakistan's road network is notable for its poor condition. Over two-thirds of paved arterial roads are not wide enough for 2 lanes. At both federal and provincial levels, Pakistan provides insufficient funding for road maintenance. According to the World Bank, these poorly maintained roads can result in 30 to 40 percent higher transportation costs.

Trains, the classic means of public transportation in British India, diminished in importance during the last decade of the 20th century. There are 8,163 kilometers (5,072 miles) of railway tracks. Pakistan Railways, an autonomous agency under the Ministry of Railways, operates the railroad system. Over the past 15 years, there has been a marked shift in freight traffic from rail to highways, a trend that the government hopes to stabilize and reverse. Railways carry about 15 percent of freight traffic and road vehicles 85 percent. The rail system comprises 781 stations. Rolling stock includes about 550 locomotives, 4,250 passenger coaches, and 32,000 freight cars. Pakistan Railways plans to improve railroad's share of long-haul freight traffic, upgrade track to permit trains to operate at higher speeds, and rehabilitate infrastructure to make better use of capacity.

Pakistan's major ports are Karachi and Port Muhammad bin Qasim, where Pakistan's merchant fleet of 20 ships is based; the country also has 2 proposed sites for future facilities at Gwadar and Pasni, both on Baluchistan's Makran Coast. Karachi is the main port, handling the majority of all dry and liquid cargo. During 1999 and 2000, Karachi Port handled 18 million tons of cargo, an increase of 2.4 percent from the preceding year. Port Qasim during the same period handled 9.5 million tons of cargo, showing an impressive increase of 19 percent over the corresponding period. To facilitate this expansion, the Pakistani government has allowed 2 shipping companies to construct and operate specialized integrated container terminals at Port Qasim and on Karachi's West and East Wharves.

The government-owned national air carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has a fleet of 48 planes and serves 35 domestic and 37 international destinations. Karachi's Quaid-i-Azam International Airport, whose Jinnah Terminal opened in August 1992, is the principal international gateway to Pakistan, although Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Faisalabad, and Quetta also have a number of international flights. In line with plans to continue modernizing and upgrading its civil aviation facilities, a new international airport is being constructed at Lahore. New airports and improvements in runways are also planned for Islamabad and other cities. The government recently opened the domestic aviation market to private sector competition. As of July 2000, 3 private airlines—Aero Asia, Shaheen Air, and Bhoja Air—are operating on local and international routes, while a fourth private sector airline, Safe Air, is operating on domestic routes only.

POWER.

The combined generating capacity of the 2 public energy producers and distributors—the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation (KESC)—reached 11,701 megawatts (MW) in 1999-2000. Private producers contributed an extra 4,674 MW, bringing the total installed capacity to 16,375 MW. Pakistan's energy supply comes from a combination of oil (42.8 percent), natural gas (38.6 percent), water (12.8 percent), coal (5.2 percent), liquid petroleum gas (0.4 percent), and nuclear production (0.2 percent). Pakistan has faced chronic energy shortages, and domestic energy demand has outstripped supply. The development of the energy sector remains a high priority. From July 1998 to June 1999, the largest electricity consumption was by the industrial and transport sectors (34.4 percent each), followed by domestic (22.1 percent), commercial (3.2 percent), agriculture (3.0 percent), and other government sectors (2.9 percent). Pakistan's commercial energy demand is estimated to double over the next 10 years and, despite recent gas discoveries, the energy shortfall is expected to increase.

Even after recent rationalization of power tariffs , industrial and commercial tariffs are quite high in Pakistan. Nevertheless, the state-run WAPDA remains close to bankruptcy due to numerous unpaid bills. Unpaid bills (many in dispute) mounted from R15 billion at the end of June 1998 to R28 billion by the end of February 1999. KESC, which is supposed to be privatized, owes WAPDA R8 billion. The government reacted by using armed forces personnel to collect overdue electricity bills from private consumers and to check for theft of electricity. The successful drive against illegal connections led to a fall in sales demand as illegal connections were removed by WAPDA as well as by the consumers themselves. Although bill collection from private consumers is greatly improved, collection from government agencies is still a serious problem.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS.

Pakistan has a mediocre but improving domestic telephone system. Service is adequate for government and business use, in part because major businesses have established their own private systems. Since 1988, the government has promoted investment in the national telecommunications system on a priority basis, significantly increasing network capacity. However, despite improvements in urban systems, telecommunication services are still not readily available to the majority of the rural population. There were 2.861 million fixed lines in 1999 and another 400,000 applications are being processed, yet Pakistan's Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) is meeting less than half of this demand each year. One reason is that much of the demand is from customers in rural areas where two-thirds of the population lives and where the payback takes much longer and is less lucrative.

In December 1990, the Pakistan Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) Department, which was directly controlled by the Ministry of Communications, was converted into the Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation (PTC), which still is the only provider of basic telephone services. PTC today employs 60,000 civil servants and is the country's most lucrative state-owned franchise. PTC earned net profits of about R18 billion on sales of R60 billion in the first half of 2001. Nevertheless, the government is eager to privatize PTC by first selling 26 percent ownership to a "strategic investor," and then selling further parts after the firm is on a solid footing. This new urgency to sell parts of PTC stems from a desire to lay a telecom infrastructure that supports a wider ambition. Pakistan, with an eye on India's IT success, wants to develop a software sector, but IT companies will invest only if they have access to affordable bandwidth capacity. Since private-sector inflows are necessary to achieve this goal, the sector is being deregulated in rapid fashion.

At present there are 3 cellular mobile phone operators. Cellular phones are a small market, with a penetration of only 0.24 percent, but it is growing quickly as deregulation lowers tariffs and as the cost of handsets falls. In 1998, there was only 1 operator, which had 158,000 subscribers. The current 350,000 cellular phone subscribers is forecast to swell to 1 million by 2003. There were 49 radio stations in 1998, broadcasting to about 13.5 million radios. In 1997, the country had 22 television broadcast stations, and Pakistanis owned 3.1 million televisions. In 1999, there were 26 different Internet service providers (ISPs); by 2000, this number had increased above 30 ISPs. Internet bandwidth usage grew heavily as access expanded from 29 cities in August 2000 to 350 population centers in a 4-month crash program. The number of Internet accounts is about 150,000, sharpening a market struggle between several Internet service providers.

Pakistan's IT policy focuses on education, and the budget reflects the emphasis: the allocation to science and technology went from R120 million in 2000 to R5 billion in 2001. The aim is to equip and upgrade universities; train teachers and public servants; improve economic rewards for PhDs; draw women into the IT net by training them for, say, medical transcription services; and teach the computer language Java on a mass scale, especially to the large number of jobless young people. At the same time, 15-year tax breaks are being offered to create the right business environment for foreign investment.

ECONOMIC SECTORS

Services dominate the Pakistani economy. In 1998, they contributed 48.2 percent to GDP, while agriculture and industry each accounted for about a quarter of gross domestic production (25.2 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively). After the crisis following the nuclear standoff with India and the subsequent international sanctions against Pakistan in May 1998, value-added large-scale manufacturing was projected to grow by only 2.4 percent in 1998-99, sharply down from 6.2 percent in 1997-98. Growth of the agricultural sector, too, was expected to be only about half the level of the previous year. The manufacturing sector has seen dramatic fluctuations, averaging 9 percent per year during the first 2 decades of independence, but dropping to less than 3 percent in the 1970s, when large-scale nationalization significantly reduced investment levels. The rate recovered in the 1980s, averaging 7.6 percent, but fell back to 3.9 percent in the 5 years prior to 1999-2000.

A common feature in developing countries is the informal sector , often making up a good deal of the services sector. The popular view of informal sector activities is that they are primarily those of petty traders, smugglers, drug traffickers, street hawkers , shoeshine boys, and other groups underemployed on the streets of the big towns. Evidence suggests that the bulk of employment in the informal sector, far from being only marginally productive, is economically efficient and profit-making, though mostly small in scale and limited by simple technologies and little capital. The informal sector employs a variety of tradesmen offering virtually the full range of basic skills needed to provide goods and services for a large though often poor section of the population. Persons employed in this sector are not documented, meaning they do not have access to public services and do not pay income tax. The informal sector also includes the heroin manufacturers flourishing in the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan, who compensate for the bareness of their soil and the neglect of successive central governments by resorting to the " black market " economy, notably the processing of opium, grown in neighboring Afghanistan, into heroin. Smuggling across the porous border with Afghanistan is also a large constituent of the economy. However, the opium smuggling trade with Afghanistan will no doubt be undercut by the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan, which targeted Afghani poppy fields as well as Taliban military operations. Acting in cooperation with the United States, Pakistan officially closed its border with Afghanistan, which could also stem the flow of drugs into Pakistan.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is a vital sector of Pakistan's economy and accounted for 25.9 percent of GDP in 1999-2000, according to government estimates. The sector directly supports three-quarters of the country's population, employs half the labor force , and contributes a large share of foreign exchange earnings. The main agricultural products are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables, in addition to milk, beef, mutton, and eggs. Pakistan depends on one of the world's largest irrigation systems to support production. There are 2 principal seasons. Cotton, rice, and sugarcane are produced during the kharif season, which lasts from May to November. Wheat is the major rabi crop, which extends from November to April. The key to a much-needed improvement of productivity lies in a more efficient use of resources, principally land and water. However, change is dependent on the large landowners who own 40 percent of the arable land and control most of the irrigation system, which makes widespread reform difficult. Assessments by independent agencies, including the World Bank, show these large landholdings to be very unproductive. Pakistan is a net importer of agricultural commodities. Annual imports total about US$2 billion and include wheat, edible oils, pulses, and consumer foods.

Pakistan is one of the world's largest producers of raw cotton. The size of the annual cotton crop—the bulk of it grown in Punjab province—is a crucial barometer of the health of the overall economy, as it determines the availability and cost of the main raw material for the yarn-spinning industry, much of which is concentrated around the southern port city of Karachi. Official estimates put the 1999-2000 harvest at some 11.2 million 170-kilogram bales, compared with the 1998-99 outturn of 8.8 million bales and the record 12.8 million bales achieved in 1991-92. The government recently actively intervened in the market to boost prices and to encourage production. A major problem is that the cotton crop is highly susceptible to adverse weather and pest damage, which is reflected in crop figures. After peaking at 2.18 million tons in 1991-92, the lint harvest has since fluctuated considerably, ranging from a low of 1.37 million tons in 1993-94 to a high of 1.9 million tons in 1999-2000.

The 2000-01 wheat crop was forecast at a record 19.3 million tons, compared to 17.8 million tons produced during the previous year. This increase is due largely to favorable weather and a 25-percent increase in the procurement price to about US$135 per ton. About 85 percent of the crop is irrigated. Despite the record production, Pakistan will continue to be a major wheat importer. The government has imported an average of US$2.4 million annually over the past 5 years. The United States and Australia are the major suppliers. Demand for wheat is increasing from Pakistan's rapidly growing population as well as from cross-border trade with Afghanistan.

Pakistan is a major rice exporter and annually exports about 2 million tons, or about 10 percent of world trade. About 25 percent of exports is Pakistan's famous fragrant Basmati rice. Rice is Pakistan's second leading source of export earnings. Private traders handle all exports. Pakistan's main competitors in rice trade are Thailand, Vietnam, and India.

Tobacco is grown mainly in the North-West Frontier Province and Punjab and is an important cash crop . Yields in Pakistan are about twice those for neighboring countries largely due to the extension services provided by the industry. Quality, however, is improving only slowly due to problems related to climate and soil. Farmers have started inter-cropping tobacco with vegetables and sugarcane to increase returns. About half of the total production is used for cigarette manufacturing and the remainder used in traditional ways of smoking (in hand-rolled cigarettes called birris, in water pipes, and as snuff). The share of imported tobacco is increasing gradually in response to an increased demand for high-quality cigarettes.

Minor crops account for only 5 percent of total cultivated area; these include oilseeds (sunflower, soybean), chilies, potatoes, and onions. Domestic oilseed production accounts only for about 25 percent of Pakistan total edible oil needs. As a result, Pakistan spends more than US$1 billion annually in scarce foreign exchange to import edible oils, while its oilseed processing industry operates at less than 25 percent of capacity due to an inadequate supply of oilseeds. For 2000-01 total oilseed production was forecast to decrease 10 percent to 3.6 million tons. The government has highlighted development of the oilseed sector as a priority.

Pakistan's fishing industry is relatively modest, but has shown strong growth in recent years. The domestic market is quite small, with per capita annual consumption of approximately 2 kilograms. About 80 percent of production comes from marine fisheries from 2 main areas, the Sindh coast east from Karachi to the Indian border, and the Makran coast of Baluchistan. Ninety percent of the total marine catch is fish; the shrimp which constitute the remainder are prized because of their greater relative value and demand in foreign markets. During 1999-00, total fish production was 620,000 tons, of which 440,000 tons consisted of sea fish and the remainder were fresh-water species. About one-third of the catch is consumed fresh, 9 percent is frozen, 8 percent canned, and about 43 percent used as fish meal for animal food.

Livestock accounts for 40 percent of the agricultural sector and 9 percent of the total GDP. Principal products are milk, beef, mutton, poultry, and wool. During 1999, the livestock population increased to 120 million head. That same year Pakistan generated 970,000 tons of beef, 640,000 tons of mutton, and 190,000 tons of poultry. In an effort to enhance milk and meat production, the government recently launched a comprehensive livestock development project with Asian Development Bank assistance. Poultry production provides an increasingly popular low-cost source of protein. Modern poultry production is constrained by high mortality, high incidence of disease, poor quality chicks, and poor quality feed, combined with an inadequate marketing system. Frozen poultry have only recently been introduced.

Forests cover an area of 4.2 million hectares or about 5 percent of the total area of Pakistan. The principal forest products are timber, principally for house construction, furniture, and firewood. Many of the country's wooded areas are severely depleted as a result of over-exploitation. The government has restricted cutting to protect remaining resources—though corruption often jeopardizes environmental efforts—and has lowered duties to encourage imports. Forestry production has since declined from 1.07 million cubic meters in 1990-91 to 475,000 cubic meters in 1998-99. Pakistan imports an estimated US$150 million of wood products annually to meet the requirements of a growing population and rising demand by a wealthy elite.

INDUSTRY

Pakistan, which had almost no large industrial units at the time of partition in 1947, now has a fairly broad industrial base, and manufacturing accounts for about 17 percent of GDP. Cotton textile production is the single most important industry, accounting for about 19 percent of large-scale industrial employment. Cotton yarn, cotton cloth, made-up textiles, ready-made garments, and knitwear collectively accounted for nearly 60 percent of Pakistan's exports in 1999-2000. Other important industries are cement, vegetable oil, fertilizer, sugar, steel, machinery, tobacco, paper and paperboard, chemicals, and food processing. The government is attempting to diversify the country's industrial base and to increase the emphasis on export industries. Small-scale and cottage industries are numerically significant but account for a relatively small proportion of the GDP at about 6 percent. Small-scale industry includes facilities, which employ fewer than 50 workers, and cottage industries (industrial units in which the owner works and is aided by family members but employs no hired labor). In 1999, industrial production grew by 3.8 percent.

Privatization of many state-owned enterprises is a key element of Pakistan's reform program. In 1991, the government identified a group of 118 state-owned industrial units for privatization. Of these, 97 units have been sold off. Industrial units—including factories producing cement, chemicals, automobiles, food products, etc.—have mainly attracted domestic private investors. The government plans to spend 90 percent of privatization proceeds for debt repayment and 10 percent for poverty alleviation. The government has laid out a time frame for privatization of various organizations in the financial, oil and gas, power, industrial, and telecommunication sectors, and the privatization process is to be completed by 30 June 2002. In most cases, the government aims to find "strategic investors" to buy up a certain stake of these firms and gain management control. The privatization process is a very complex undertaking, since new regulations of private sector entities in these sectors are still being established.

MINING/HYDROCARBONS.

Unless there are major new discoveries, crude oil production—which satisfies under 18 percent of the country's requirements, compared with 35 percent in 1991-92—will ultimately run out. Recoverable reserves were estimated at 225 million barrels. Crude oil and related product imports cost R100.4 billion (US$1.7 billion) during the first 9 months of 1999-2000, accounting for 25.9 percent of all imports.

There have been promising gas discoveries in recent years. Natural gas production averaged 2.22 billion cubic feet per day in 1999-2000, about 10 percent above the previous year, while known recoverable reserves were estimated at over 19.5 trillion cubic feet at the end of March 2000. The government faced the prospect of buying this gas at international oil prices, since it had earlier promised to do so. However, it can hardly afford the price, which caused problems with the gas exploration companies.

There is an extensive range of non-fuel minerals. Deposits of limestone, marble, china clay, dolomite, gypsum, silica, ochre, sulfur, barytes, bauxite, iron ore, and emeralds are being exploited, but all on a very low scale. International exploration and development companies would, if they could, flock to Baluchistan, which is believed to possess massive reserves, particularly of natural gas. The problem is that the province's tribal chiefs, over whom the central government exerts little control, have been demanding too high a price for permission to drill. Most of the foreign companies initially awarded concessions were not able to make use of them when faced with obstruction from Baluchi tribesmen. An exception is the country's biggest development project in the remote Chagai district of Baluchistan, where the Metallurgical Construction Corporation of China is mining blister copper. It is also hoping to exploit some of the area's gold and silver reserves.

MANUFACTURING.

Before 1947 there was little manufacturing in the area that makes up present-day Pakistan. Its primary role was as a supplier of raw materials, including cotton, to industrial hubs across British India, such as Bombay. In general, manufacturing still works with relatively basic technologies, generates few value-added products, and has a narrow production base, i.e., it does not diversify into many different product groups. Textiles are Pakistan's primary industry, and in 1999 accounted for 8.5 percent of the gross domestic product, 31 percent of total investment, 38 percent of industrial employment, and almost 60 percent of total exports. Pakistan is Asia's eighth-biggest textiles exporter, with export revenues of US$5.7 billion in the first half of 2000. Export growth has been declining since a recent peak of 6.1 percent in 1996. The trend is reversing, encouraged by large cotton crops in the past 2 years which have lifted output to about 11 million bales (each bale weighing 170 kilograms), the bulk of which is consumed at home, and large-scale capital investment to modernize plants. However, progress is still expected to fall short of targets, notably to be among Asia's top 5 exporters with sales of US$14 billion by 2005.

As a rule, large textile firms concentrate on spinning and weaving, leaving garment manufacturing to highly fragmented small to medium-scale producers. The industry, particularly its spinning and weaving sectors, has been under pressure since the mid-1990s, owing to increased competition in the international market, financial mismanagement within the industry, and rising global demand for value-added textiles, as well as the increase in production capacity in other developing countries. Pakistan's textile sector must move to higher value-added production to meet challenges and opportunities beyond 2005, when quotas are removed and tariff barriers lowered, as mandated by the World Trade Organization (WTO). This will expose Pakistan's mills to intense competition from China, Asia's largest textile exporter.

Food processing is a large industry, generating an estimated 27 percent of value-added production and making up 16 percent of the total employment in the manufacturing sector. Major sub-sectors of Pakistan's food industry are cooking oils and hydrogenated vegetable oils, sugar, flour, tea, dairy products, beverages, and canned foods. The fish, meat, and fruit and vegetable sectors remain underdeveloped, partly for lack of adequate infrastructure, including storage and transportation facilities. A small quantity of processed foods is imported to feed a few supermarkets catering to the country's elite. The vast agricultural resources and the country's geographic location make Pakistan an ideal country for investment in the food sector. Several foreign firms have entered the market and established their own presence as manufacturers, or established joint ventures with local partners. The fastest growing sectors are beverages—including carbonated soft drinks and juice and juice-flavored drinks—poultry, and edible oils.

Pakistan Steel, with an annual capacity of 1.1 million tons, is Pakistan's only integrated steel plant. It is located near Port Bin Qasim, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) east of Karachi. The steel mill was constructed with technical assistance from the former Soviet Union, and currently employs about 20,000 workers. Iron ore, manganese, and cocking coal for the plant are all imported.

Leather is one of the major foreign exchange earners for Pakistan. The leather and leather products industry is labor-intensive (directly employing more than 200,000 workers), and there are over 500 tanneries in Pakistan. The recent growth of the industry is due in large part to its successful progression from the export of raw hides and skins and semi-processed leather towards high value-added finished leathers and leather products (including leather jackets, gloves, footwear, and sporting goods). The tanning sector is concentrated in Punjab, where manufacturing units process primarily buffalo and cow hides; tanneries in Sindh process primarily goat and sheep skins. The local market for leather is limited, and about 80 percent of production is exported. More sophisticated machinery and productivity increases can be expected to further boost exports. Pollution, especially through tannic acid and dyes, is a serious problem for this industry.

SERVICES

In 2000, services contributed about 49 percent to GDP. Wholesale and retail trade alone accounted for 14.9 percent of GDP, while transport, storage, and communications contributed 10.1 percent, public administration and defense 6.3 percent, ownership of dwellings another 6 percent, and finance and insurance 2.5 percent. Other services contributed 9.3 percent to GDP.

FINANCIAL SERVICES.

A ruling by the Pakistani supreme court in December 1999 obliged the government under General Pervez Musharraf to finalize arrangements for an Islamic banking system by the end of the 2001 financial year. The issue of converting to an Islamic banking system, under which fixed interest is abolished in favor of a regime where profits and losses are shared between depositors and borrowers, has never been as central in the country's history as it is now. Some of the existing instruments, such as leasing, are considered compatible with Islam and could be offered on a wider variety of products to respond to demand. Bankers assert that once the issue of Islamic banking is resolved Pakistan will launch the privatization of 1 or 2 of its 3 large public sector banks: Habib Bank, United Bank, and National Bank.

Financial reforms introduced in 1990 have liberalized Pakistan's banking sector, which had long been dominated by state-owned banks, and private banks are gradually playing a more significant role. In December 1990, the government announced plans to privatize state-owned banks and to allow the establishment of private domestic banks. As of 2001 the government had privatized 2 formerly nationalized banks: Allied Bank Limited (ABL) and Muslim Commercial Bank. There are 44 banks operating in the country, of which 25 are domestic, while 19 are foreign banks. The 25 Pakistani commercial banks have over 8,000 branches nationwide. Commercial banks are engaged predominantly in corporate lending. Consumer banking in Pakistan is largely undeveloped. There is no tradition of lending to small individual consumers, and purchases of automobiles, housing, and consumer goods are generally made on a cash basis. High interest rates combine with high start-up costs to discourage initiatives in the consumer sector.

In 1996, the banking system was on the verge of collapse due to the breakdown of governance and loss of financial discipline. Over the years there had been widespread political interference in both lending and loan recovery by banks, and borrowers had come to expect not to repay loans they took, especially from the state-owned banks. As a result, the stock of non-performing loans (NPLs) grew by almost 600 percent between the end of June 1989 and the end of June 1998, when the total amount of NPLs stood at R146 billion. Since December 1997 a reform program has been implemented, with support from the World Bank. Corporate governance has been improved through changes in management of the state-owned banks and protection given to the new management from political interference. The legal and judicial processes for recovery of loans have been strengthened. Operating losses have been reduced through staff separations and closures of non-viable bank branches. Much remains to be done to further strengthen banking regulation and supervision, and develop a well-functioning legal and judicial system. At the same time, privatization needs to be accelerated while ensuring that banks are sold to sponsors that bring in internationally recognized good corporate governance.

COMMERCE.

Commercial activities such as wholesale and retail trade have the largest share of business in the service sector at around 30 percent.

In 2000, General Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler, ordered his troops to accompany teams of tax inspectors to visit neighborhoods to collect information on the expenditures of individual Pakistanis. The move sparked resistance from traders in parts of the country, eventually forcing the government to make some concessions. Many of the tax board's employees are poorly paid and have wide-ranging powers, a combination that breeds corruption. Businessmen complain of being harassed by tax officials and subjected to complicated bureaucratic procedures as penalties for not paying bribes. Concessions made to traders included the abolition of a newly introduced general sales tax at retail level. This measure did not meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionality, and the organization subsequently stalled the payment of a sizeable adjustment loan.

TOURISM.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in the South Asia region was 5 million in 1998; Pakistan's share of tourist arrivals in this region was 7.6 percent. More than half of foreign tourists in 1999 traveled to Pakistan to visit friends and relatives, followed by business travelers (18.3 percent), holidays and recreational travelers (13.4 percent), and religious tourists (2.5 percent). Most of the total tourists from overseas visited main cities like Karachi, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and Lahore. Of the 420,000 tourists visiting in 1999, the largest share of around 125,000 came from the United Kingdom, mostly native Pakistanis working and living in Great Britain.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

The external sector was seriously affected by the economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan after it conducted nuclear tests in May 1998. The lack of foreign investor confidence following the freeze on foreign currency deposits led to a decline in foreign private capital inflows and a sharp decline in money sent home from citizens working abroad, or so called "workers' remittances ." The level of foreign direct investment declined by 32.1 percent per year to a low of US$296 million in 1998-99, according to official data. Remittances from Pakistanis abroad, most of them in the Gulf, the United Kingdom, and North America, peaked at US$2.89 billion in 1982-83, but fell to under US$1.5 billion in 1998-99. These adverse developments, along with suspension of new economic assistance by major donors, pushed Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves down from US$1,533 million at the end of April 1998 to US$415 million (the lowest level reached during the crisis) by 12 November 1998, hardly sufficient to finance 2-3 weeks worth of imports.

Disappointing foreign sales performances have given Pakistan a trade deficit every year since 1972-73. This is partly due to the narrow range of export products. Five categories of goods—cotton yarn, garments, cotton cloth, raw cotton, and rice—still account for over 60 percent of export earnings. A second major reason is the vulnerability of key products, notably cotton, to droughts, floods, and pestilence. However, there are other reasons for the poor performance, including the small proportion of high value-added goods in the sales mix, low product quality, and poor marketing.

The United States has long been Pakistan's largest export market, absorbing over 21 percent of total sales in 1999-2000. The United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Germany have also been major outlets. In recent years, Japan and the United States have alternated as Pakistan's top supplier, although Gulf countries took a bigger share in 1999-2000, reflecting the sharp increase in the cost of oil imports. In 1999, Pakistan exported goods worth US$8.4 billion; it imported goods in the value of US$9.8 billion, creating a trade deficit of US$1.4 billion. Pakistan's main exports are cotton, fabrics, yarn, rice, and other agricultural products, most of which go to the United States (21 percent), Hong Kong (7 percent), the United Kingdom (7 percent), Germany (7 percent), and the United Arab Emirates (5 percent). Imports are mainly machinery, oil and oil-related products, chemicals, transportation equipment, grains, pulses, and flour. They come mainly from the United States (8 percent), Japan (8 percent), Malaysia (7 percent), Saudi Arabia (7 percent), and the United Arab Emirates (7 percent). Exports of goods and services represent roughly 15 to 16 percent of GDP, and imports equal around 18 percent of GDP.

Pakistan is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Though not a member of any regional free trade arrangement, the country is party to 2 arrangements which are progressing toward regional trade liberalization. The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), whose founding members are Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran, grants a 10 percent tariff preference on several goods. ECO membership was expanded to 10 in 1993, when Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and the 5 former Soviet Muslim republics of central Asia were admitted. The second arrangement, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), is comprised of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Because of competition in key export sectors such as textiles among the larger member states, this association is not expected to stimulate regional trade flows. Pakistan's leading regional trading partners are Bangladesh (its former eastern part), India, and Sri Lanka. Pakistan is also a member (along with India and Nepal) of the Asian Clearing Union, which was founded in 1976 and aims to facilitate multilateral payments through the use of currencies of participating countries in regional transactions in order to expand intra-regional trade and save convertible foreign exchange.

MONEY

In June 2001, 1 U.S. dollar equaled 63 Pakistani rupees. The rupee's average value against the dollar had been R12.7 for US$1 in 1982-83. This shows that inflation has been running high since that time. For the decade from 1980 to 1990, the inflation rate averaged 7 percent per year, and from 1990 to 1995, it reached an average

of more than 11 percent annually. After the economic crisis that came as a consequence of the nuclear standoff with India and international sanctions against Pakistan in 1998, it went down to about 7 percent again. There are 3 stock exchanges in Pakistan: Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. In 2001 the Karachi stock exchange had about 780 listed companies with trading volume increasing from 1.1 million shares a day in 1990 to about 95 million in 2001. Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges are substantially smaller than Karachi.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the central bank, controls the money supply and credit, supervises the operations of banks, administers the country's international reserves, and acts as banker to the federal and provincial governments. The government of Pakistan has followed a liberal monetary policy from 1999 to 2000 in order to provide cheap credit to the industrial sector. The demand for credit, however, has not come forth from the private sector. Although domestic credit expansion was higher this year due to large borrowing by the government sector, conversion of non-resident foreign currency accounts into rupees, and an increase in liquid reserves, actual growth in money supply has remained stagnant due to low credit demand from the private sector. The government and the SBP are attempting structural reforms in an effort to move toward more indirect, market-based methods of monetary control along with greater autonomy for the SBP. The central bank's autonomy was considerably strengthened with the passage of new banking laws in the State Bank Act in May 1997.

Pakistan's external debt increased significantly during the 1990s, mainly due to growth of private debt. Total external debt, including private sector debt, increased from US$27.5 billion in 1993-94 to US$32.6 billion in 1997-98, equivalent to 50.6 percent of GNP.

POVERTY AND WEALTH

A third of the population of Pakistan lives below the poverty line (34 percent in 1991). While the lowest 10 percent of the population has a share of only 4.1 percent

in the overall household income and consumption, the richest 10 percent of the population has a share of 27.6 percent. The slowdown of economic growth in recent years has resulted in an increase in the incidence of poverty in the 1990s. Thus, there is a compelling need for a clear strategy focusing on reviving and sustaining high economic growth in a stable macroeconomic environment (i.e. low fiscal and external deficits with single digit inflation). It includes the provision of quality basic social services—particularly education, health, and drinking water—and an efficient and responsive social safety net program for the very poor. Low inflation in the prices of food and other mass consumption goods are also very important for the welfare of the poor.

Pakistan's human development indicators, especially those for women, fall significantly below those of countries with comparable levels of per-capita income. Only 40 percent of the population is literate (28 percent of women), compared with 49 percent in South Asia and 53 percent in low-income countries. About two-fifths of the population has no access to safe drinking water, and more than half has no access to sanitation. The infant mortality rate of 88 per 1,000 live births is higher than the average of 73 in South Asian countries and 83 for low-income countries. Pakistan's population growth rate of 2.6 percent remains among the highest in the world and frustrates efforts to increase the coverage of social services.

To address these problems, the government initiated a Social Action Plan (SAP) in 1993. Increasingly, the design and implementation of social service programs involve active participation from communities and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). To make further progress in the social sectors, the second phase of the SAP was initiated in 1997-98. A key part of the poverty reduction strategy is the provision of adequate basic social services—particularly elementary education and basic health services—to a much higher proportion of the poor. Only through better education and improved health can the life-long earning capacity of the poor be enhanced.

Pakistan is a major transit and consumer country for opiates (opium, heroin, morphine) from neighboring Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of opium. In 2000, Afghanistan cultivated 82,000 hectares of opium poppies, yielding 3,275 metric tons of fresh opium. As a result of the high levels of opium production in the region over the past 2 decades, Pakistan now has one the highest addiction rates in the world. Drug addiction is a common reason for the incidence of poverty for individuals and families. A recent shift to injecting heroin instead of smoking or sniffing it has heightened fears of an HIV/AIDS epidemic.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The workforce comprises of 38.6 million people, growing at an annual average rate of 2.7 percent in 1992-99. There is an extensive export of labor, mostly to the rich Middle Eastern states in the Gulf region, where Pakistanis, alongside Sri Lankis, Indians, and Filipinos find work as cleaners and domestic servants, but also in industry, commerce, and governmental services. The convenience of affordable travel to the oil-rich Arabian Gulf states and the expectation of work opportunities makes those countries attractive destinations for Pakistanis seeking jobs.

Officially, about 7 percent of the workforce is currently unemployed, a crude measure in most countries, but even more so in a country with a massive undocumented labor force. Pakistan's employment statistics are incomplete, omitting a range of wage earners and self-employed persons, male as well as female, in what is termed "the informal sector." According to unofficial estimates, unemployment may reach about 15 percent, and represents a growing problem for the government. With a majority of the population poised to enter a job market with few employment prospects, the provision of jobs, especially in rural areas, is of increasing importance. Due to the low quality or absence of educational services, again particularly in rural areas, there is a lack of skilled labor.

Several attempts have been made to eradicate bonded labor over the past decade in Pakistan, but the system remains partially in place. The bonded labor system is a lending structure in which the debtor/worker is bound to the creditor/employer as long as all or part of the debt remains outstanding. In case of sickness or death, the family of the individual is responsible for the debt, which often passes down from generation to generation. The problem of child bonded labor is especially serious: bonded money is paid to a parent or guardian, who then provides the child to work off the debt. The most severe conditions have been detected among the haris (landless tenant farmers) in the Sindh region, as documented by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Some 1,000 laborers surveyed revealed that three-quarters had been subject to physical restraint, such as private jails, and that some 90 percent of the children had been compelled to work. To alleviate this problem the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has purchased land and set up temporary camps in order for families to take refuge, and the government has allowed haris to settle on government land.

A related but distinct problem is that of child labor. Although most Pakistani children work in the agricultural sector, a large number of children work in urban centers weaving carpets, manufacturing surgical instruments, and producing sporting goods for export. A 1992 UNICEF/Government of Pakistan study reported that 90 percent of the 1 million workers in the carpet industry are children, many of whom began working in the industry before 10 years of age. Just as the data on Pakistan's labor force is unreliable, figures on child labor remain somewhat unclear. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that child labor has assumed massive proportions in Pakistan. The actual total number of working children in Pakistan is probably somewhere between 8 and 10 million.

COUNTRY HISTORY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1930. The idea of establishing a separate state for all Muslims of South Asia is conceived by the poet-philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

1947. On 14 August, the British divide the crown colony of India into 2 territories: the Republic of India and the future Islamic Republic of Pakistan, essentially establishing separate Hindu and Muslim states. Several millions of Muslims and Hindus are killed in sporadic fighting between the 2 groups as people migrate across the border into the country aligned with their religious affiliation.

1948. On 30 July, Pakistan signs the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an agreement aimed at regulating international trade.

1950s-60s. Pakistan uses military and economic aid from its Cold-War alliances to create an artificial prosperity.

1970-71. Zulfikar Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) wins elections in West Pakistan, while the Awami League wins the overall majority due to its clear victory in East Pakistan. After the ensuing civil war, East Pakistan declares its independence as the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Bhutto becomes prime minister of the remaining Pakistan.

1970s. The 1970s oil boom in the nearby manpower-starved Persian Gulf enables Pakistan to export manpower in large numbers. Money from Gulf workers transferred home to Pakistan in large amounts helps to sustain the economy in the 1970s.

1977-79. The chief of army staff, General Zia-ul-Haq, overthrows Bhutto in a military coup on 5 July 1977 and becomes president in 1978. Bhutto is executed in April 1979.

1980s. Pakistan's opposition to the Soviet invasion of neighboring Afghanistan in late 1979 helps it procure heavy doses of financial aid from Western nations also opposed to the Soviet action. However, when the aid dries up with the end of the Cold War towards the close of the decade, Pakistan's economy becomes saddled with huge amounts of foreign debt .

1988. Pakistan returns to democratic rule after Zia-ul Haq dies in an airplane crash. The country once again comes under the rule of the Pakistan People's Party, now led by Bhutto's daughter, Benazir. The constitution is restored with some amendments on 30 December.

1996-97. The Bhutto government is dismissed by the president due to charges of corruption, mismanagement, and involvement in extra-judicial killings. Elections in February 1997 result in an overwhelming victory for the Pakistan Muslim League and Nawaz Sharif, who becomes prime minister.

1998. In May, India and Pakistan both conduct nuclear tests, demonstrating their strength and bringing the region to the verge of nuclear war over the disputed Kashmir province. The ensuing international economic sanctions and the related drying up of most capital inflows lead to severe financial difficulties.

1999. The government of Sharif is overthrown by the chief of army staff, General Pervez Musharraf, who jails Sharif and declares himself chief executive of the state. The supreme court validates the military coup against Sharif but restricts the rule of the chief executive to a period of 3 years.

FUTURE TRENDS

Pakistan's prospects for the immediate future are bleak. There is uncertainty as to the political future of the country; the supreme court legitimized General Musharraf's military coup of 12 October 1999 in the course of 2000, but also restricted the rule of the chief executive to 3 years. Nobody knows whether the country will return to democratic rule or whether this new phase of democracy will be equally dominated by the large landowners and characterized by widespread corruption as it was in the past. Observers warn that Pakistan's economic outlook and the extent to which its communities outside Punjab feel that they live in an unjust system could be the key determinant of the country's political future rather than the system of government it follows. The pending return of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister convicted of bribery and corruption, to Pakistan and possibly into politics further complicates the picture. The ongoing dispute with India over the province of Kashmir, where frequent ambushes have led to casualties and brought the 2 countries to the verge of nuclear confrontation, is unlikely to be resolved in the near future.

While Pakistan's military regime earns credit from Western economists for having a deeper commitment to reforms than previous rulers, many add that the pace of change is not fast enough. With a short-term mechanism in place to service the debt, the long-term challenge is to seek a significant increase in annual export income and large inputs of foreign inward investment. Another challenge to face is the public sector's poor performance. Public sector companies alone run a combined annual deficit equivalent to about 2 percent of GDP. The government promised to begin privatizing some large companies in 2001 and eventually sell some loss-making ones in an attempt to improve the risky state of public finances. It is vital for the country that it keeps the support of the IMF and other donors as it struggles to maintain payments. Improving tax collection in the medium-to long-term is crucial if Pakistan is to maintain repayments on its combined foreign and domestic debt of about US$62 billion, almost equivalent to Pakistan's annual GDP. It is estimated that the country needs at least US$21 billion of aid up to 2004 just for debt repayment, a large figure for a nation with annual exports of less than US$9 billion and reserves of below US$1 billion—sufficient to pay for about 5 weeks of imports.

Pakistan, it seems, has plans for reforms, but the success of its program will ultimately depend on how quickly and comprehensively it can deal with low social indicators, attract investors, and convince lenders that the future management of the economy will be different from the past.

DEPENDENCIES

Pakistan has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Finance. <http://www.finance.gov.pk>. Accessed August 2001.

Harrison, Selig S. India and Pakistan: The First Fifty Years. Cambridge: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1999.

Naipaul, V. S. Among the Believers. Harmondsworth: Penguin,1982.

Noman, Omar. Pakistan: Political and Economic History Since 1947. London: Kegan Paul, 1990.

U.S. Department of State. FY 2001 Country Commercial Guide: Pakistan. <http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_guides/2001/sa/pakistan_ccg2001.pdf>. Accessed August 2001.

Zaidi, S. Akbar. Issues in Pakistan's Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

—Markus R. Bouillon

Ralph Stobwasser

CAPITAL:

Islamabad.

MONETARY UNIT:

Pakistani rupee (R). 1 Pakistani rupee equals 100 paisa. Currency notes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 rupees are in use.

CHIEF EXPORTS:

Cotton, fabrics and yarn, rice, other agricultural products.

CHIEF IMPORTS:

Machinery, petroleum, petroleum products, chemicals, transportation equipment, edible oils, grains, pulses, flour.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT:

US$282 billion (purchasing power parity, 1999 est.).

BALANCE OF TRADE:

Exports: US$8.4 billion (f.o.b., 1999). Imports: US$9.8 billion (f.o.b., 1999).

Pakistan

Compiled from the October 2006 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:
Islamic Republic of Pakistan

PROFILE

PEOPLE

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

NATIONAL SECURITY

ECONOMY

FOREIGN RELATIONS

U.S.-PAKISTAN RELATIONS

TRAVEL

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 803,943 sq. km. (310,527 sq. mi.); almost twice the size of California.

Cities: Capital—The city of Islamabad (pop. 800,000) and adjacent Rawalpindi (1,406, 214) comprise the national capital area with a combined population of 3.7 million. Other cities—Karachi (11,624,219) (2005 est.), Lahore (6,310,888) (2005 est.), Faisalabad (1,977,246) and Hyderabad (1,151,274).

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Pakistan(i).

Population: (July 2006 est.) 165,803,560.

Annual growth rate: (2006 est.) 2.09%.

Ethnic groups: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushtun, Baloch, Muhajir (i.e., Urdu-speaking immigrants from India and their descendants), Saraiki, and Hazara.

Religions: Muslim 97%; small minorities of Christians, Hindus, and others.

Languages: Urdu (national and official), English, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushtu, Baloch, Hindko, Brahui, Saraiki (Punjabi variant).

Education: Literacy (2004 est.)—48.7%; male 61.7%; female 35.2%.

Health: Infant mortality rate (2006 est.)—70.04/1,000. Life expectancy (2006 est.)—men 62.4 yrs., women 64.44 yrs.

Work force: (2004 est.) Agriculture—42%; services—38%; industry—20%.

Government

Type: Parliamentary democracy.

Independence: August 14, 1947.

Government branches: Executive—president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government). Legislative—Bicameral Parliament or Majlis-e-Shoora (100-seat Senate, 342-seat National Assembly). Judicial—Supreme Court, provincial high courts, Federal Islamic (or Shari’a) Court.

Political parties: Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahid Majlis-e-Amal (umbrella group) (MMA), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN).

Suffrage: Universal at 18.

Political subdivisions: 4 provinces; also the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region (Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas).

Economy

GDP: (2005 est.) PPP $393.4 billion.

Real GDP growth rate: (2005) 7.8%.

Per capita GDP: (2005 est.) PPP $2,400.

Natural resources: Arable land, natural gas, limited oil, substantial hydropower potential, coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone.

Agriculture: Products—wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane, eggs, fruits, vegetables, milk, beef, mutton.

Industry: Types—textiles & apparel, food processing, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, shrimp, fertilizer, and paper products.

Trade: (2005 est.) Exports—$14.85 billion: textiles (garments, bed linen, cotton cloth, and yarn), rice, leather goods, sports goods, carpets, rugs, chemicals & manufactures. Major partners—U.S. 22.6%, United Arab Emirates 8.9%, U.K. 5.8%, China 5.4%, Germany 4.7%. Imports—$21.26 billion: petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, plastics, paper and paper board, transportation equipment, edible oils, pulses, iron and steel, tea. Major partners—China 14.0%, Saudi Arabia 10.5%, United Arab Emirates 9.0%, Japan 6.2%, U.S. 5.1%, Kuwait 5.1%, Germany 4.9%.

PEOPLE

The majority of Pakistan’s population lives in the Indus River valley and in an arc formed by the cities of Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and Peshawar. Although Urdu is an official language of Pakistan, it is spoken as a first language by only 8% of the population; 48% speak Punjabi, 12% Sindhi, 10% Saraiki, 8% Pushtu, 3% Baloch, and 3% other. Urdu, Punjabi, Pushtu, and Baloch are Indo-European languages. English is the other official language, and is widely used in government, the officer ranks of the military, and in many institutions of higher learning.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Pakistan, along with parts of western India, contains the archeological remains of an urban civilization dating back 4,500 years. Alexander the Great included the Indus Valley in his empire in 326 B.C., and his successors founded the Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria based in what is today Afghanistan and extending to Peshawar. Following the rise of the Central Asian Kushan Empire in later centuries, the Buddhist culture of Afghanistan and Pakistan, centered on the city of Taxila just west of Islamabad, experienced a cultural renaissance known as the Gandhara period.

Pakistan’s Islamic history began with the arrival of Muslim traders in the 8th century in Sindh. The collapse of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century provided an opportunity for the English East India Company to extend its control over much of the subcontinent. The Sikh adventurer, Ranjit Singh, carved out a dominion that extended from Kabul to Srinagar and Lahore, encompassing much of the northern area of modern Pakistan. British rule replaced the Sikhs in the first half of the 19th century. In a decision that had far-reaching consequences, the British permitted the Hindu Maharaja of Kashmir, a Sikh appointee, to continue in power.

Pakistan emerged from an extended period of agitation by Muslims in the subcontinent to express their national identity free from British colonial domination as well as domination by what they perceived as a Hindu-controlled Indian National Congress. Muslim anti-colonial leaders formed the All-India Muslim League in 1906. Initially, the League adopted the same objective as the Congress—self-government for India within the British Empire—but Congress and the League were unable to agree on a formula that would ensure the protection of Muslim religious, economic, and political rights.

Pakistan and Partition

The idea of a separate Muslim state emerged in the 1930s. On March 23, 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, formally endorsed the “Lahore Resolution,” calling for the creation of an independent state in regions where Muslims constituted a majority. At the end of World War II, the United Kingdom moved with increasing urgency to grant India independence. The Congress Party and the Muslim League, however, could not agree on the terms for a Constitution or establishing an interim government. In June 1947, the British Government declared that it would bestow full dominion status upon two successor states—India and Pakistan, formed from areas in the subcontinent in which Muslims were the majority population. Under this arrangement, the various princely states could freely join either India or Pakistan. Accordingly, on August 14, 1947 Pakistan, comprising West Pakistan with the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), and East Pakistan with the province of Bengal, became independent. East Pakistan later became the independent nation of Bangladesh.

The Maharaja of Kashmir was reluctant to make a decision on accession to either Pakistan or India. However, armed incursions into the state by tribesman from the NWFP led him to seek military assistance from India. The Maharaja signed accession papers in October 1947 and allowed Indian troops into much of the state. The Government of Pakistan, however, refused to recognize the accession and campaigned to reverse the decision. The status of Kashmir remains in dispute to this day.

Independence

With the death in 1948 of its first head of state, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and the assassination in 1951 of its first prime minister, Liaqat Ali Khan, political instability and economic difficulty became prominent features of post-independence Pakistan. On October 7, 1958, President Iskander Mirza, with the support of the army, suspended the 1956 Constitution, imposed martial law, and canceled the elections scheduled for January 1959. Twenty days later the military sent Mirza into exile to Britain, and Gen. Mohammad Ayub Khan assumed control of a military dictatorship. After Pakistan’s loss in the 1965 war against India, Ayub Khan’s power declined. Subsequent political and economic grievances inspired agitation movements that compelled his resignation in March 1969. He handed over responsibility for governing to the commander in chief of the army, General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan, who became President and Chief Martial Law Administrator.

General elections held in December 1970 polarized relations between the eastern and western sections of Pakistan. The Awami League, which advocated autonomy for the more populous East Pakistan, swept the East Pakistan seats to gain a majority in Pakistan as a whole. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), founded and led by Ayub Khan’s former Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won a majority of the seats in West Pakistan, but the country was completely split with neither major party having any support in the other area. Negotiations to form a coalition government broke down, and a civil war ensued. India attacked East Pakistan and captured Dhaka in December 1971, when the eastern section declared itself the independent nation of Bangladesh. Yahya Khan

then resigned the presidency and handed over leadership of the western part of Pakistan to Bhutto, who became President and the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator.

Bhutto moved decisively to restore national confidence and pursued an active foreign policy, taking a leading role in Islamic and Third World forums. Although Pakistan did not formally join the Non-Aligned Movement until 1979, the position of the Bhutto government coincided largely with that of the non-aligned nations.

Domestically, Bhutto pursued a populist agenda and nationalized major industries and the banking system. In 1973, he promulgated a new Constitution accepted by most political elements and relinquished the presidency to become prime minister. Although Bhutto continued his popu-list and socialist rhetoric, he increasingly relied on Pakistan’s urban industrialists and rural landlords. Over time the economy stagnated, largely as a result of the dislocation and uncertainty produced by Bhutto’s frequently changing economic policies. When Bhutto proclaimed his own victory in the March 1977 national elections, the opposition Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) denounced the results as fraudulent and demanded new elections. Bhutto resisted and later arrested the PNA leadership.

Muhammad Zia ul-Haq

With increasing anti-government unrest, the army grew restive. On July 5, 1977, the military removed Bhutto from power and arrested him, declared martial law, and suspended portions of the 1973 Constitution. Chief of Army Staff Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq became Chief Martial Law Administrator and promised to hold new elections within 3 months.

Zia released Bhutto and asserted that he could contest new elections scheduled for October 1977. However, after it became clear that Bhutto’s popularity had survived his government, Zia postponed the elections and began criminal investigations of the senior PPP leadership. Subsequently, Bhutto was convicted and sentenced to death for an alleged conspiracy to murder a political opponent. Despite international appeals on his behalf, Bhutto was hanged on April 6, 1979.

Zia assumed the presidency and called for elections in November. However, fearful of a PPP victory, Zia banned political activity in October 1979, and postponed national elections. This same year Zia also passed into law the Hudood Ordinance, which provides for harsh Quranic punishments for violations of Shari’a (Islamic law).

In 1980, most center and left parties, led by the PPP, formed the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD). The MRD demanded Zia’s resignation, an end to martial law, new elections, and restoration of the Constitution, as it existed before Zia’s takeover. In early December 1984, President Zia proclaimed a national referendum for December 19 on his “Islamization” program. After non-party based polls were held for the National and Provincial Assemblies in 1985, President Zia appointed Muhammad Khan Junejo as the Prime Minister. He implicitly linked approval of “Islamization” with a mandate for his continued presidency. Zia’s opponents, led by the MRD, boycotted the elections. When the government claimed a 63% turnout, with more than 90% approving the referendum, many observers questioned the figures.

Sharif and Bhutto Civilian Governments

On August 17, 1988, a plane carrying President Zia, American Ambassador Arnold Raphel, U.S. Brig. General Herbert Wassom, and 28 Pakistani military officers crashed on a return flight from a military equipment trial near Bahawalpur, killing all on board. In accordance with the Constitution, Chairman of the Senate Ghulam Ishaq Khan became Acting President and announced that elections scheduled for November 1988 would take place. Elections were held on a party basis. On one side was an eight-party alliance and on the other, the PPP. The PPP won 94 seats out of 207 and the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IJI) won 54. Muhammad Khan Junejo lost from his home constituency. The president was bound to invite the PPP to from the government, but he delayed doing so for two weeks in order to give the IJI time to muster the support of other groups. Ultimately, the president asked PPP Co-chairperson Benazir Bhutto to form a government.

The PPP, under Benazir Bhutto’s leadership, succeeded in forming a coalition government with several smaller parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Differing interpretations of constitutional authority, debates over the powers of the central government relative to those of the provinces, and the antagonistic relationship between the Bhutto administration and opposition governments in Punjab and Balochistan seriously impeded social and economic reform programs. Ethnic conflict, primarily in Sindh province, exacerbated these problems. A fragmentation in the governing coalition and the military’s reluctance to support an apparently ineffectual and corrupt government were accompanied by a significant deterioration in law and order.

In August 1990, President Khan, citing his powers under the eighth amendment to the Constitution, dismissed the Bhutto government and dissolved the national and provincial assemblies. New elections, held in October 1990, confirmed the political ascendancy of the IJI. In addition to a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the alliance won control of all four provincial parliaments and enjoyed the support of the military and of President Khan. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, as leader of the PML, the most prominent party in the IJI, was elected prime minister by the National Assembly.

Sharif emerged as the most secure and powerful Pakistani prime minister since the mid-1970s. Under his rule, the IJI achieved several important political victories. The implementation of Sharif’s economic reform program; involving privatization, deregulation, and encouragement of private sector economic growth, greatly improved Pakistan’s economic performance and business climate. The passage into law in May 1991 of a Shari’a bill, providing for widespread Islamization, legitimized the IJI government among much of Pakistani society.

However, Nawaz Sharif was not able to reconcile the different objectives of IJI’s constituent parties. The largest religious party, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), abandoned the alliance because of its antagonism to what it regarded as PML hegemony. The regime was weakened further by the military’s suppression of the MQM, which had entered into coalition with the IJI to contain PPP influence, and allegations of corruption directed at Nawaz Sharif. In April 1993, President Khan, citing “maladministration, corruption, and nepotism” and espousal of political violence, dismissed the Sharif government, but the following month the Pakistan Supreme Court reinstated the National Assembly and the Nawaz Sharif government. Continued tensions between Sharif and Khan resulted in governmental gridlock and the Chief of Army Staff brokered an arrangement under which both the President and the Prime Minister resigned their offices in July 1993.

An interim government, headed by Moeen Qureshi, a former World Bank Vice President, took office with a mandate to hold national and provincial assembly elections in October. Despite its brief term, the Qureshi government adopted political, economic, and social reforms that generated considerable domestic support and foreign admiration.

In the October 1993 elections, the PPP won a plurality of seats in the National Assembly, and Benazir Bhutto was asked to form a government. However, because it did not acquire a majority in the National Assembly, the PPP’s control of the government depended upon the continued support of numerous independent parties, particularly the PML/J (Pakistan Muslim League-Junejo). The unfavorable circumstances surrounding PPP rule—the imperative of preserving a coalition government, the formidable opposition of Nawaz Sharif’s PML/N (Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz) movement, and the insecure provincial administrations—presented significant difficulties for the government of Prime Minister Bhutto. However, the election of Prime Minister Bhutto’s close associate, Farooq Leghari, as President in November 1993 gave her a stronger power base.

In November 1996, President Leghari dismissed the Bhutto government, charging it with corruption, mismanagement of the economy, and implication in extrajudicial killings in Karachi. Elections in February 1997, resulted in an overwhelming victory for the PML/N, and President Leghari called upon Nawaz Sharif to form a government. In March 1997, with the unanimous support of the National Assembly, Sharif amended the Constitution, stripping the President of the power to dismiss the government and making his power to appoint military service chiefs and provincial governors contingent on the “advice” of the Prime Minister. Another amendment prohibited elected members from “floor crossing” or voting against party positions. The Sharif government engaged in a protracted dispute with the judiciary, culminating in the storming of the Supreme Court by ruling party loyalists and the engineered dismissal of the Chief Justice and the resignation of President Leghari in December

1997. The new President elected by Parliament, Rafiq Tarar, was a close associate of the Prime Minister. A one-sided, anti-corruption campaign was used to target opposition politicians and critics of the regime. Similarly, the government moved to restrict press criticism and ordered the arrest and beating of prominent journalists. As domestic criticism of Sharif’s administration intensified, Sharif attempted to replace Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf on October 12, 1999, with a family loyalist, Director General of the Interservice Intelligence Directorate, Lt. Gen. Ziauddin. Although General Musharraf was out of the country at the time, the army moved quickly to depose Sharif.

Pervez Musharraf

Following the October 12 ouster of the government of Prime Minister Sharif, the military-led government stated its intention to restructure the political and electoral systems. On October 14, 1999, General Musharraf declared a state of emergency and issued the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), which suspended the federal and provincial Parliaments, held the Constitution in abeyance, and designated Musharraf as Chief Executive. Musharraf appointed an eight-member National Security Council to function as Pakistan’s supreme governing body, with mixed military/civilian appointees; a civilian Cabinet; and a National Reconstruction Bureau to formulate structural reforms. On May 12, 2000, Pakistan’s Supreme Court unanimously validated the October 1999 coup and granted Musharraf executive and legislative authority for 3 years from the coup date. On June 20, 2001, Musharraf named himself as president and was sworn in.

After the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked on September 11, 2001, Musharraf pledged complete cooperation with the United States in its war on terror, which included locating and shutting down terrorist training camps within its borders, cracking down on extremist groups and withdrawing support for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In a referendum held on April 30, 2002, Musharraf’s presidency was extended by five more years. The handover from military to civilian rule came with parliamentary elections in November 2002, and the appointment of a civilian prime minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Having previously promised to give up his army post and become a civilian president, General Musharraf announced in late 2004 that he would retain his military role. In August 2004, Shaukat Aziz was sworn in as prime minister, having won a parliamentary vote of confidence, 191 of 342 votes, in which the opposition abstained.

On October 8, 2005 a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The epicenter of the earthquake was near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, and approximately 60 miles north-northeast of Islamabad. An estimated 75,000 people were killed and 2.5 million people were left homeless. The disaster of such a huge magnitude galvanized an international rescue and reconstruction effort in support of the affected region. The earthquake cost Pakistan $1.1 billion on resettling those affected.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

Pervez Musharraf has been chief of state since June 20, 2001. A prolonged confrontation over authority between Parliament and the President ended in December 2002 with a compromise which permitted passage of the Legal Framework Order (LFO) of 2002, under the terms of which President Musharraf made his pledge to resign his military position as Commander-in-Chief in late 2004. In 2004 General Musharraf announced that he would retain his military role.

The Pakistan Constitution of 1973, amended substantially in 1985 under Zia ul-Haq, was suspended by the military government in October 1999.

It was restored on December 31, 2002. Selected provisions of the Constitution pertaining to changes that President Musharraf made while the Constitution was suspended remain contested by political opponents.

The president is chosen for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of the Senate, National Assembly, and the provincial assemblies. The prime minister is selected by the National Assembly for a four-year term. The bicameral parliament—or Majlis-e-Shoora—consists of the Senate (100 seats; members are indirectly elected by provincial assemblies to serve four-year terms) and the National Assembly (342 seats; 60 seats reserved for women, 10 seats reserved for minorities; members elected by popular vote serve four-year terms). Each of the four provinces—Punjab, Sindh, Northwest Frontier, and Balochistan—has a Chief Minister and provincial assembly. The Northern Areas, Azad Kashmir and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are administered by the federal government but enjoy considerable autonomy. The cabinet, National Security Council, and governors serve at the president’s discretion.

The judicial system comprises a Supreme Court, provincial high courts, and Federal Islamic (or Shari’a) Court. The Supreme Court is Pakistan’s highest court. The president appoints the chief justice and they together determine the other judicial appointments. Each province has a high court, the justices of which are appointed by the president after conferring with the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the provincial chief justice. The judiciary is proscribed from issuing any order contrary to the decisions of the President. Federal Sharia Court hears cases that primarily involve Sharia, or Islamic law. Legislation enacted in 1991 gave legal status to Sharia. Although Sharia was declared the law of the land, it did not replace the existing legal code.

The Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and Pakistan Muslim League—Nawaz (PML-N) are national political parties, while the Muttahid Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)—an umbrella group of six religious parties, including the Jamaat-il-Islami—gained significant influence during the 2002 election. After those elections, the Pakistani political system remained highly fragmented, with no group winning a substantial majority of seats in the national assembly, and religious groups banding together in the MMA to earn a significant portion of seats for the first time.

According to the constitution, Pakistan is a federation of four provinces: Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, and Sindh. Governors appointed by the president head the provinces. There is also the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and the Islamabad Capital Territory, which consists of the capital city of Islamabad. These areas and territory are under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The Northern Areas are administered as a de facto “Union Territory” and are treated as an integral part of Pakistan. The Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region includes Azad Kashmir, a separate and autonomous government that maintains strong ties to Pakistan.

Principal Government Officials

Last Updated: 1/24/2007

President: Pervez MUSHARRAF, Gen.

Prime Minister: Shaukat AZIZ

Min. of Commerce: Humayun Akhtar KHAN

Min. of Communication: Muhammad Shamim SIDDIQUI

Min. of Culture: Syiad Ghazi Gulab JAMAL

Min. of Defense: Rao Sikandar IQBAL

Min. of Defense Production: Habibullah Khan WARRAICH

Min. of Education: Javed ASHRAF

Min. of Environment: Makhdoom Faisal Saleh HAYAT

Min. of Finance, Economic Affairs, & Statistics: Shaukat AZIZ

Min. of Food, Agriculture, & Livestock: Sikandar Hayat Khan BOSAN

Min. of Foreign Affairs: Mian Khurshid Mahmood KASURI

Min. of Health: Muhammad Nasir KHAN

Min. of Housing & Works: Syed SAFWANULLAH

Min. of Industries, Production, & Special Initiatives: Jehangir Khan TAREEN

Min. of Information & Broadcasting: Mohammad Ali DURRANI

Min. of Information Technology: Awais Ahmad Khan LEGHARI

Min. of Interior: Aftab Ahmed Khan SHERPAO

Min. of Interprovinicial Coordination: Salim Saifullah KHAN

Min. of Kashmir Affairs & Northern Areas: Tahir IQBAL

Min. of Labor, Manpower, & Overseas Pakistanis: Ghulam Sarwar KHAN

Min. of Law, Justice, & Human Rights: Muhammad Wasi ZAFAR

Min. of Local Govt. & Rural Development: Abdul Razak THAHIM

Min. of Narcotics Control: Ghaus Bux Khan MAHER

Min. of Parliamentary Affairs: Sher Afghan Khan NIAZI

Min. of Petroleum & Natural Resources: Amanullah Khan JADOON

Min. of Political Affairs: Amir MUQAM

Min. of Population Welfare: Chaudhry Shahbaz HUSSAIN

Min. of Ports & Shipping: Babar Khan GHAURI

Min. of Privatization & Investment: Zahid HAMID

Min. of Railways: Sheikh Rashid AHMED

Min. of Religious Affairs, Zakat, & Ushr: Muhammad Ijaz ul-HAQ

Min. of Science & Technology: Nouraiz SHAKUR Khan

Min. of Social Welfare & Special Education: Zobaida JALAL

Min. of Sports: Mian Shamim HAIDER

Min. of States & Frontier Regions: Sardar Yar Muhammad RIND

Min. of Textiles Industry: Mushtaq Ali CHEEMA

Min. of Tourism: Nilofar BAKHTIAR

Min. of Water & Power: Liaquat Ali JATOI

Min. of Women’s Development & Youth Affairs: Sumaira MALIK

Attorney Gen.: Makhdoom Ali KHAN

Governor, State Bank: Shamshad AKHTAR

Ambassador to the US: Mahmud Ali DURRANI

Permanent Representative to the UN, New York: Munir AKRAM

Pakistan maintains an embassy in the United States at 3517 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-243-6500). It has consulates in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Houston.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Pakistan has the world’s eighth-largest armed forces, which is generally well trained and disciplined. However, budget constraints and nation-building duties have reduced Pakistan’s training tempo, which if not reversed, could affect the operational readiness of the armed forces. Likewise, Pakistan has had an increasingly difficult time maintaining their aging fleet of U.S., Chinese, U.K., and French equipment. While industrial capabilities have expanded significantly, limited budget resources and sanctions have significantly constrained the government’s efforts to modernize its armed forces.

Until 1990, the United States provided military aid to Pakistan to modernize its conventional defensive capability. The United States allocated about 40% of its assistance package to non-reimbursable credits for military purchases, the third-largest program behind Israel and Egypt. The remainder of the aid program was devoted to economic assistance. Sanctions put in place in 1990 denied Pakistan further military assistance due to the discovery of its program to develop nuclear weapons. Sanctions were tightened following Pakistan’s nuclear tests in response to India’s May 1998 tests and the military coup of 1999. Pakistan has remained a non-signatory of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty.

The events of September 11, 2001, and Pakistan’s agreement to support the United States led to a waiving of the sanctions, and military assistance resumed to provide spare parts and equipment to enhance Pakistan’s capacity to police its western border and address its legitimate security concerns. In 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005.

ECONOMY

With a per capita GDP of about PPP $2,400, the World Bank considers Pakistan a low-income country. No more than 48.7% of adults are literate, and life expectancy is about 63 years. The population, currently about 165.8 million, is growing at 2.09% annually.

In 2000, the government made significant macroeconomic reforms: Privatizing Pakistan’s state-subsidized utilities, reforming the banking sector, instituting a world-class anti-money laundering law, cracking down on piracy of intellectual property, and moving to quickly resolving investor disputes. After September 11, 2001, and Pakistan’s proclaimed commitment to fighting terror, many international sanctions, particularly those imposed by the United States, were lifted. Pakistan’s economic prospects began to increase significantly due to unprecedented inflows of foreign assistance at the end of 2001. This trend is expected to continue through 2009. Foreign exchange reserves and exports grew to record levels after a sharp decline.

The International Monetary Fund recently lauded Pakistan for its commitment in meeting lender requirements for a $1.3 billion IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility loan, which it completed in 2004, forgoing the final permitted tranche. The Government of Pakistan has been successful in issuing sovereign bonds, and has issued $600 million in Islamic bonds, putting Pakistan back on the investment map.

Pakistan’s search for additional foreign direct investment has been hampered by concerns about the security situation, domestic and regional political uncertainties, and questions about judicial transparency.

U.S. assistance has played a key role in moving Pakistan’s economy from the brink of collapse to setting record high levels of foreign reserves and exports, dramatically lowering levels of solid debt. Also, despite the earthquake in 2005, GDP growth has remained strong at 6.6% in fiscal year 2005/2006. In 2002, the United States led Paris Club efforts to reschedule Pakistan’s debt on generous terms, and in April 2003 the United States reduced Pakistan’s bilateral official debt by $1 billion. In 2004, approximately $500 million more in bilateral debt was granted. Consumer price inflation eased slightly to an average of 8% in 2005/06 from 9.3% in 2004/05.

Low levels of spending in the social services and high population growth have contributed to persistent poverty and unequal income distribution. The trends of resources being devoted to socioeconomic development and infrastructure projects have been improving since 2002, although expenditures remain below global averages. Pakistan’s extreme poverty and underdevelopment are key concerns, especially in rural areas. The government has reined in the fiscal mismanagement that produced massive foreign debt, and officials have committed to using international assistance—including a major part of the $3 billion five-year U.S. assistance package—to address Pakistan’s long-term needs in the health and education sectors.

Reform

The government started pursuing market-based economic reform policies in the early 1980s. These reforms began to take hold in 1988, when the government launched an ambitious IMF-assisted structural adjustment program in response to chronic and unsustainable fiscal and external account deficits. The government began to remove barriers to foreign trade and investment, reform the financial system, ease foreign exchange controls, and privatize dozens of state-owned enterprises.

Although the economy became more structurally sound, it remained vulnerable to external and internal shocks, such as in 1992-93, when devastating floods and political uncertainty combined to depress economic growth sharply.

The Asian financial crisis seriously affected Pakistan’s major markets for its textile exports. For example, average real GDP growth from 1992 to 1998 dipped to 4.1% annually. Economic reform also was set back by Pakistan’s nuclear tests in May 1998, and the subsequent economic sanctions imposed by the G-7. International default was narrowly averted by the partial waiver of sanctions and the subsequent reinstatement of Pakistan’s IMF enhanced structural adjustment facility/extended fund facility in early 1999, followed by Paris Club and London Club rescheduling. After taking power in late 1999, President Musharraf instituted policies to stabilize Pakistan’s macro-economic situation. Pakistan continues to struggle with these reforms, having mixed success, especially in reducing its budget and current account deficits.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Pakistan’s principal natural resources are arable land, water, hydroelectric potential, and natural gas reserves. About 28% of Pakistan’s total land area is under cultivation and is watered by one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. Agriculture accounts for about 21% of GDP and employs about 42% of the labor force. The most important crops are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables, which together account for more than 75% of the value of total crop output. Despite intensive farming practices, Pakistan remains a net food importer. Pakistan exports rice, fish, fruits, and vegetables and imports vegetable oil, wheat, cotton (net importer), pulses, and consumer foods.

The economic importance of agriculture has declined since independence, when its share of GDP was around 53%. Following the poor harvest of 1993, the government introduced agriculture assistance policies, including increased support prices for many agricultural commodities and expanded availability of agricultural credit. From 1993 to 1997, real growth in the agricultural sector averaged 5.7% but has since declined to less than 3% in 2005. Agricultural reforms, including increased wheat and oilseed production, play a central role in the government’s economic reform package. Heavy rains in 2005 provided the benefit of larger than average cotton, wheat, and rice crops, but also caused damage due to flooding and avalanches.

Pakistan has extensive energy resources, including fairly sizable natural gas reserves, some proven oil reserves, coal, and large hydropower potential. However, exploitation of energy resources has been slow due to a shortage of capital and domestic and international political constraints. For instance, domestic gas and petroleum production totals only about half the country’s energy needs, and dependence on imported oil contributes to Pakistan’s persistent trade deficits and shortage of foreign exchange. The government announced that privatization in the oil and gas sector is a priority.

Industry

Pakistan’s manufacturing sector accounts for about 25% of GDP. Cotton textile production and apparel manufacturing are Pakistan’s largest industries, accounting for about 70% of total exports. Other major industries include food processing, beverages, construction materials, clothing, and paper products. As technology improves in the industrial sector, it continues to grow. In 2005/2006, the manufacturing sector grew by 8.6%. Despite government efforts to privatize large-scale parastatal units, the public sector continues to account for a significant proportion of industry. In the face of an increasing trade deficit, the government seeks to diversify the country’s industrial base and bolster export industries. Net foreign investment in Pakistani industries is only 0.5% of GDP.

Foreign Trade and Aid

Weak world demand for its exports and domestic political uncertainty have contributed to Pakistan’s high trade deficit. In 2004, growth rebounded to approximately 6% with substantial improvement in public and external debt indicators and continues to remain robust with 7.8% growth in 2005. Foreign reserves are at an all-time high of $11.5 billion. Pakistan’s exports, which grew by 14.4% in 2005/2006, continue to be dominated by cotton textiles and apparel, despite government diversification efforts. Major imports include petroleum and petroleum products, edible oil, wheat, chemicals, fertilizer, capital goods, industrial raw materials, and consumer products, rising to 38.8% to $25.6 billion. External imbalance has left Pakistan with a growing foreign debt burden. The fiscal imbalance is reflected in a high level of total net public debt, which reached an estimated 92.6% of GDP in 2000-01, more than half involving external liabilities, but decreased to 72.7% in 2003. The fiscal deficit widened from 5.6% of GDP in 1994-95 to 7.7% in 1997-98 before declining to 4.5% in 2006. Despite a rise in tax collection, defense and development expenditure along with transfers to the provinces all rose in the 2006 budget, widening the deficit. Support for loss-making, state-owned enterprises and a weak domestic tax base are critical elements in the recurring fiscal deficits. The Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd. (PTCL) represents the largest of Pakistan’s privatization programs for 2005. Despite its economic and political difficulties, Pakistan has taken steps to liberalize its trade and investment regimes, either unilaterally or in the context of commitments made with the World Trade Organization (WTO), IMF, and the World Bank. Over the past two years, efforts in several crucial areas have seemingly intensified, resulting in Pakistan becoming a more open and secure market for its trading partners.

Pakistan has received significant loan/grant assistance from international financial institutions (e.g., the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank) and bilateral donors, particularly after it began using its military/financial resources in the war on terror. The United States recently pledged $3 billion for FY 2005 to FY 2009 in economic and military aid to Pakistan. In addition, the IMF and World Bank have pledged $1 billion in loans to Pakistan. In 2004 to 2007 alone, the World Bank has pledged over $500 million in investment projects.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

After September 11, 2001, Pakistan’s prominence in the international community increased significantly, as it pledged its alliance with the U.S. in the war on terror and made a commitment to eliminate terrorist camps on its territory. Historically, Pakistan has had difficult and volatile relations with India, long-standing close relations with China, extensive security and economic interests in the Persian Gulf, and wide-ranging bilateral relations with the United States and other Western countries. It expresses a strong desire for a stable Afghanistan.

India

Since partition, relations between Pakistan and India have been characterized by rivalry and suspicion. Although many issues divide the two countries, the most sensitive one since independence has been the status of Kashmir.

At the time of partition, the princely state of Kashmir, though ruled by a Hindu Maharajah, had an overwhelmingly Muslim population. When the Maharajah hesitated in acceding to either Pakistan or India in 1947, some of his Muslim subjects, later aided by tribesmen from Pakistan, revolted in favor of joining Pakistan. In exchange for military assistance in containing the revolt, the Kashmiri ruler offered his allegiance to India. Indian troops occupied the eastern portion of Kashmir, including its capital, Srinagar, while the western part came under Pakistani control.

India submitted this dispute to the United Nations on January 1, 1948. One year later, the UN arranged a cease-fire along a line dividing Kashmir but leaving the northern end of the line not demarcated and the Vale of Kashmir (with the majority of the population) under Indian control. India and Pakistan agreed to a resolution that called for a UN-supervised plebiscite to determine the state’s future This plebiscite has not occurred because the main precondition, the withdrawal of both nations’ forces from Kashmir, has failed to take place.

Full-scale hostilities erupted in September 1965, when India alleged that insurgents trained and supplied by Pakistan were operating in India-controlled Kashmir. Hostilities ceased 3 weeks later, following mediation efforts by the UN and interested countries. In January 1966, the leaders of India and Pakistan met in Tashkent, U.S.S.R., and agreed to attempt a peaceful settlement of Kashmir and their other differences.

Following the 1971 Indo-Pakistan conflict, President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi met in the hill station of Shimla, India, in July 1972. They agreed to a line of control in Kashmir resulting from the December 17, 1971, cease-fire, and endorsed the principle of settlement of bilateral disputes through peaceful means. In 1974, Pakistan and India agreed to resume postal and telecommunications linkages and to enact measures to facilitate travel. Trade and diplomatic relations were restored in 1976 after a hiatus of 5 years.

India’s nuclear test in 1974 generated great uncertainty in Pakistan and is generally acknowledged to have been the impetus for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons development program. In 1983, the Pakistani and Indian Governments accused each other of aiding separatists in their respective countries—Sikhs in India’s Punjab state and Sindhis in Pakistan’s Sindh province. In April 1984, tensions erupted after troops were deployed to the Siachen Glacier, a high-altitude, desolate area close to the China border not demarcated by the cease-fire agreement (Karachi Agreement) signed by Pakistan and India in 1949.

Tensions diminished after Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in November 1984 and after a group of Sikh hijackers was brought to trial by Pakistan in March 1985. In December 1985, President Zia and Prime Minister Gandhi pledged not to attack each other’s nuclear facilities. A formal “no attack” agreement was signed in January 1991. In early 1986, the Indian and Pakistani Governments began high-level talks to resolve the Siachen Glacier border dispute and to improve trade.

Bilateral tensions increased in early 1990, when Kashmiri militants began a campaign of violence against Indian Government authority in Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequent high-level bilateral meetings relieved the tensions between India and Pakistan, but relations worsened again after the destruction of the Ayodhya Mosque by Hindu extremists in December 1992 and terrorist bombings in Bombay in March 1993. Talks between the Foreign Secretaries of both countries in January 1994 ended in deadlock.

More recently, the Indo-Pakistani relationship has veered sharply between rapprochement and conflict. After taking office in February 1997, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif moved to resume official dialog with India. A number of meetings at the foreign secretary and prime ministerial level took place, with positive atmospherics but little concrete progress. The relationship improved markedly when Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee traveled to Lahore for a summit with Sharif in February 1999. There was considerable hope that the meeting could lead to a breakthrough.

In spring 1999, infiltrators from Pakistan occupied positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control in the remote, mountainous area of Kashmir near Kargil, threatening the ability of India to supply its forces on Siachen Glacier. By early summer, serious fighting flared in the Kargil sector. The infiltrators withdrew following a meeting between Prime Minister Sharif and President Clinton in July. Relations between India and Pakistan were particularly strained during the 1999 coup in Islamabad. Then, just weeks after the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, an attack on India’s Parliament on December 13 further strained this relationship.

The prospects for better relations between India and Pakistan improved in early January 2004 when a summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) permitted India’s Prime Minister Vajpayee to meet with President Musharraf. They improved when President Musharraf met with India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, for a meeting in New York in October 2004. Announcements of additional steps aimed at improving relations occurred when Indian Foreign Minister Singh visited Islamabad in February 2005 and in April 2005 when President Musharraf traveled to India to view a cricket match and hold discussions. In a further display of improved relations bus service commenced from Pakistan controlled Kashmir to Srinagar on April, 2005. In the wake of the October 2005 earthquake-created humanitarian disaster the two countries continued their cooperative measures.

Musharraf and Singh last met at the Non-Aligned Summit in September, 2006 in Havana. At this meeting, the two leaders condemned all acts of terrorism and agreed to continue the search for options acceptable to both sides for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of all issues, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

Afghanistan

Following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Pakistani Government played a vital role in supporting the Afghan resistance movement and assisting Afghan refugees. After the Soviet withdrawal in February 1989, Pakistan, with cooperation from the world community, continued to provide extensive support for displaced Afghans. Continued turmoil in Afghanistan prevented the refugees from returning to their country. In 1999, more than 1.2 million registered Afghan refugees remained in Pakistan. Pakistan was one of three countries to recognize the Taliban regime of Afghanistan. International pressure after September 11, 2001, prompted Pakistan to reassess its relations with the Taliban regime and support the U.S. and international coalition in Operation Enduring Freedom to remove the Taliban from power. Pakistan has publicly expressed its support to Afghanistan’s President Karzai and has pledged $100 million toward Afghanistan’s reconstruction.

People’s Republic of China

In 1950, Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Following the Sino-Indian hostilities of 1962, Pakistan’s relations with China became stronger; since then, the countries have regularly exchanged high-level visits resulting in various agreements.

China has provided economic, military, and technical assistance to Pakistan. Favorable relations with China have been a pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy. The PRC strongly supported Pakistan’s opposition to Soviet involvement in Afghanistan and is perceived by Pakistan as a regional counterweight to India and Russia.

Iran and the Persian Gulf

Historically, Pakistan has had close geopolitical and cultural-religious linkages with Iran. However, strains in the relationship appeared following the Iranian revolution. Pakistan and Iran supported different factions in the Afghan conflict. Also, some Pakistanis suspect Iranian government support for the sectarian violence that has plagued Pakistan. However, relations between the countries have improved since their policies toward Afghanistan have converged with the fall of the Taliban. Both countries contend that they are on the road to strong and lasting friendly relations.

Pakistan historically has provided military personnel to strengthen Gulf-state defenses and to reinforce its own security interests in the area.

U.S.-PAKISTAN RELATIONS

The United States and Pakistan established diplomatic relations in 1947. The U.S. agreement to provide economic and military assistance to Pakistan and the latter’s partnership in the Baghdad Pact/CENTO and SEATO strengthened relations between the nations. However, the U.S. suspension of military assistance during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war generated a widespread feeling in Pakistan that the United States was not a reliable ally. Even though the United States suspended military assistance to both countries involved in the conflict, the suspension of aid affected Pakistan much more severely. Gradually, relations improved, and arms sales were renewed in 1975. Then, in April 1979, the United States cut off economic assistance to Pakistan, except food assistance, as required under the Symington Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, due to concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear program.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 highlighted the common interest of Pakistan and the United States in peace and stability in South Asia. In 1981, the United States and Pakistan agreed on a $3.2 billion military and economic assistance program aimed at helping Pakistan deal with the heightened threat to security in the region and its economic development needs.

Recognizing national security concerns and accepting Pakistan’s assurances that it did not intend to construct a nuclear weapon, Congress waived restrictions (Symington Amendment) on military assistance to Pakistan. In March 1986, the two countries agreed on a second multi-year (FY 1988-93) $4 billion economic development and security assistance program. On October 1, 1990, however, the United States suspended all military assistance and new economic aid to Pakistan under the Pressler Amendment, which required that the President certify annually that Pakistan “does not possess a nuclear explosive device.”

Several incidents of violence against American officials and U.S. mission employees in Pakistan have marred the relationship. In November 1979, false rumors that the United States had participated in the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca provoked a mob attack on the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad in which the chancery was set on fire resulting in the loss of life of American and Pakistani staff. In 1989, an attack on the American Center in Islamabad resulted in six Pakistanis being killed in crossfire with the police. In March 1995, two American employees of the consulate in Karachi were killed and one wounded in an attack on the home-to-office shuttle. In November 1997, four U.S. businessmen were brutally murdered while being driven to work in Karachi. In March 2002 a suicide attacker detonated explosives in a church in Islamabad, killing two Americans associated with the Embassy and three others. There were also unsuccessful attacks by terrorists on the Consulate General in Karachi in May 2002. Another bomb was detonated near American and other businesses in Karachi in November 2005, killing three people and wounding 15 others. On March 2, 2006, a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives as a vehicle carrying an American Foreign Service officer passed by on its way to Consulate Karachi. The diplomat, the Consulate’s locally-employed driver and three other people were killed in the blast; 52 others were wounded.

The decision by India to conduct nuclear tests in May 1998 and Pakistan’s matching response set back U.S. relations in the region, which had seen renewed U.S. Government interest during the second Clinton Administration. A presidential visit scheduled for the first quarter of 1998 was postponed and, under the Glenn Amendment, sanctions restricted the provision of credits, military sales, economic assistance, and loans to the government. The October 1999 overthrow of the democratically elected Sharif government triggered an additional layer of sanctions under Section 508 of the Foreign Appropriations Act, which include restrictions on foreign military financing and economic assistance. U.S. Government assistance to Pakistan was subsequently limited mainly to refugee and counter-narcotics assistance.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship changed significantly once Pakistan agreed to support the U.S. campaign to eliminate the Taliban in Afghanistan and to join the United States in the Global War on Terror. Since September 2001, Pakistan has provided extensive assistance in the war on terror by capturing more than 600 al-Qaida members and their allies. The United States has stepped up its economic assistance to Pakistan, providing debt relief and support for a major effort for education reform. During President Musharraf’s visit to the United States in 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005.

Following the region’s tragic October 8, 2005 earthquake, the United States responded immediately and generously to Pakistan’s call for assistance. The response was consistent with U.S. humanitarian values and our deep commitment to Pakistan. At the subsequent Reconstruction Conference in Islamabad on November 19, 2005, the U.S. announced a $510 million commitment to Pakistan for earthquake relief and reconstruction, including humanitarian assistance, military support for relief operations, and anticipated U.S. private contributions.

President Bush and President Musharraf have affirmed the long-term, strategic partnership between their two countries. In 2004, the United States recognized closer bilateral ties with Pakistan by designating Pakistan as a Major Non-NATO Ally. The U.S.-Pakistan strategic partnership is based on the shared interests of the United States and Pakistan in building stable and sustainable democracy and in promoting peace and security, stability, prosperity, and democracy in South Asia and across the globe.

President Bush visited Pakistan in March 2006 where he and President Musharraf reaffirmed their shared commitment to a broad and lasting strategic partnership; agreeing to continue their cooperation on a number of issues including: the war on terror, security in the region, strengthening democratic institutions, trade and investment, education, and earthquake relief and reconstruction.

President Musharraf visited Washington in September 2006, where he met with President Bush and also participated in a trilateral meeting with President Bush and President Karzai of Afghanistan.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

ISLAMABAD (E) Address: Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5; APO/FPO: Unit 62200 APO AE 09812-2200; Phone: 92-51-208-0000; Fax: 92-51-227-6427; Workweek: M-F 0200-1030Zulu; Website: www.usembassy.state.gov/Islamabad.

Last Updated: 1/3/2007

KARACHI (CG) Address: 8 Abdullah Haroon Rd, Karachi, Pakistan; APO/FPO: Unit 62400 APO AE 09814-2400; Phone: 92-21-520-4200; Fax: 92-21-568-0496; INMARSAT Tel: 0088216-898-00995/008881621457529; Workweek: M-F: 0800–1630 officially; Website: http://www.usembassy.state.gov/Karachi.

Last Updated: 8/12/2006

LAHORE (C) Address: 50 Empress Road, Lahore Pakistan 54000; APO/FPO: Unit 62216 APO AE 09812-2216; Phone: +92 42 603-4000; Fax: +92 42 603-4200; Workweek: M-F 0800-1630; Website: www.usembassy.state.gov/lahore

Last Updated: 9/7/2006

PESHAWAR (C) Address: 11 Hospital Rd Peshawar Cantt; APO/FPO: Unit 62217 APO AE 09812-2217; Phone: 92–91–526-8800; Fax: 92–91–527-6712; Workweek: M–FR, 0800-1630; Website: www.usembassy.state.gov/Peshawar.

Last Updated: 1/10/2007

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet : December 11, 2006

Country Description: Pakistan is a parliamentary federal republic in South Asia, with a population of nearly 170 million people. President Pervez Musharraf came to power in October 1999, and was indirectly elected to office in 2002. The military continues to play a significant role in the nation’s governance. Pakistan is a developing country, with tourist facilities available in major cities but limited in outlying areas. The infrastructure of the areas of Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier Province was devastated as a result of the October 8, 2005 earthquake and is not yet recovered.

Entry/Exit Requirements: All U.S. citizens traveling to Pakistan for any purpose are required to have valid U.S. passports and Pakistani-issued visas. Further information on entry requirements can be obtained from the Embassy of Pakistan at: 3517 International Court Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008; telephone: 202-243-6500; e-mail: info@pakistan-embassy.org; website: http://www.pakistan-embassy.org/

Travelers may also contact one of the Consulates General of Pakistan in:

Boston: 20 Chestnut Street, Needham, MA 02492; telephone: (781) 455-8000; fax: (617) 266-6666; email: pakistan@tiac.net

Chicago: 333 North Michigan Ave., Suite 728, Chicago, IL, 60601; telephone: (312) 781-1831; fax: (312) 781-1839; email: parepchicago@ yahoo.com

Houston: 11850 Jones Road, Houston, TX, 77070; telephone: (281) 890-2223; fax: (281) 890-1433; email: parephouston@sbcglobal.net

Los Angeles: 10850 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90024; telephone: (310) 441-5114; fax: (310) 441-9256; email: info@pakconsulatela.org.

New York: 12 East 65th St., New York, NY 10021; telephone: (212) 879-5800; fax: (212) 517-6987; website: www.pakistanconsulateny.org.

If a traveler plans to stay longer than the time listed on the visa, he or she must extend the stay with the local passport office of the Ministry of Interior. Visit the Embassy of Pakistan website for the most current visa information.

Safety and Security: A number of extremist groups within Pakistan continue to target American and other Western interests, high-level Pakistani government officials, as well as members of minority indigenous and religious groups. Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans are known to congregate or visit. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombing—including vehicle-borne explosives and improvised explosive devices—assassinations, carjacking, assault or kidnapping. American fast food restaurants and other companies in Karachi were bombed in late 2005, resulting in several deaths and multiple injuries. None of the casualties were Americans. On March 2, 2006, an American diplomat, his locally employed driver, and three others were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives in front of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Fifty-two others were wounded in the attack. Occasional sectarian violence has resulted in fatal bomb attacks in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, and other Pakistani cities in 2006. Rallies, demonstrations, and processions occur from time to time throughout Pakistan on very short notice and have often taken on an anti-American or anti-Western character. Because of the possibility of violence, Americans are urged to avoid all public places of worship and areas where Westerners are known to congregate.

Karachi and the southern parts of Punjab Province have experienced protracted political or sectarian violence that poses a potential danger to American travelers. During the Islamic (Shi’a) religious observance of Moharram, rivalries and hostilities often increase. Family feuds are frequently fatal and may be followed by retaliation.

It is best to avoid public transportation. For security reasons, U.S. Mission personnel are prohibited from using taxis or buses.

Women are advised to dress conservatively, with arms and legs covered, and avoid walking around alone. It is unwise for anyone to travel on the streets late at night. Visitors to Pakistan should attempt to maintain a low profile, blend in, be aware of their surroundings, and seek security with their family or sponsoring organization. Returning Americans of Afghan origin may be harassed or come under scrutiny by local police, immigration, and customs officials.

Northern Areas—Americans wishing to trek in Gilgit, Hunza, Chitral and the upper Swat valley should use only licensed guides and tourist agencies. While overall crime is low, there have been occasional assaults on foreign visitors.

Northwest Frontier Province—The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghan border, and certain areas within the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), are designated as tribal areas and are not subject to normal government jurisdiction. The Government of Pakistan requires all citizens of countries other than Pakistan and Afghanistan to obtain permission from the Home and Tribal Affairs Department prior to visiting these locations. The permit may stipulate that an armed escort must accompany the visitor. Even in the settled areas of the NWFP there is occasional ethnic, sectarian, and political violence, as well as anti-foreign rhetoric. Members of the Taliban and Al-Qaida are known to be in the FATA, and may also be in the settled areas. Foreigners should avoid these areas.

Kashmir—While direct military hostilities between India and Pakistan across the Line of Control (LOC) have ceased, militant groups engaged in a long-running insurgency on the Indian side of the LOC are reported to have bases and supporters operating from the Pakistani side. Most of these groups are anti-American, and some have attacked Americans and other Westerners. The Government of Pakistan restricts access to many parts of this region and requires that visitors obtain a permit from the Ministry of Interior before traveling. These areas bore the brunt of the October 8, 2005 earthquake and have not fully recovered. The Department of State strongly recommends against travel to this area. Those Americans who feel they have urgent business there should contact the Embassy for further guidance.

Punjab Province—Sectarian violence has decreased considerably in recent years, though occasional violent demonstrations, bombings, and attacks on places of worship of all faiths do occur. As a precaution against these possible dangers, U.S. citizens are cautioned to avoid public transportation and crowded areas. The Wagah border crossing into India near Lahore remains open (from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) daily for travel to and from India if the passport holder has a valid visa for both countries. Visitors are advised to confirm the current status of the border crossing prior to commencing travel.

Sindh Province—In Karachi and Hyderabad, there has been recurring violence characterized by random bombings, shootings, and kidnapping for ransom. Americans and other Westerners continue to be a particular target of hostility. The deadly March 2006 suicide attack near the U.S. Consulate is only the most recent in a string of violent incidents in Karachi over the past few years, including occasional mosque bombings and anti-Western mob violence. The Consulate in particular has been the target of several major terrorist attacks or plots in recent years. Non-essential travel to these cities is strongly discouraged.

In rural Sindh Province, the security situation is hazardous, especially for those engaged in overland travel. The Government of Pakistan recommends that travelers limit their movements in Sindh Province.

Balochistan Province—The Province of Balochistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, is notorious for narcotics and other forms of cross-border smuggling. Members of the Taliban and Al-Qaida are also believed to be present there. Armed battles between clans are frequent. Tribal unrest sometimes turns violent, as occurred after the killing of a prominent local leader in August 2006. Because provincial police presence is limited, travelers wishing to visit the interior of Balochistan should consult with the province’s Home Secretary. Advance permission from provincial authorities is required for travel into many areas. Local authorities have detained travelers who lacked proper permission. Quetta, the provincial capital, has experienced occasional gun battles in the streets and the imposition of curfews. Terrorist attacks against Pakistani government installations and infrastructure have been reported throughout 2005 and 2006. For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet website where the current Travel Warnings and Public Announcements, including the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, can be found.

Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada, or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Crime: Crime is a serious concern for foreigners throughout Pakistan. Carjacking, armed robberies, house invasions, and other violent crimes occur in many major urban areas. Petty crime, especially theft of personal property, is common. American travelers to Pakistan are strongly advised to avoid traveling by taxi and other forms of public transportation, and have members of their host organizations or families meet them at the airport.

Information for Victims of Crime: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance.

The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

Medical Facilities and Health Information: Adequate medical care is available in major Pakistani cities, but is limited in rural areas. Facilities in the cities vary in level and range of services, resources, and cleanliness, and Americans may find them below U.S. standards; facilities in rural areas are consistently below U.S. standards. Medical facilities require prepayment and do not accept credit cards.

Water is not potable anywhere in Pakistan and sanitation in many restaurants is inadequate. Stomach illnesses are common and can be life-threatening. Effective emergency response to personal injury and illness is virtually non-existent in Pakistan. Ambulances are few and are not necessarily staffed by medical personnel. Any emergency case should be transported immediately to recommended emergency receiving rooms. Many American-brand medications are not widely available, but generic brands from well-known pharmaceuticals usually are. The quality of the locally-produced medications is not known. Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC’s internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith/en/.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Pakistan is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.

Traffic in Pakistan moves on the left, opposite of U.S. traffic. In addition to this source of potential confusion, travel by road in Pakistan has a variety of other risks. Roads are crowded, drivers are often aggressive and poorly trained, and many vehicles, particularly large trucks and buses, are badly maintained. Donkeys, cattle, horse carts, and even the occasional camel can pose roadside hazards in some areas. Roads, including most major highways, also suffer from poor maintenance and often have numerous potholes, sharp drop-offs and barriers that are not signposted. Extreme caution should be exercised when traveling at night by road since many vehicles do not have proper illumination or dimmers nor are most roads properly illuminated or signed. Driving without experienced local drivers or guides is not recommended.

It is best to avoid public transportation. For security reasons, U.S. Mission personnel are prohibited from using taxis or buses.

Visit the website of Pakistan’s national tourist office at http://www.tourism.gov.pk/ and the national authority responsible for road safety at http://www.nha.gov.pk/.

Aviation Safety Oversight: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assessed the Government of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority as being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of Pakistan’s air carrier operations. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA’s website at http://www.faa.gov.

Special Circumstances: Pakistan is largely a cash economy. Personal checks are not commonly accepted. Most Pakistanis do not use checking accounts for routine transactions. Outside of major cities and tourist destinations, even credit cards and travelers’ checks are generally not accepted, and there have been numerous reports of credit card fraud. There are bank branches as well as registered money changers in all international airports. ATMs can also be found in major airports. English is widely spoken by professional-level airport staff.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country’s laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Pakistani laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Pakistan are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States.

Children’s Issues: For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, see the Office of Children’s Issues website at http://travel.state.gov/family/family_1732.html.

Registration/Embassy and Consulate Locations: Americans living or traveling in Pakistan are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration website so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security within Pakistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is located at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5; telephone: (92-51) 208-0000; Consular Section telephone: (92-51) 208-2700; fax: (92-51) 282-2632; website: http://islamabad.usembassy.gov/

The U.S. Consulate General in Karachi, located at 8 Abdullah Haroon Road, closed its public operations indefinitely due to security concerns. U.S. citizens requiring emergency assistance should call the Consular Section in Karachi; telephone: (92-21) 520-4200; fax: (92-21) 568-0496; website: http://karachi.usconsulate.gov/

The U.S. Consulate in Lahore is located on 50 Sharah-E-Abdul Hamid Bin Badees (Old Empress Road), near Shimla Hill Rotary; telephone: (92-42) 603-4000; fax: (92-42) 603-4200; website: http://lahore.usconsulate.gov/; email: amconsul@brain.net.pk

The U.S. Consulate in Peshawar is located at 11 Hospital Road, Cantonment, Peshawar; telephone: (92-91) 526-8800; fax: (92-91) 528-4171; website: http://peshawar.usconsulate.gov/

International Adoption : February 2007

The information below has been edited from a report of the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Overseas Citizens Services. For more information, please read the International Adoption section of this book and review current reports online at www.travel.state.gov/family.

Disclaimer: The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and current understanding. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.

For U.S. based agencies, it is suggested that prospective adoptive parents contact the Better Business Bureau and licensing office of the Department of Health and Family Services in the state where the agency is located.

Availability of Children for Adoption: Please review current reports online at www.travel.state.gov/family.

Adoption Authority: The government office responsible for adoptions in Pakistan is the Family court.

Adoption Procedures: First, it should be noted that Pakistan is not an easy country from which to adopt a child. If you have a particular child in mind for adoption, especially a relative, be sure to have a lawyer or USCIS assist you in determining if the child fits the definition of “orphan” before proceeding. Suggested steps to take when adopting is as follows:

• Obtain the publication International Adoptions from the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad or the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC.
• Contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security office closest to your place of residence for general information regarding adoption procedures, as well as a copy of the brochure The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adoptive Children (document M249N).
• Contact adoption organizations in the U.S. for general information and guidance regarding international adoptions.
• Consider consulting an adoption attorney.
• File form I-600A (if no child has been identified) or I-600 (if specific child has been identified) with your local USCIS office. If you have been a resident in Pakistan for at least six months, you may file the form(s) with the USCIS officer in Islamabad. If you have an approved I-600A and are traveling to Pakistan, you may also file form I-600 with the USCIS officer in Islamabad.
• The petitioner must obtain custody of the child from a Pakistani family court, under the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890. The custody order should allow for emigration and foreign adoption of the child.
• Obtain a Pakistani passport for the child.

Age and Civil Status Requirements: If single, the petitioner must be a U.S. citizen who is at least 24 years old when filing form I-600A, and at least 25 years old when filing form I-600. If married, only one spouse is technically the petitioner (must be a U.S. citizen). The other spouse (who does not have to be a U.S. citizen) must co-sign the forms, consent to the adoption, and be approved in the home study. Both spouses can be of any age. The child must be under the age of 16 when the I-600 petition is filed on his/her behalf and must meet the statutory definition of “orphan.”

Adoption Agencies and Attorneys: There are no adoption agencies in Pakistan, however, the American Embassy provides a list of attorneys that the parents can use: Please review current reports online at www.travel.state.gov/family for a list of agencies.

Doctors: The U.S. Embassy (Consulate) maintains current lists of doctors and sources for medicines, should either you or your child experience health problems while in Pakistan.

Documentary Requirements: The following documents are required to complete the adoption process:

• Proof of U.S. citizenship of petitioner;
• Proof of marriage of petitioner (if married); if the petitioner is unmarried but was previously married, submit proof of termination of all previous marriages;
• Fingerprint cards of petitioner, spouse, and all other adult members of the petitioner’s household;
• Approved home-study;
• $525.00 filing fee, plus $25 fingerprint fee for each adult household member.

Form I-600 also requires:

• Proof of age of orphan, i.e. birth certificate;
• Proof of child’s status as orphan;
• Proof that the petitioner and spouse (if married) have obtained legal custody of the child for emigration and adoption. In Pakistan, such custody is evidenced by a court order issued in accordance with the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890;
• Proof that the pre-adoption requirements, if any, of the state of the orphan’s proposed residence in the U.S. have been met;
• $140 filing fee (unless filed within one year of an approved I-600A petition, in which case no new fee is required).

U.S. Immigration Requirements: A Pakistani child adopted by an American citizen must obtain an immigrant visa before he or she can enter the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. Please see the International Adoption section of this book for more details and review current reports online at www.travel.state.gov/family.

U.S. Embassy:
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: (92)(51) 2-080-2700
Fax: (92)(51) 2-822-632
Web site:
http://www.usembassy.state.gov/pakistan

Additional Information: Prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to consult USCIS publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adoptive Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions. Please see the International Adoption section of this book for more details and review current reports online at www.travel.state.gov/family.

Questions: Specific questions regarding adoption in Pakistan may be addressed to the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Islamabad. You may also contact the Office of Children’s Issues, SA-29, 2201 C Street, NW, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20520-2818, Tel: 1-888-407-4747 with specific questions.

International Parental Child Abduction : February 2007

The information below has been edited from the report of the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Overseas Citizens Services. For more information, please read the International Child Abduction section of this book and review current reports online at www.travel.state.gov.

Disclaimer: The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is provided for general information only. Questions involving interpretation of specific foreign laws should be addressed to foreign legal counsel.

Under Pakistani family law, which is based on Islamic law, the father controls virtually all aspects of his family’s life. He decides where his wife and children will live, how the children are to be educated and whether or where they may travel. Courts rarely, if ever, give custody of children to a woman who is not a Muslim, who will not raise the children as Muslims, does not plan to raise them in Pakistan, or has remarried. In all probability, even if the mother wins custody, the children would still need the father’s permission, to leave the country. Any matter of custody in Pakistan can only be resolved through the appropriate local judicial system.

Pakistan is not a party to the Hague Convention, and there is no bilateral treaty in effect between the U.S. and Pakistan which would cover parental child abduction. While the courts of Pakistan may take into account the laws of other countries, custody orders from other countries are viewed simply as evidence in a Pakistani proceeding. Possession of a custody order, even in the absence of such an order by the Pakistani spouse, will not automatically result in the return of an abducted child. That parent would have to appeal to the family court in order to try to obtain an order for custody.

Pakistan will recognize decrees of other countries, whether or not there are any formal treaties with them. Abduction by a father is considered abduction by Pakistani authorities (the implication being that it is considered to be an illegal action). However, a foreign-born mother with U.S. custody orders still is not automatically allowed to take possession of her children and depart the country. She would have to retain an attorney and appeal to the High court. The high court acts like a post office in such cases. They send the case to the appropriate district judge for execution. The District Court reviews the papers and then calls in the concerned parties for a hearing. In spite of the illegal action (the abduction), and even though the foreign-born mother has a court order, there is still a great possibility the mother will not be given custody of the child. Moreover, if she is granted custody, the father can appeal to the Supreme Court on a matter of law, which means there was some legal point which was not adhered to during the course of the hearing. If the Supreme Court grants custody (no cases have gone that far yet in this district), there is no further recourse for the father or mother. If the foreign-born mother is granted custody and the father does not comply with the court order, the children can be taken by force. In addition, other civil actions can be taken such as attaching the father s property or arresting him. If a foreign born mother were granted full custody of her child, the father has the right to refuse to allow the mother and child to depart if the court order does not specifically allow her to remove the children from Pakistan.

Although appeal to the courts may seem difficult to a mother seeking custody of her children, it is recommended that parents be urged to appeal to the courts or other legal resources available. If a foreign-born mother has the only court order (U.S. or other) in effect regarding the custody of her child, it is also recommended that in addition to appealing to the courts, she should seek assistance in effecting that order from other local authorities (i.e. from local police or school officials).

Parents seeking legal assistance in Pakistan should be advised that local attorneys in Pakistan do not research or investigate cases. Therefore, she must bring as much documentary evidence as she can when she comes to Pakistan. She may be able to hire a local investigator (attorneys also do not use the services of independent investigators) to gain whatever evidence she needs from Pakistan. At this point, it would probably be best for the mother to be present in Pakistan, at least part way through the investigation, to check on the actual progress being made and to try and minimize the possibility that the investigator will be bribed to alter his findings.

The mother might wish to have a U.S. attorney review all collected evidence for advice on what may be useful and what may not. Once all evidence is collected, a Pakistani attorney should be retained. Constitutionally, courts are bound to resolve such cases within six months. But in reality, such cases could take more than one year if there are appeals.

There are major family court sections in the civil courts in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, and Peshawar. In smaller towns, any judge could hear such a case. In Pakistan, most mothers do not earn an income. The courts keep this is mind in determining what is in the best interests of the child. A father is legally bound to take care of his children no matter what since he is the income earner. A mother is not so bound. That is why, in most cases, the father is granted custody.

Laws protecting the rights of mothers are written into the Quran (Koran). Under Islamic law, a woman has the right to keep a boy child up to the age of seven years and a girl child up to the age of twelve. For more information, please read the International Parental Child Abduction section of this book and review current reports online at www.travel.state.gov.

For further information on international parental child abduction, contact the Office of Children’s Issues, U.S. Department of State at 1-888-407-4747 or visit its web site on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov. You may also direct inquiries to: Office of Children’s Issues; U.S. Department of State; Washington, DC 20520-4811; Phone: (202) 736-9090; Fax: (202) 312-9743.

Travel Warning : December 5, 2006

This Travel Warning updates information on security incidents and reminds U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns in Pakistan. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning dated April 7, 2006.

The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens against non-essential travel to Pakistan in light of the threat of terrorist activity. Family members of official Americans assigned to the Embassy in Islamabad and to the three consulates in Pakistan were ordered to leave the country in March 2002 and have not been allowed to return.

The presence of Al-Qaida, Taliban elements, and indigenous sectarian groups poses a potential danger to American citizens, especially along the porous border with Afghanistan. Continuing tensions in the Middle East also increase the possibility of violence against Westerners in Pakistan. Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans are known to congregate or visit, such as hotels, clubs and restaurants, places of worship, schools, or outdoor recreation events. American fast food restaurants and other companies in Karachi were bombed in late 2005, resulting in several deaths and multiple injuries among Pakistani employees and customers. On March 2, 2006, an American diplomat, his locally employed driver, and three others were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives in front of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Fifty-two others were wounded. Occasional sectarian violence has resulted in fatal bomb attacks in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, and other Pakistani cities in 2006.

U.S. citizens who travel to or remain in Pakistan despite this Travel Warning are encouraged to register with the Embassy in Islamabad or the Consulates in Karachi, Lahore, or Peshawar. This registration can be completed online through the Department of State’s travel registration website at https://travelregistration.state.gov. Alternatively, Americans without Internet access should contact the nearest Embassy or Consulate for information on registering in person. Registration enables citizens to obtain updated information on travel and security within Pakistan via the emergency alert system (warden network). Americans in country should take appropriate individual precautions to ensure their safety and security. These measures include maintaining good situational awareness, avoiding crowds and demonstrations, as well as keeping a low profile, varying times and routes for all required travel and ensuring that travel documents and visas are valid.

From time to time, any post in Pakistan may temporarily suspend public services for security reasons. Official Americans may be prohibited from traveling to certain areas of Pakistan due to security concerns. Therefore, they may not be able to render immediate service to American citizens in distress. The websites of the Embassy and Consulates are regularly updated with the latest information on more specific travel restrictions and conditions.

Many areas of Pakistan, such as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghan border and the area adjacent to the Line of Control (LOC) in the disputed territory of Kashmir, are restricted for non-Pakistanis. The infrastructure of this region and some of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) was devastated as a result of the October 8, 2005 earthquake. Many hospitals were destroyed and traveling even short distances can be very difficult. Travel to any restricted region requires official permission by the Government of Pakistan. Failure to obtain such permission in advance can result in arrest and detention by Pakistani authorities.

Contact information follows for all four posts in Pakistan:

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is located at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5; telephone: (92-51) 208-0000; Consular Section telephone: (92-51) 208-2700; fax: (92-51) 282-2632; website: http://islamabad.usembassy.gov.

The U.S. Consulate General in Karachi, located at 8 Abdullah Haroon Road, closed its public operations indefinitely due to security concerns. U.S. citizens requiring emergency assistance should call the Consular Section in Karachi; telephone: (92-21) 520-4200 or (92-21) 520-4400 after hours; fax: (92-21) 568-0496; website: http://karachi.usconsulate.gov.

The U.S. Consulate in Lahore is located on 50 Sharah-E-Abdul Hamid Bin Badees (Old Empress Road), near Shimla Hill Rotary; telephone: (92-42) 603-4000 or (91-92) 603-4250; fax: (92-42) 603-4200; website: http://lahore.usconsulate.gov/; email: amconsul@brain.net.pk.

The U.S. Consulate in Peshawar is located at 11 Hospital Road, Cantonment, Peshawar; telephone: (92-91) 526-8800; fax: (92-91) 528-4171; website: http://Peshawar.usconsulate.gov.

Pakistan

PROFILE
PEOPLE
HISTORY
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
NATIONAL SECURITY
ECONOMY
FOREIGN RELATIONS
U.S.-PAKISTAN RELATIONS
TRAVEL

Compiled from the May 2007 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 803,943 sq. km. (310,527 sq. mi.); almost twice the size of California.

Cities: Capital—The city of Islamabad (pop. 800,000) and adjacent Raw-alpindi (1,406, 214) comprise the national capital area with a combined population of 3.7 million. Other cities—Karachi (11,624,219) (2005 est.), Lahore (6,310,888) (2005 est.), Faisalabad (1,977,246) and Hyderabad (1,151,274).

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Pakistan(i).

Population: (2007 est.) 164,741,924.

Annual growth rate: (2006 est.) 2.09%.

Ethnic groups: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushtun, Baloch, Muhajir (i.e., Urdu-speaking immigrants from India and their descendants), Saraiki, and Haz-ara.

Religions: Muslim 97%; small minorities of Christians, Hindus, and others.

Languages: Urdu (national and official), English, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushtu, Baloch, Hindko, Brahui, Saraiki (Punjabi variant).

Education: Literacy (2004 est.)— 48.7%; male 61.7%; female 35.2%.

Health: Infant mortality rate (2006 est.)—68.84/1,000. Life expectancy (2006 est.)—men 62.73 yrs., women 64.83 yrs.

Work force: (2004 est.) Agriculture—42%; services—38%; industry—20%.

Government

Type: Parliamentary democracy.

Independence: August 14, 1947.

Government branches: Executive—president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government). Legislative—Bicameral Parliament or Majlis-e-Shoora (100-seat Senate, 342-seat National Assembly). Judicial—Supreme Court, provincial high courts, Federal Islamic (or Shari'a) Court.

Political parties: Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Muttahid Majlis-e-Amal (umbrella group) (MMA), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Suffrage: Universal at 18.

Political subdivisions: 4 provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Northwest Frontier); also the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (composed of 7 tribal agencies—Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan) and the Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region (Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas).

Economy

GDP: (2005 est., current U.S. $) $110.7 billion.

Real GDP growth rate: (2005) 7.8%.

Per capita GDP: (2005 est., current U.S. $) $690.

Natural resources: Arable land, natural gas, limited oil, substantial hydropower potential, coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone.

Agriculture: Products—wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane, eggs, fruits, vegetables, milk, beef, mutton.

Industry: Types—textiles & apparel, food processing, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, shrimp, fertilizer, and paper products.

Trade: (2005 est.) Exports—$14.85 billion: textiles (garments, bed linen, cotton cloth, and yarn), rice, leather goods, sports goods, carpets, rugs, chemicals & manufactures. Major partners—U.S. 22.6%, United Arab Emirates 8.9%, U.K. 5.8%, China 5.4%, Germany 4.7%. Imports—$21.26 billion: petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, plastics, paper and paper board, transportation equipment, edible oils, pulses, iron and steel, tea. Major partners—China 14.0%, Saudi Arabia 10.5%, United Arab Emirates 9.0%, Japan 6.2%, U.S. 5.1%, Kuwait 5.1%, Germany 4.9%.

PEOPLE

The majority of Pakistan's population lives in the Indus River valley and in an arc formed by the cities of Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and Peshawar. Although Urdu is an official language of Pakistan, it is spoken as a first language by only 8% of the population; 48% speak Punjabi, 12% Sindhi, 10% Saraiki, 8% Pushtu, 3% Baloch, and 3% other. Urdu, Punjabi, Pushtu, and Baloch are Indo-European languages. English is the other official language, and is widely used in government, commerce, the officer ranks of the military, and in many institutions of higher learning.

HISTORY

Pakistan, along with parts of western India, contains the archeological remains of an urban civilization dating back 4,500 years. Alexander the Great included the Indus Valley in his empire in 326 B.C., and his successors founded the Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria based in what is today Afghanistan and extending to Peshawar. Following the rise of the Central Asian Kushan Empire in later centuries, the Buddhist culture of Afghanistan and Pakistan, centered on the city of Taxila just west of Islamabad, experienced a cultural renaissance known as the Gandhara period.

Pakistan's Islamic history began with the arrival of Muslim traders in the 8th century in Sindh. The collapse of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century provided an opportunity for the English East India Company to extend its control over much of the subcontinent. The Sikh adventurer, Ranjit Singh, carved out a dominion that extended from Kabul to Srinagar and Lahore, encompassing much of the northern area of modern Pakistan. British rule replaced the Sikhs in the first half of the 19th century. In a decision that had far-reaching consequences, the British permitted the Hindu Maharaja of Kashmir, a Sikh appointee, to continue in power.

Pakistan emerged from an extended period of agitation by Muslims in the subcontinent to express their national identity free from British colonial domination as well as domination by what they perceived as a Hindu-controlled Indian National Congress. Muslim anti-colonial leaders formed the All-India Muslim League in 1906. Initially, the League adopted the same objective as the Congress—self-government for India within the British Empire—but Congress and the League were unable to agree on a formula that would ensure the protection of Muslim religious, economic, and political rights.

Pakistan and Partition

The idea of a separate Muslim state in British India first emerged in the 1930s. On March 23, 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, formally endorsed the “Lahore Resolution,” calling for the creation of an independent state in regions where Muslims constituted a majority. At the end of World War II, the United Kingdom moved with increasing urgency to grant India independence. The Congress Party and the Muslim League, however, could not agree on the terms for a Constitution or establishing an interim government. In June 1947, the British Government declared that it would bestow full dominion status upon two successor states—India and Pakistan, formed from areas in the subcontinent in which Muslims were the majority population. Under this arrangement, the various princely states could freely join either India or Pakistan. Accordingly, on August 14, 1947 Pakistan, comprising West Pakistan with the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), and East Pakistan with the province of Bengal, became independent. East Pakistan later became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971.

The Maharaja of Kashmir was reluctant to make a decision on accession to either Pakistan or India. However, armed incursions into the state by tribesman from the NWFP led him to seek military assistance from India. The Maharaja signed accession papers in October 1947 and allowed Indian troops into the state. The Government of Pakistan, however, refused to recognize the accession and campaigned to reverse the decision. The status of Kashmir remains in dispute to this day.

Independence

With the death in 1948 of its first head of state, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and the assassination in 1951 of its first prime minister, Liaqat Ali Khan, political instability and economic difficulty became prominent features of post-independence Pakistan. On October 7, 1958, President Iskander Mirza, with the support of the army, suspended the 1956 Constitution, imposed martial law, and canceled the elections scheduled for January 1959. Twenty days later the military sent Mirza into exile to Britain, and Gen. Mohammad Ayub Khan assumed control of a military dictatorship. After Pakistan's loss in the 1965 war against India, Ayub Khan's power declined. Subsequent political and economic grievances inspired agitation movements that compelled his resignation in March 1969. He handed over responsibility for governing to the commander in chief of the army, General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan, who became President and Chief Martial Law Administrator.

General elections held in December 1970 polarized relations between the eastern and western sections of Pakistan. The Awami League, which advocated autonomy for the more populous East Pakistan, swept the East Pakistan seats to gain a majority in Pakistan as a whole. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), founded and led by Ayub Khan's former Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won a majority of the seats in West Pakistan, but the country was completely split with neither major party having any support in the other area. Negotiations to form a coalition government broke down. On March 26, 1971, following a bloody crackdown by the Pakistan Army, Bengali nationalists declared an independent People's Republic of Bangladesh. As fighting grew between the army and the Bengalis, an estimated 10 million

Bengalis sought refuge in India. On April 17, 1971, Bengali nationalists formed a provisional government in an area bordering India, and in November 1971, India sent its military into East Pakistan to intervene on the side of the Bangladeshis. On December 16, Pakistani forces surrendered in Dhaka, and East Pakistan became the new nation of Bangladesh. Yahya Khan then resigned the presidency and handed over leadership of the western part of Pakistan to Bhutto, who became President and the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator.

Bhutto moved decisively to restore national confidence and pursued an active foreign policy, taking a leading role in Islamic and Third World forums. Although Pakistan did not formally join the Non-Aligned Movement until 1979, the position of the Bhutto government coincided largely with that of the non-aligned nations. Domestically, Bhutto pursued a populist agenda and nationalized major industries and the banking system. In 1973, he promulgated a new Constitution accepted by most political elements and relinquished the presidency to become prime minister.

Although Bhutto continued his populist and socialist rhetoric, he increasingly relied on Pakistan's urban industrialists and rural landlords. Over time the economy stagnated, largely as a result of the dislocation and uncertainty produced by Bhutto's frequently changing economic policies. When Bhutto proclaimed his own victory in the March 1977 national elections, the opposition Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) denounced the results as fraudulent and demanded new elections. Bhutto resisted and later arrested the PNA leadership.

Muhammad Zia ul-Haq

With increasing anti-government unrest, the army grew restive. On July 5, 1977, the military removed Bhutto from power and arrested him, declared martial law, and suspended portions of the 1973 Constitution. Chief of Army Staff Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq became Chief Martial Law Administrator and promised to hold new elections within 3 months.

Zia released Bhutto and asserted that he could contest new elections scheduled for October 1977. However, after it became clear that Bhutto's popularity had survived his government, Zia postponed the elections and began criminal investigations of the senior PPP leadership. Subsequently, Bhutto was convicted and sentenced to death for an alleged conspiracy to murder a political opponent. Despite international appeals on his behalf, Bhutto was hanged on April 6, 1979.

Zia assumed the presidency and called for elections in November. However, fearful of a PPP victory, Zia banned political activity in October 1979, and postponed national elections. This same year Zia also passed into law the Hudood Ordinance, which provides for harsh Quranic punishments for violations of Shari′a (Islamic law).

In 1980, most center and left parties, led by the PPP, formed the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD). The MRD demanded Zia's resignation, an end to martial law, new elections, and restoration of the Constitution, as it existed before Zia's takeover. In early December 1984, President Zia proclaimed a national referendum for December 19 on his “Islamization” program. After nonparty based polls were held for the National and Provincial Assemblies in 1985, President Zia appointed Muhammad Khan Junejo as the Prime Minister. He implicitly linked approval of “Islamization” with a mandate for his continued presidency. Zia's opponents, led by the MRD, boycotted the elections. When the government claimed a 63% turnout, with more than 90% approving the referendum, many observers questioned the figures.

Sharif and Bhutto Civilian Governments

On August 17, 1988, a plane carrying President Zia, American Ambassador Arnold Raphel, U.S. Brig. General Herbert Wassom, and 28 Pakistani military officers crashed on a return flight from a military equipment trial near Bahawalpur, killing all on board. In accordance with the Constitution, Chairman of the Senate Ghu-lam Ishaq Khan became Acting President and announced that elections scheduled for November 1988 would take place. Elections were held on a party basis. On one side was an eight-party alliance and on the other, the PPP. The PPP won 94 seats out of 207 and the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IJI) won 54. Muhammad Khan Junejo lost from his home constituency. The president was bound to invite the PPP to from the government, but he delayed doing so for two weeks in order to give the IJI time to muster the support of other groups. Ultimately, the president asked PPP Co-chairperson Benazir Bhutto to form a government.

The PPP, under Benazir Bhutto's leadership, succeeded in forming a coalition government with several smaller parties, including the Mutta-hida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Differing interpretations of constitutional authority, debates over the powers of the central government relative to those of the provinces, and the antagonistic relationship between the Bhutto administration and opposition governments in Punjab and Balochistan seriously impeded social and economic reform programs. Ethnic conflict, primarily in Sindh province, exacerbated these problems. A fragmentation in the governing coalition and the military's reluctance to support an apparently ineffectual and corrupt government were accompanied by a significant deterioration in law and order.

In August 1990, President Khan, citing his powers under the eighth amendment to the Constitution, dismissed the Bhutto government and dissolved the national and provincial assemblies. New elections, held in October 1990, confirmed the political ascendancy of the IJI. In addition to a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the alliance won control of all four provincial parliaments and enjoyed the support of the military and of President Khan. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, as leader of the PML, the most prominent party in the IJI, was elected prime minister by the National Assembly.

Sharif emerged as the most secure and powerful Pakistani prime minister since the mid-1970s. Under his rule, the IJI achieved several important political victories. The implementation of Sharif's economic reform program; involving privatization, deregulation, and encouragement of private sector economic growth, greatly improved Pakistan's economic performance and business climate. The passage into law in May 1991 of a Shari'a bill, providing for widespread Islamization, legitimized the IJI government among much of Pakistani society.

However, Nawaz Sharif was not able to reconcile the different objectives of IJI's constituent parties. The largest religious party, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), abandoned the alliance because of its antagonism to what it regarded as PML hegemony. The government was weakened further by the military's suppression of the MQM, which had entered into coalition with the IJI to contain PPP influence, and allegations of corruption directed at Nawaz Sharif. In April 1993, President Khan, citing “maladministration, corruption, and nepotism” and espousal of political violence, dismissed the Sharif government, but the following month the Pakistan Supreme Court reinstated the National Assembly and the Nawaz Sharif government. Continued tensions between Sharif and Khan resulted in governmental gridlock and the Chief of Army Staff brokered an arrangement under which both the President and the Prime Minister resigned their offices in July 1993.

An interim government, headed by Moeen Qureshi, a former World Bank Vice President, took office with a mandate to hold national and provincial assembly elections in October. Despite its brief term, the Qureshi government adopted political, economic, and social reforms that generated considerable domestic support and foreign admiration.

In the October 1993 elections, the PPP won a plurality of seats in the National Assembly, and Benazir Bhutto was asked to form a government. However, because it did not acquire a majority in the National Assembly, the PPP's control of the government depended upon the continued support of numerous independent parties, particularly the PML/J (Pakistan Muslim League-Junejo). The unfavorable circumstances surrounding PPP rule—the imperative of preserving a coalition government, the formidable opposition of Nawaz Sharif's PML/N (Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz) movement, and the insecure provincial administrations—presented significant difficulties for the government of Prime Minister Bhutto. However, the election of Prime Minister Bhutto's close associate, Farooq Leghari, as President in November 1993 gave her a stronger power base.

In November 1996, President Leghari dismissed the Bhutto government, charging it with corruption, mismanagement of the economy, and implication in extrajudicial killings in Karachi. Elections in February 1997, resulted in an overwhelming victory for the PML/N, and President Leghari called upon Nawaz Sharif to form a government. In March 1997, with the unanimous support of the National Assembly, Sharif amended the Constitution, stripping the President of the power to dismiss the government and making his power to appoint military service chiefs and provincial governors contingent on the “advice” of the Prime Minister. Another amendment prohibited elected members from “floor crossing” or voting against party positions. The Sharif government also engaged in a protracted dispute with the judiciary, culminating in the storming of the Supreme Court by ruling party loyalists and the engineered dismissal of the Chief Justice and the resignation of President Leghari in December 1997. The new President elected by Parliament, Rafiq Tarar, was a close associate of the Prime Minister. A one-sided, anti-corruption campaign was used to target opposition politicians and critics of the regime. Similarly, the government moved to restrict press criticism and ordered the arrest and beating of prominent journalists. As domestic criticism of Sharif's administration intensified, Sharif attempted to replace Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf on October 12, 1999, with a family loyalist, Director General of the Interservice Intelligence Directorate, Lt. Gen. Ziauddin. Although General Musharraf was out of the country at the time, the army moved quickly to depose Sharif.

Pervez Musharraf

Following the October 12 ouster of the government of Prime Minister Sharif, the military-led government stated its intention to restructure the political and electoral systems. On October 14, 1999, General Musharraf declared a state of emergency and issued the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), which suspended the federal and provincial Parliaments, held the Constitution in abeyance, and designated Musharraf as Chief Executive. Musharraf appointed an eight-member National Security Council to function as Pakistan's supreme governing body, with mixed military/civilian appointees; a civilian Cabinet; and a National Reconstruction Bureau to formulate structural reforms. On May 12, 2000, Pakistan's Supreme Court unanimously validated the October 1999 coup and granted Musharraf executive and legislative authority for 3 years from the coup date. On June 20, 2001, Musharraf named himself as president and was sworn in.

After the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked on September 11, 2001, Musharraf pledged complete cooperation with the United States in the war on terror, which included locating and shutting down terrorist training camps within Pakistan's borders, cracking down on extremist groups and withdrawing support for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In a referendum held on April 30, 2002, Musharraf's presidency was extended by five more years. The handover from military to civilian rule came with parliamentary elections in November 2002, and the appointment of a civilian prime minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Having previously promised to give up his army post and become a civilian president, General Musharraf announced in late 2004 that he would retain his military role. In August 2004, Shaukat Aziz was sworn in as prime minister, having won a parliamentary vote of confidence, 191 of 342 votes, in which the opposition abstained.

On October 8, 2005 a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The epicenter of the earthquake was near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, and approximately 60 miles north-northeast of Islamabad. An estimated 75,000 people were killed and 2.5 million people were left homeless. The disaster of such a huge magnitude galvanized an international rescue and reconstruction effort in support of the affected region. The earthquake cost Pakistan $1.1 billion on resettling those affected.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

Pervez Musharraf has been chief of state since June 20, 2001. A prolonged confrontation over authority between Parliament and the President ended in December 2002 with a compromise which permitted passage of the Legal Framework Order (LFO) of 2002, under the terms of which President Musharraf made his pledge to resign his military position as Commander-in-Chief in late 2004. However, in 2004 General Musharraf announced that he would retain his military role.

The Pakistan Constitution of 1973, amended substantially in 1985 under Zia ul-Haq, was suspended by the military government in October 1999. It was restored on December 31, 2002. Selected provisions of the Constitution pertaining to changes that President Musharraf made while the Constitution was suspended remain contested by political opponents.

The president is chosen for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of the Senate, National Assembly, and the provincial assemblies. The prime minister is selected by the National Assembly for a four-year term. The bicameral parliament—or Majlis-e-Shoora—consists of the Senate (100 seats; members are indirectly elected by provincial assemblies to serve four-year terms) and the National Assembly (342 seats; 60 seats reserved for women, 10 seats reserved for minorities; members elected by popular vote serve four-year terms). Each of the four provinces—Punjab, Sindh, Northwest Frontier, and Balochistan—has a Chief Minister and provincial assembly. The Northern Areas, Azad Kashmir and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are administered by the federal government but enjoy considerable autonomy. The cabinet, National Security Council, and governors serve at the president's discretion. The judicial system comprises a Supreme Court, provincial high courts, and Federal Islamic (or Shari'a) Court. The Supreme Court is Pakistan's highest court. The president appoints the chief justice and they together determine the other judicial appointments. Each province has a high court, the justices of which are appointed by the president after conferring with the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the provincial chief justice. The judiciary is proscribed from issuing any order contrary to the decisions of the President. Federal Sharia Court hears cases that primarily involve Sharia, or Islamic law. Legislation enacted in 1991 gave legal status to Sharia. Although Sharia was declared the law of the land, it did not replace the existing legal code.

The Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and Pakistan Muslim League—Nawaz (PML-N) are national political parties, while the Muttahid Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)—an umbrella group of six religious parties, including the Jamaat-il-Islami—gained significant influence during the 2002 election. After those elections, the Pakistani political system remained highly fragmented, with no group winning a substantial majority of seats in the national assembly, and religious groups banding together in the MMA to earn a significant portion of seats for the first time. According to the constitution, Pakistan is a federation of four provinces: Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, and Sindh. Governors appointed by the president head the provinces. There is also the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and the Islamabad Capital Territory, which consists of the capital city of Islamabad. These areas and territory are under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The Northern Areas are administered as a de facto “Union Territory” and are treated as an integral part of Pakistan. The Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region includes Azad Kashmir, a separate and autonomous government that maintains strong ties to Pakistan.

Principal Government Officials

Last Updated: 2/1/2008

The country has a caretaker government until general elections are held and a new government is formed. The next general election is set for 18 February 2008. Most Cabinet portfolios are currently held by retired bureaucrats, judges, and military officers; members of the caretaker government are prohibited from seeking parliamentary seats in the upcoming elections.

Pres.: Pervez MUSHARRAF, Gen. (Ret.)

Prime Min.: Mohammedmian SOOMRO

Governor, State Bank: Shamshad AKHTAR

Ambassador to the US: Mahmud Ali DURRANI

Permanent Representative to the UN, New York: Munir AKRAM

Pakistan maintains an embassy in the United States at 3517 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-243-6500). It has consulates in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Houston.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Pakistan has the world's eighth-largest armed forces, which is generally well trained and disciplined. However, budget constraints and nation-building duties have reduced Pakistan's training tempo, which if not reversed, could affect the operational readiness of the armed forces. Likewise, Pakistan has had an increasingly difficult time maintaining its aging fleet of U.S., Chinese, U.K., and French equipment. While industrial capabilities have expanded significantly, limited budget resources and sanctions have significantly constrained the government's efforts to modernize its armed forces.

Until 1990, the United States provided military aid to Pakistan to modernize its conventional defensive capability. The United States allocated about 40% of its assistance package to non-reimbursable credits for military purchases, the third-largest program behind Israel and Egypt. The remainder of the aid program was devoted to economic assistance. Sanctions put in place in 1990 denied Pakistan further military assistance due to the discovery of its program to develop nuclear weapons. Sanctions were tightened following Pakistan's nuclear tests in response to India's May 1998 tests and the military coup of 1999. Pakistan has remained a non-signatory of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty.

The events of September 11, 2001, and Pakistan's agreement to support the United States led to a waiver of the sanctions, and military assistance resumed to provide spare parts and equipment to enhance Pakistan's capacity to police its western border with Afghanistan and address its legitimate security concerns. In 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005.

ECONOMY

With a per capita GDP of about $690 (current U.S. $), the World Bank considers Pakistan a low-income country. No more than 48.7% of adults are literate, and life expectancy is about 63 years. The population, currently about 165 million, is growing at 2.09% annually.

In 2000, the government made significant macroeconomic reforms: Privatizing Pakistan's state-subsidized utilities, reforming the banking sector, instituting a world-class anti-money laundering law, cracking down on piracy of intellectual property, and moving to quickly resolving investor disputes. After September 11, 2001, and Pakistan's proclaimed commitment to fighting terror, many international sanctions, particularly those imposed by the United States, were lifted. Pakistan's economic prospects began to increase significantly due to unprecedented inflows of foreign assistance at the end of 2001. This trend is expected to continue through 2009. Foreign exchange reserves and exports grew to record levels after a sharp decline. The International Monetary Fund lauded Pakistan for its commitment in meeting lender requirements for a $1.3 billion IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility loan, which it completed in 2004, forgoing the final permitted tranche. The Government of Pakistan has been successful in issuing sovereign bonds, and has issued $600 million in Islamic bonds, putting Pakistan back on the investment map. Pakistan's search for additional foreign direct investment has been hampered by concerns about the security situation, domestic and regional political uncertainties, and questions about judicial transparency.

U.S. assistance has played a key role in moving Pakistan's economy from the brink of collapse to setting record high levels of foreign reserves and exports, dramatically lowering levels of solid debt. Also, despite the earthquake in 2005, GDP growth remained strong at 6.6% in fiscal year 2005/ 2006. In 2002, the United States led Paris Club efforts to reschedule Pakistan's debt on generous terms, and in April 2003 the United States reduced Pakistan's bilateral official debt by $1 billion. In 2004, approximately $500 million more in bilateral debt was granted. Consumer price inflation eased slightly to an average of 8% in 2005/2006 from 9.3% in 2004/2005.

Low levels of spending in the social services and high population growth have contributed to persistent poverty and unequal income distribution. The trends of resources being devoted to socioeconomic development and infrastructure projects have been improving since 2002, although expenditures remain below global averages. Pakistan's extreme poverty and underdevelopment are key concerns, especially in rural areas. The government has reined in the fiscal mismanagement that produced massive foreign debt, and officials have committed to using international assistance—including a major part of the $3 billion five-year U.S. assistance package—to address Pakistan's long-term needs in the health and education sectors.

Reform

The government started pursuing market-based economic reform policies in the early 1980s. These reforms began to take hold in 1988, when the government launched an ambitious IMF-assisted structural adjustment program in response to chronic and unsustainable fiscal and external account deficits. The government began to remove barriers to foreign trade and investment, reform the financial system, ease foreign exchange controls, and privatize dozens of state-owned enterprises.

Although the economy became more structurally sound, it remained vulnerable to external and internal shocks, such as in 1992-93, when devastating floods and political uncertainty combined to depress economic growth sharply. The Asian financia crisis seriously affected Pakistan's major markets for its textile exports. For example, average real GDP growth from 1992 to 1998 dipped to 4.1% annually. Economic reform also was set back by Pakistan's nuclear tests in May 1998, and the subsequent economic sanctions imposed by the G-7. International default was narrowly averted by the partial waiver of sanctions and the subsequent reinstatement of Pakistan's IMF enhanced structural adjustment facility/extended fund facility in early 1999, followed by Paris Club and London Club re-scheduling. After taking power in late 1999, President Musharraf instituted policies to stabilize Pakistan's macroeconomic situation. Pakistan continues to struggle with these reforms, having mixed success, especially in reducing its budget and current account deficits.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Pakistan's principal natural resources are arable land, water, hydroelectric potential, and natural gas reserves. About 28% of Pakistan's total land area is under cultivation and is watered by one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. Agriculture accounts for about 21% of GDP and employs about 42% of the labor force. The most important crops are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables, which together account for more than 75% of the value of total crop output. Despite intensive farming practices, Pakistan remains a net food importer. Pakistan exports rice, fish, fruits, and vegetables and imports vegetable oil, wheat, cotton (net importer), pulses, and consumer foods.

The economic importance of agriculture has declined since independence, when its share of GDP was around 53%. Following the poor harvest of 1993, the government introduced agriculture assistance policies, including increased support prices for many agricultural commodities and expanded availability of agricultural credit. From 1993 to 1997, real growth in the agricultural sector averaged 5.7% but declined to less than 3% in 2005. Agricultural reforms, including increased wheat and oilseed production, play a central role in the government's economic reform package. Heavy rains in 2005 provided the benefit of larger than average cotton, wheat, and rice crops, but also caused damage due to flooding and avalanches.

Pakistan has extensive energy resources, including fairly sizable natural gas reserves, some proven oil reserves, coal, and large hydropower potential. However, exploitation of energy resources has been slow due to a shortage of capital and domestic and international political constraints. For instance, domestic gas and petroleum production totals only about half the country's energy needs, and dependence on imported oil contributes to Pakistan's persistent trade deficits and shortage of foreign exchange. The government announced that privatization in the oil and gas sector is a priority.

Industry

Pakistan's manufacturing sector accounts for about 25% of GDP. Cotton textile production and apparel manufacturing are Pakistan's largest industries, accounting for about 70% of total exports. Other major industries include food processing, beverages, construction materials, clothing, and paper products. As technology improves in the industrial sector, it continues to grow. In 2005/ 2006, the manufacturing sector grew by 8.6%. Despite government efforts to privatize large-scale parastatal units, the public sector continues to account for a significant proportion of industry. In the face of an increasing trade deficit, the government seeks to diversify the country's industrial base and bolster export industries. Net foreign investment in Pakistani industries is only 0.5% of GDP.

Foreign Trade and Aid

Weak world demand for its exports and domestic political uncertainty have contributed to Pakistan's high trade deficit. In 2004, growth rebounded to approximately 6% with substantial improvement in public and external debt indicators and remained robust with 7.8% growth in 2005. Foreign reserves are at an all-time high of $11.5 billion. Pakistan's exports, which grew by 14.4% in 2005/2006, continue to be dominated by cotton textiles and apparel, despite government diversification efforts. Major imports include petroleum and petroleum products, edible oil, wheat, chemicals, fertilizer, capital goods, industrial raw materials, and consumer products, rising to 38.8% to $25.6 billion. External imbalance has left Pakistan with a growing foreign debt burden. The fiscal imbalance is reflected in a high level of total net public debt, which reached an estimated 92.6% of GDP in 2000-01, more than half involving external liabilities, but decreased to 72.7% in 2003. The fiscal deficit widened from 5.6% of GDP in 1994-95 to 7.7% in 1997-98 before declining to 4.5% in 2006. Despite a rise in tax collection, defense and development expenditure along with transfers to the provinces all rose in the 2006 budget, widening the deficit. Support for loss-making, state-owned enterprises and a weak domestic tax base are critical elements in the recurring fiscal deficits. The Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd. (PTCL) represented the largest of Pakistan's privatization programs for 2005. Despite its economic and political difficulties, Pakistan has taken steps to liberalize its trade and investment regimes, either unilaterally or in the context of commitments made with the World Trade Organization (WTO), IMF, and the World Bank. In 2004-2005, efforts in several crucial areas seemingly intensified, resulting in Pakistan becoming a more open and secure market for its trading partners.

Pakistan has received significant loan/grant assistance from international financial institutions (e.g., the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank) and bilateral donors, particularly after it began using its military/financial resources in the war on terror. The United States pledged $3 billion for FY 2005 to FY 2009 in economic and military aid to Pakistan. In addition, the IMF and World Bank have pledged $1 billion in loans to Pakistan. In 2004 to 2007 alone, the World Bank has pledged over $500 million in investment projects.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

After September 11, 2001, Pakistan's prominence in the international community increased significantly, as it pledged its alliance with the U.S. in the war on terror and made a commitment to eliminate terrorist camps on its territory. Historically, Pakistan has had difficult and volatile relations with India, long-standing close relations with China, extensive security and economic interests in the Persian Gulf, and wide-ranging bilateral relations with the United States and other Western countries. It expresses a strong desire for a stable Afghanistan.

India

Since partition, relations between Pakistan and India have been characterized by rivalry and suspicion. Although many issues divide the two countries, the most sensitive one since independence has been the status of Kashmir.

At the time of partition, the princely state of Kashmir, though ruled by a Hindu Maharajah, had an overwhelmingly Muslim population. When the Maharajah hesitated in acceding to either Pakistan or India in 1947, some of his Muslim subjects, later aided by tribesmen from Pakistan, revolted in favor of joining Pakistan. In exchange for military assistance in containing the revolt, the Kashmiri ruler offered his allegiance to India. Indian troops occupied the eastern portion of Kashmir, including its capital, Srinagar, while the western part came under Pakistani control.

India submitted this dispute to the United Nations on January 1, 1948. One year later, the UN arranged a cease-fire along a line dividing Kashmir but leaving the northern end of the line not demarcated and the Vale of Kashmir (with the majority of the population) under Indian control. India and Pakistan agreed to a resolution that called for a UN-supervised plebiscite to determine the state's future This plebiscite has not occurred because the main precondition, the withdrawal of both nations' forces from Kashmir, has failed to take place.

Full-scale hostilities erupted in September 1965, when India alleged that insurgents trained and supplied by Pakistan were operating in India-controlled Kashmir. Hostilities ceased 3 weeks later, following mediation efforts by the UN and interested countries. In January 1966, the leaders of India and Pakistan met in Tashkent, U.S.S.R., and agreed to attempt a peaceful settlement of Kashmir and their other differences.

Following the 1971 Indo-Pakistan conflict, President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi met in the hill station of Shimla, India, in July 1972. They agreed to a line of control in Kashmir resulting from the December 17, 1971, cease-fire, and endorsed the principle of settlement of bilateral disputes through peaceful means. In 1974, Pakistan and India agreed to resume postal and telecommunications linkages and to enact measures to facilitate travel. Trade and diplomatic relations were restored in 1976 after a hiatus of 5 years.

India' nuclear test in 1974 generated great uncertainty in Pakistan and is generally acknowledged to have been the impetus for Pakistan's nuclear weapons development program. In 1983, the Pakistani and Indian Governments accused each other of aiding separatists in their respective countries—Sikhs in India's Punjab state and Sindhis in Pakistan's Sindh province. In April 1984, tensions erupted after troops were deployed to the Siachen Glacier, a high-altitude, desolate area close to the China border not demarcated by the cease-fire agreement (Karachi Agreement) signed by Pakistan and India in 1949.

Tensions diminished after Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in November 1984 and after a group of Sikh hijackers was brought to trial by Pakistan in March 1985. In December 1985, President Zia and Prime Minister Gandhi pledged not to attack each other's nuclear facilities. A formal “no attack” agreement was signed in January 1991. In early 1986, the Indian and Pakistani Governments began high-level talks to resolve the Siachen Glacier border dispute and to improve trade.

Bilateral tensions increased in early 1990, when Kashmiri militants began a campaign of violence against Indian Government authority in Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequent high-level bilateral meetings relieved the tensions between India and Pakistan, but relations worsened again after the destruction of the Ayodhya mosque by Hindu extremists in December 1992 and terrorist bombings in Bombay in March 1993. Talks between the Foreign Secretaries of both countries in January 1994 ended in deadlock.

More recently, the Indo-Pakistani relationship has veered sharply between rapprochement and conflict. After taking office in February 1997, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif moved to resume official dialog with India. A number of meetings at the foreign secretary and prime ministerial level took place, with positive atmospherics but little concrete progress. The relationship improved markedly when Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee traveled to Lahore for a summit with Sharif in February 1999. There was considerable hope that the meeting could lead to a break-through.

In spring 1999, infiltrators from Pakistan occupied positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control in the remote, mountainous area of Kashmir near Kargil, threatening the ability of India to supply its forces on Siachen Glacier. By early summer, serious fighting flared in the Kargil sector. The infiltrators withdrew following a meeting between Prime Minister Sharif and President Clinton in July. Relations between India and Pakistan were particularly strained during the 1999 coup in Islamabad. Then, just weeks after the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, an attack on India's Parliament on December 13 further strained this relationship.

The prospects for better relations between India and Pakistan improved in early January 2004 when a summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) permitted India's Prime Minister Vajpayee to meet with President Musharraf. Both leaders agreed to establish a Composite Dialogue to resolve their disputes. The Composite Dialogue focuses on eight issues: confidence building measures, Kashmir, Wullar barrage, promotion of friendly exchanges, Siachen glacier, Sir creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, and economic and commercial cooperation. The first round of the Composite Dialogue was held in New Delhi on June 27-28, 2004.

Relations further improved when President Musharraf met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York in October 2004. Additional steps aimed at improving relations were announced when Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh visited Islamabad in February 2005 and in April 2005 when President Musharraf traveled to India to view a cricket match and hold discussions. In a further display of improved relations, bus service commenced from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to Srinagar in April 2005. After a destructive earthquake hit the Kashmir region in October 2005, the two countries cooperated with each other to deal with the humanitarian crisis.

Musharraf and Singh last met in September 2006 at the Non-Aligned Summit in Havana. At this meeting, the two leaders condemned all acts of terrorism and agreed to continue the search for options acceptable to both sides for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of all issues, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The foreign secretaries of both nations opened the fourth round of the Composite Dialogue in Islamabad on March 13-14, 2007.

Afghanistan

Following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Pakistani Government played a vital role in supporting the Afghan resistance movement and assisting Afghan refugees. After the Soviet withdrawal in February 1989, Pakistan, with cooperation from the world community, continued to provide extensive support for displaced Afghans. Continued turmoil in Afghanistan prevented the refugees from returning to their country. In 1999, more than 1.2 million registered Afghan refugees remained in Pakistan. Pakistan was one of three countries to recognize the Taliban regime of Afghanistan. International pressure after September 11, 2001, prompted Pakistan to reassess its relations with the Taliban regime and support the U.S. and international coalition in Operation Enduring Freedom to remove the Taliban from power. Pakistan has publicly expressed its support to Afghanistan's President Karzai and has pledged $100 million toward Afghanistan's reconstruction. Both nations are also working to strengthen cooperation along their rugged border, including making preparations to hold joint jirgas in their restive border areas.

People's Republic of China

In 1950, Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC). Following the Sino-Indian hostilities of 1962, Pakistan's relations with China became stronger; since then, the countries have regularly exchanged high-level visits resulting in various agreements. China has provided economic, military, and technical assistance to Pakistan. Favorable relations with China have been a pillar of Pakistan's foreign policy. The PRC strongly supported Pakistan's opposition to Soviet involvement in Afghanistan and is perceived by Pakistan as a regional counterweight to India and Russia.

Iran and the Persian Gulf

Historically, Pakistan has had close geopolitical and cultural-religious linkages with Iran. However, strains in the relationship appeared following the Iranian revolution. Pakistan and Iran supported different factions in the Afghan conflict. Also, some Pakistanis suspect Iranian government support for the sectarian violence that has plagued Pakistan. However, relations between the countries have improved since their policies toward Afghanistan have converged with the fall of the Taliban. Both countries contend that they are on the road to strong and lasting friendly relations.

Pakistan historically has provided military personnel to strengthen Gulf-state defenses and to reinforce its own security interests in the area.

U.S.-PAKISTAN RELATIONS

The United States and Pakistan established diplomatic relations in 1947. The U.S. agreement to provide economic and military assistance to Pakistan and the latter's partnership in the Baghdad Pact/CENTO and SEATO strengthened relations between the nations. However, the U.S. suspension of military assistance during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war generated a widespread feeling in Pakistan that the United States was not a reliable ally. Even though the United States suspended military assistance to both countries involved in the conflict, the suspension of aid affected Pakistan much more severely. Gradually, relations improved, and arms sales were renewed in 1975. Then, in April 1979, the United States cut off economic assistance to Pakistan, except food assistance, as required under the Symington Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, due to concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 highlighted the common interest of Pakistan and the United States in peace and stability in South Asia. In 1981, the United States and Pakistan agreed on a $3.2 billion military and economic assistance program aimed at helping Pakistan deal with the heightened threat to security in the region and its economic development needs.

Recognizing national security concerns and accepting Pakistan's assurances that it did not intend to construct a nuclear weapon, Congress waived restrictions (Symington Amendment) on military assistance to Pakistan. In March 1986, the two countries agreed on a second multiyear (FY 1988-93) $4 billion economic development and security assistance program. On October 1, 1990, however, the United States suspended all military assistance and new economic aid to Pakistan under the Pressler Amendment, which required that the President certify annually that Pakistan “does not possess a nuclear explosive device.”

Several incidents of violence against American officials and U.S. mission employees in Pakistan have marred the relationship. In November 1979, false rumors that the United States had participated in the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca provoked a mob attack on the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad in which the chancery was set on fire resulting in the loss of life of American and Pakistani staff. In 1989, an attack on the American Center in Islamabad resulted in six Pakistanis being killed in crossfire with the police. In March 1995, two American employees of the consulate in Karachi were killed and one wounded in an attack on the home-to-office shuttle. In November 1997, four U.S. businessmen were brutally murdered while being driven to work in Karachi. In March 2002 a suicide attacker detonated explosives in a church in Islamabad, killing two Americans associated with the Embassy and three others. There were also unsuccessful attacks by terrorists on the Consulate General in Karachi in May 2002. Another bomb was detonated near American and other businesses in Karachi in November 2005, killing three people and wounding 15 others. On March 2, 2006, a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives as a vehicle carrying an American Foreign Service officer passed by on its way to Consulate Karachi. The diplomat, the Consulate's locally-employed driver and three other people were killed in the blast; 52 others were wounded.

The decision by India to conduct nuclear tests in May 1998 and Pakistan's matching response set back U.S. relations in the region, which had seen renewed U.S. Government interest during the second Clinton Administration. A presidential visit scheduled for the first quarter of 1998 was postponed and, under the Glenn Amendment, sanctions restricted the provision of credits, military sales, economic assistance, and loans to the government. The October 1999 overthrow of the democratically elected Sharif government triggered an additional layer of sanctions under Section 508 of the Foreign Appropriations Act, which include restrictions on foreign military financing and economic assistance. U.S. Government assistance to Pakistan was subsequently limited mainly to refugee and counter-narcotics assistance.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship changed significantly once Pakistan agreed to support the U.S. campaign to eliminate the Taliban in Afghanistan and to join the United States in the Global War on Terror. Since September 2001, Pakistan has provided extensive assistance in the war on terror by capturing more than 600 al-Qaida members and their allies. The United States has stepped up its economic assistance to Pakistan, providing debt relief and support for a major effort for education reform. During President Musharraf's visit to the United States in 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005.

Following the region's tragic October 8, 2005 earthquake, the United States responded immediately and generously to Pakistan's call for assistance. The response was consistent with U.S. humanitarian values and our deep commitment to Pakistan. At the subsequent reconstruction conference in Islamabad on November 19, 2005, the U.S. announced a $510 million commitment to Pakistan for earthquake relief and reconstruction, including humanitarian assistance, military support for relief operations, and anticipated U.S. private contributions.

President Bush and President Musharraf have affirmed the long-term, strategic partnership between their two countries. In 2004, the United States recognized closer bilateral ties with Pakistan by designating Pakistan as a Major Non-NATO Ally. President Bush visited Pakistan in March 2006, where he and President Musharraf reaffirmed their shared commitment to a broad and lasting strategic partnership, agreeing to continue their cooperation on a number of issues including: the war on terror, security in the region, strengthening democratic institutions, trade and investment, education, and earthquake relief and reconstruction. The United States and Pakistan concluded the sale to Pakistan of F-16 aircraft in late 2006, further reflecting their deepening strategic partnership. President Musharraf visited Washington in September 2006, where he held a bilateral meeting with President Bush and also participated in a trilateral meeting with President Bush and President Karzai of Afghanistan. The U.S.-Pakistan strategic partnership is based on the shared interests of the United States and Pakistan in building stable and sustainable democracy and in promoting peace and security, stability, prosperity, and democracy in South Asia and across the globe.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

Last Updated: 2/19/2008

ISLAMABAD (E) Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, APO/FPO Unit 62200 APO/AE 09812-2200, 92-51-208-0000, Fax 92-51-227-6427, INMARSAT Tel 873-383-160-243, Workweek: M-F 0200-1030Zulu, Website: http://islamabad.usembassy.gov.

KARACHI (CG) 8 Abdullah Haroon Rd, Karachi, Pakistan, APO/FPO Unit 62400 APO/AE 09814-2400, 92-21-520-4200, Fax 92-21-568-0496, INMARSAT Tel 0088216-898-00995/ 008881621457529, Workweek: M-F: 0800-1630 officially, Website: http://karachi.usconsulate.gov.

LAHORE (C) 50 Empress Road, Lahore Pakistan 54000, APO/FPO Unit 62216 APO/AE 09812-2216, +92 42 603-4000, Fax +92 42 603-4200, Workweek: M-F 0800-1630, Website: http://lahore.usconsulate.gov.

PESHAWAR (C) 11 Hospital Rd Peshawar Cantt, APO/FPO Unit 62217 APO/AE 09812-2217, 92-91–526-8800, Fax 92-91-527-6712, Workweek: M-FR, 0800-1630;, Website: http://peshawar.usconsulate.gov.

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet

September 27, 2007

Country Description: Pakistan is a parliamentary federal republic in South Asia, with a population of nearly 170 million people. President Pervez Musharraf came to power in October 1999, and was indirectly elected to office in 2002. The military continues to play a significant role in the nation's governance. Pakistan is a developing country, with tourist facilities available in major cities but limited in outlying areas. The infrastructure of the areas of Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier Province was devastated as a result of the October 8, 2005 earthquake and is not yet recovered.

Entry Requirements: All U.S. citizens traveling to Pakistan for any purpose are required to have valid U.S. passports and Pakistani-issued visas. Further information on entry requirements can be obtained from the Embassy of Pakistan at: 3517 International Court Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008; telephone: 202-243-6500; e-mail: info@pakistan-embassy.org; website: http://www.pakistan-embassy.org.

Travelers may also contact one of the Consulates General of Pakistan in:

Boston: 20 Chestnut Street, Needham, MA 02492; telephone: (781) 455-8000; fax: (617) 266-6666.

Chicago: 333 North Michigan Ave., Suite 728, Chicago, IL, 60601; telephone: (312) 781-1831; fax: (312) 781-1839; email: parepchicago@ yahoo.com.

Houston: 11850 Jones Road, Houston, TX, 77070; telephone: (281) 890-2223; fax: (281) 890-1433; email: parephouston@sbcglobal.net.

Los Angeles: 10850 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90024; telephone: (310) 441-5114; fax: (310) 441-9256; email: info@pakconsulate la.org.

New York: 12 East 65th St., New York, NY 10021; telephone: (212) 879-5800; fax: (212) 517-6987; website: www.pakistanconsulateny.org.

If a traveler plans to stay longer than the time listed on the visa, he or she must extend the stay with the local passport office of the Ministry of Interior. Visit the Embassy of Pakistan website for the most current visa information.

Safety and Security: A number of extremist groups within Pakistan continue to target American and other Western interests, high-level Pakistani government officials, as well as members of minority indigenous and religious groups. Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans are known to congregate or visit. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombing—including vehicle-borne explosives and improvised explosive devices—assassinations, carjacking, assault or kidnapping. American fast food restaurants and other companies in Karachi were bombed in late 2005, resulting in several deaths and multiple injuries. None of the casualties were Americans. On March 2, 2006, an American diplomat, his locally employed driver, and three others were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives in front of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Fifty-two others were wounded in the attack. Occasional sectarian violence has resulted in fatal bomb attacks in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, and other Pakistani cities in 2006. Rallies, demonstrations, and processions occur from time to time throughout Pakistan on very short notice and have often taken on an anti-Ameri-can or anti-Western character. Because of the possibility of violence, Americans are urged to avoid all public places of worship and areas where Westerners are known to congregate.

Karachi and the southern parts of Punjab Province have experienced protracted political or sectarian violence that poses a potential danger to American travelers. During the Islamic (Shi'a) religious observance of Moharram, rivalries and hostilities often increase. Family feuds are frequently fatal and may be followed by retaliation.

It is best to avoid public transportation. Women are advised to dress conservatively, with arms and legs covered, and avoid walking around alone. It is unwise for anyone to travel on the streets late at night. Visitors to Pakistan should attempt to maintain a low profile, blend in, be aware of their surroundings, and seek security with their family or sponsoring organization. Returning Americans of Afghan origin may be harassed or come under scrutiny by local police, immigration, and customs officials.

Northern Areas—Americans wishing to trek in Gilgit, Hunza, Chitral and the upper Swat valley should use only licensed guides and tourist agencies. While overall crime is low, there have been occasional assaults on foreign visitors.

Northwest Frontier Province—The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghan border, and certain areas within the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), are designated as tribal areas and are not subject to normal government jurisdiction. The Government of Pakistan requires all citizens of countries other than Pakistan and Afghanistan to obtain permission from the Home and Tribal Affairs Department prior to visiting these locations. The permit may stipulate that an armed escort must accompany the visitor. Even in the settled areas of the NWFP there is occasional ethnic, sectarian, and political violence, as well as anti-foreign rhetoric. Members of the Taliban and Al-Qaida are known to be in the FATA, and may also be in the settled areas. Foreigners should avoid these areas.

Kashmir—While direct military hostilities between India and Pakistan across the Line of Control (LOC) have ceased, militant groups engaged in a long-running insurgency on the Indian side of the LOC are reported to have bases and supporters operating from the Pakistani side. Most of these groups are anti-American, and some have attacked Americans and other Westerners. The Government of Pakistan restricts access to many parts of this region and requires that visitors obtain a permit from the Ministry of Interior before traveling. These areas bore the brunt of the October 8, 2005 earthquake and have not fully recovered. The Department of State strongly recommends against travel to this area. Those Americans who feel they have urgent business there should contact the Embassy for further guidance.

Punjab Province—Sectarian violence has decreased considerably in recent years, though occasional violent demonstrations, bombings, and attacks on places of worship of all faiths do occur. As a precaution against these possible dangers, U.S. citizens are cautioned to avoid public transportation and crowded areas. The Wagah border crossing into India near Lahore remains open (from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) daily for travel to and from India if the passport holder has a valid visa for both countries. Visitors are advised to confirm the current status of the border crossing prior to commencing travel.

Sindh Province—In Karachi and Hyderabad, there has been recurring violence characterized by random bombings, shootings, and kidnapping for ransom. Americans and other Westerners continue to be a particular target of hostility. The deadly March 2006 suicide attack near the U.S. Consulate is only the most recent in a string of violent incidents in Karachi over the past few years, including occasional mosque bombings and anti-Western mob violence. The Consulate in particular has been the target of several major terrorist attacks or plots in recent years. Nonessential travel to these cities is strongly discouraged. In rural Sindh Province, the security situation is hazardous, especially for those engaged in overland travel. The Government of Pakistan recommends that travelers limit their movements in Sindh Province.

Balochistan Province—The Province of Balochistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, is notorious for narcotics and other forms of cross-border smuggling. Members of the Taliban and Al-Qaida are also believed to be present there. Armed battles between clans are frequent. Tribal unrest sometimes turns violent, as occurred after the killing of a prominent local leader in August 2006. Because provincial police presence is limited, travelers wishing to visit the interior of Balochistan should consult with the province'ss Home Secretary. Advance permission from provincial authorities is required for travel into many areas. Local authorities have detained travelers who lacked proper permission. Quetta, the provincial capital, has experienced occasional gun battles in the streets and the imposition of curfews. Terrorist attacks against Pakistani government installations and infrastructure have been reported throughout 2005 and 2006.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Internet website where the current Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts, including the Worldwide Caution Travel Alert, can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada, or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.

Crime: Crime is a serious concern for foreigners throughout Pakistan. Carjacking, armed robberies, house invasions, and other violent crimes occur in many major urban areas. Petty crime, especially theft of personal property, is common. American travelers to Pakistan are strongly advised to avoid traveling by taxi and other forms of public transportation, and have members of their host organizations or families meet them at the airport.

In many countries around the world, counterfeit and pirated goods are widely available. Transactions involving such products may be illegal under local law. In addition, bringing them back to the United States may result in forfeitures and/ or fines. More information on this serious problem is available at http://www.cybercrime.gov/18usc2320.htm.

Information for Victims of Crime: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

Medical Facilities and Health Information: Adequate medical care is available in major Pakistani cities, but is limited in rural areas. Facilities in the cities vary in level and range of services, resources, and cleanliness, and Americans may find them below U.S. standards; facilities in rural areas are consistently below U.S. standards. Medical facilities require prepayment and do not accept credit cards.

Water is not potable anywhere in Pakistan and sanitation in many restaurants is inadequate. Stomach illnesses are common and can be lifethreatening. Effective emergency response to personal injury and illness is virtually non-existent in Pakistan. Ambulances are few and are not necessarily staffed by medical personnel.

Any emergency case should be transported immediately to recommended emergency receiving rooms. Many American-brand medications are not widely available, but generic brands from well-known pharmaceuticals usually are. The quality of the locally-produced medications is not known.

Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC's internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization's (WHO) website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith/en.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Pakistan is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.

Traffic in Pakistan moves on the left, opposite of U.S. traffic. In addition to this source of potential confusion, travel by road in Pakistan has a variety of other risks. Roads are crowded, drivers are often aggressive and poorly trained, and many vehicles, particularly large trucks and buses, are badly maintained. Donkeys, cattle, horse carts, and even the occasional camel can pose roadside hazards in some areas.

Roads, including most major highways, also suffer from poor maintenance and often have numerous potholes, sharp drop-offs and barriers that are not sign-posted. Extreme caution should be exercised when traveling at night by road since many vehicles do not have proper illumination or dimmers nor are most roads properly illuminated or signed. Driving without experienced local drivers or guides is not recommended.

It is best to avoid public transportation. For security reasons, U.S. Mission personnel are prohibited from using taxis or buses. Visit the website of Pakistan's national tourist office at http://www.tourism.gov.pk/ and the national authority responsible for road safety at http://www.nha.gov.pk.

Aviation Safety Oversight: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assessed the Government of Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority as being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of Pakistan's air carrier operations. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA's website at http://www.faa.gov.

Special Circumstances: Pakistan is largely a cash economy. Personal checks are not commonly accepted. Most Pakistanis do not use checking accounts for routine transactions. Outside of major cities and tourist destinations, even credit cards and travelers' checks are generally not accepted, and there have been numerous reports of credit card fraud. There are bank branches as well as registered moneychangers in all international airports. ATMs can also be found in major airports. English is widely spoken by professional-level airport staff.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Pakistani laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Pakistan are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States.

Children's Issues: For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, see the Office of Children's Issues website at http://travel.state.gov/family.

Registration and Embassy and Consulate Locations: Americans living or traveling in Pakistan are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel registration website so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security within Pakistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is located at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5; telephone: (92-51) 208-0000; Consular Section telephone: (92-51) 208-2700; fax: (92-51) 282-2632; website: http://islamabad.usembassy.gov.

The U.S. Consulate General in Karachi, located at 8 Abdullah Haroon Road, closed its public operations indefinitely due to security concerns. U.S. citizens requiring emergency assistance should call the Consular Section in Karachi; telephone: (92-21) 520-4200; fax: (92-21) 568-0496; website: http://karachi.usconsulate.gov.

The U.S. Consulate in Lahore is located on 50 Sharah-E-Abdul Hamid Bin Badees (Old Empress Road), near Shimla Hill Rotary; telephone: (92-42) 603-4000; fax: (92-42) 603-4200; website: http://lahore.usconsulate.gov/; email: amconsul@brain.net.pk.

The U.S. Consulate in Peshawar is located at 11 Hospital Road, Cantonment, Peshawar; telephone: (92-91) 526-8800; fax: (92-91) 528-4171; website: http://peshawar.usconsulate.gov.

International Adoption

February 2008

The information in this section has been edited from a report of the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Overseas Citizens Services.

For more information, please read the International Adoption section of this book and review current reports online at http://travel.state.gov/family.

Disclaimer: The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and current understanding. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.

General: The following is a guide for U.S. citizens who are interested in adopting a child in Pakistan and applying for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States. This process involves complex foreign and U.S. legal requirements. U.S. consular officers give each petition careful consideration on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the legal requirements of both countries have been met, for the protection of the prospective adoptive parent(s), the biological parents(s) and the child. Interested U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to contact U.S. consular officials in Islamabad before formalizing an adoption agreement to ensure that appropriate procedures have been followed which will make it possible for the Embassy (Consulate) to issue a U.S. immigrant visa for the child.

Availability of Children for Adoption: Please review current reports online at http://travel.state.gov/family.

Adoption Authority: The government office responsible for adoptions in Pakistan is the Family court.

Adoption Procedures: First, it should be noted that Pakistan is not an easy country from which to adopt a child. If you have a particular child in mind for adoption, especially a relative, be sure to have a lawyer or USCIS assist you in determining if the child fits the definition of “orphan” before proceeding.

Suggested steps to take when adopting is as follows: Contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security office closest to your place of residence for general information regarding adoption procedures, as well as a copy of the brochure The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adoptive Children. Contact adoption organizations in the U.S. for general information and guidance regarding international adoptions. Consider consulting an adoption attorney File form I-600A (if no child has been identified) or 1-600 (if specific child has been identified) with your local USCIS office. If you have been a resident in Pakistan for at least six months, you may file the form(s) with the USCIS officer in Islamabad. If you have an approved I-600A and are traveling to Pakistan, you may also file form 1-600 with the USCIS officer in Islamabad. The petitioner must obtain custody of the child from a Pakistani family court, under the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890. The custody order should allow for emigration and foreign adoption of the child Obtain a Pakistani passport for the child.

Age and Civil Status Requirements: If single, the petitioner must be a U.S. citizen who is at least 24 years old when filing form I-600A, and at least 25 years old when filing form 1-600. If married, only one spouse is technically the petitioner (must be a U.S. citizen). The other spouse (who does not have to be a U.S. citizen) must co-sign the forms, consent to the adoption, and be approved in the home study. Both spouses can be of any age. The child must be under the age of 16 when the 1-600 petition is filed on his/her behalf and must meet the statutory definition of “orphan.”

Adoption Agencies and Attorneys: There are no adoption agencies in Pakistan, however, the American Embassy provides a list of attorneys that the parents can use Please review current reports online at http://travel.state.gov/family for a list.

Doctors: The U.S. Embassy (Consulate) maintains current lists of doctors and sources for medicines, should either you or your child experience health problems while in Pakistan.

Documentary Requirements: The following documents are required to complete the adoption process:

• Proof of U.S. citizenship of petitioner
• Proof of marriage of petitioner (if married); if the petitioner is unmarried but was previously married, submit proof of termination of all previous marriages
• Fingerprint cards of petitioner, spouse, and all other adult members of the petitioner's household
• Approved home-study
• $525.00 filing fee, plus $25 fingerprint fee for each adult household member

Please see the International Adoption section of this book for more details and review current reports online at http://travel.state.gov/family.

U.S. Immigration Requirements: A Pakistani child adopted by an American citizen must obtain an immigrant visa before he or she can enter the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident.

Prospective adopting parents are strongly encouraged to consult USCIS publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adoptive Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions. Please see the International Adoption section of this book for more details and review current reports online at http://travel.state.gov/family.

U.S. Embassy
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: (92)(51) 2-080-2700
Fax: (92)(51) 2-822-632
Web site: http://www.usembassy.state.gov/pakistan

Questions: Specific questions regarding adoption in Pakistan may be addressed to the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Islamabad. You may also contact the Office of Children's Issues, SA-29, 2201 C Street, NW, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20520-2818, Tel: 1-888-407-4747 with specific questions.

International Parental Child Abduction

February 2008

The information in this section has been edited from a report of the State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Overseas Citizens Services. For more information, please read the International Parental Child Abduction section of this book and review current reports online at http://travel.state.gov/family.

Disclaimer: The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is provided for general information only. Questions involving interpretation of specific foreign laws should be addressed to foreign legal counsel.

Under Pakistani family law, which is based on Islamic law, the father controls virtually all aspects of his family's life. He decides where his wife and children will live, how the children are to be educated and whether or where they may travel. Courts rarely, if ever, give custody of children to a woman who is not a Muslim, who will not raise the children as Muslims, does not plan to raise them in Pakistan, or has remarried. In all probability, even if the mother wins custody, the children would still need the father's permission, to leave the country. Any matter of custody in Pakistan can only be resolved through the appropriate local judicial system.

Currently, the only treaties which have any application to abductions of children from the United States are the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the extradition treaties which the United States has with individual countries. Pakistan is not a party to the Hague Convention, and there is no bilateral treaty in effect between the U.S. and Pakistan which would cover parental child abduction.

While the courts of Pakistan may take into account the laws of other countries, custody orders from other countries are viewed simply as evidence in a Pakistani proceeding. Possession of a custody order, even in the absence of such an order by the Pakistani spouse, will not automatically result in the return of an abducted child. That parent would have to appeal to the family court in order to try to obtain an order for custody.

Pakistan will recognize decrees of other countries, whether or not there are any formal treaties with them. Abduction by a father is considered abduction by Pakistani authorities (the implication being that it is considered to be an illegal action). However, a foreign-born mother with U.S. custody orders still is not automatically allowed to take possession of her children and depart the country. She would have to retain an attorney and appeal to the High court. In spite of the illegal action (the abduction), and even though the foreign-born mother has a court order, there is still a great possibility the mother will not be given custody of the child. Moreover, if she is granted custody, the father can appeal to the Supreme Court on a matter of law, which means there was some legal point which was not adhered to during the course of the hearing. If the Supreme Court grants custody (no cases have gone that far yet in this district), there is no further recourse for the father or mother. If the foreign-born mother is granted custody and the father does not comply with the court order, the children can be taken by force. In addition, other civil actions can be taken such as attaching the father s property or arresting him. If a foreign born mother were granted full custody of her child, the father has the right to refuse to allow the mother and child to depart if the court order does not specifically allow her to remove the children from Pakistan.

Although appeal to the courts may seem difficult to a mother seeking custody of her children, it is recommended that parents be urged to appeal to the courts or other legal resources available.

If a foreign-born mother has the only court order (U.S. or other) in effect regarding the custody of her child, it is also recommended that in addition to appealing to the courts, she should seek assistance in effecting that order from other local authorities (i.e. from local police or school officials).

Parents seeking legal assistance in Pakistan should be advised that local attorneys in Pakistan do not reseach or investigate cases. Therefore, she must bring as much documentary evidence as she can when she comes to Pakistan.

She may be able to hire a local investigator (attorneys also do not use the services of independent investigators) to gain whatever evidence she needs from Pakistan.

At this point, it would probably be best for the mother to be present in Pakistan, at least part way through the investigation, to check on the actual progress being made and to try and minimize the possiblity that the investigator will be bribed to alter his findings.

The mother might wish to have a U.S. attorney review all collected evidence for advice on what may be useful and what may not. Once all evidence is collected, a Pakistani attorney should be retained. Constitutionally, courts are bound to resolve such cases within six months. But in reality, such cases could take more than one year if there are appeals.

There are major family court sections in the civil courts in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, and Peshawar. In smaller towns, any judge could hear such a case.

In Pakistan, most mothers do not earn an income. The courts keep this is mind in determining what is in the best interests of the child.

A father is legally bound to take care of his children no matter what since he is the income earner. A mother is not so bound. That is why, in most cases, the father is granted custody.

Laws protecting the rights of mothers are written into the Quran (Koran). Under Islamic law, a woman has the right to keep a boy child up to the age of seven years and a girl child up to the age of twelve. For more information, please read the International Parental Child Abduction section of this book and review current reports online at http://travel.state.gov/family.

For further information on international parental child abduction, contact the Office of Children's Issues, U.S. Department of State at 1-888-407-4747 or visit its web site on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov/family. You may also direct inquiries to: Office of Children's Issues, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20520-4811; Phone: (202) 736-9090; Fax: (202) 312-9743.

Travel Warning

September 21, 2007

This Travel Warning updates information on security incidents and reminds U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns in Pakistan. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning dated December 5, 2006.

The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens against non-essential travel to Pakistan in light of the threat of terrorist activity. The presence of Al-Qaida, Taliban elements, and indigenous sectarian groups poses a potential danger to American citizens, especially along the porous border with Afghanistan. Continuing tensions in the Middle East also increase the possibility of violence against Westerners in Pakistan. Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans are known to congregate or visit, such as hotels, clubs and restaurants, places of worship, schools, or outdoor recreation events. American fast food restaurants and other companies in Karachi were bombed in late 2005, resulting in several deaths and multiple injuries among Pakistani employees and customers. On March 2, 2006, an American diplomat, his locally employed driver, and three others were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives in front of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Fifty-two others were wounded.

Fatal bomb attacks have occurred in Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, and other Pakistani cities in 2006 and 2007. Some of the attacks have occurred outside major hotels, market areas and other locations frequented by Americans. Other recent targets have included Pakistani government officials and buildings, and international NGOs.

U.S. citizens who travel to or remain in Pakistan despite this Travel Warning are encouraged to register with the Embassy in Islamabad or the Consulates in Karachi, Lahore, or Peshawar. This registration can be completed online through the Department of State's travel registration website: https://travelregistration.state.gov. Alternatively, Americans without Internet access should contact the nearest Embassy or Consulate for information on registering in person. Registration enables citizens to obtain updated information on travel and security within Pakistan via the emergency alert system (warden network). Americans in country should take appropriate individual precautions to ensure their safety and security. These measures include maintaining good situational awareness, avoiding crowds and demonstrations and keeping a low profile. Americans should avoid setting patterns by varying times and routes for all required travel. Americans should ensure that their travel documents and visas are valid at all times.

From time to time, any post in Pakistan may temporarily suspend public services for security reasons. Official Americans may be prohibited from traveling to certain areas of Pakistan due to security concerns. Therefore, they may not be able to render immediate service to American citizens in distress. The websites of the Embassy and Consulates are regularly updated with the latest information on more specific travel restrictions and conditions.

Many areas of Pakistan, such as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghan border and the area adjacent to the Line of Control (LOC) in the disputed territory of Kashmir, are restricted for non-Pakistanis. The infrastructure of this region and some of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) was devastated as a result of the October 8, 2005 earthquake. Many hospitals were destroyed and traveling even short distances can be very difficult. Travel to any restricted region requires official permission by the Government of Pakistan. Failure to obtain such permission in advance can result in arrest and detention by Pakistani authorities. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is located at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5; telephone: (92-51) 208-0000; Consular Section telephone: (92-51) 208-2700; fax: (92-51) 282-2632; website: http://islamabad.usembassy.gov.

The U.S. Consulate General in Karachi, located at 8 Abdullah Haroon Road, closed its public operations indefinitely due to security concerns. U.S. citizens requiring emergency assistance should call the Consular Section in Karachi; telephone: (92-21) 520-4200 or (92-21) 520-4400 after hours; fax: (92-21) 568-0496; website: http://karachi.usconsulate.gov.

The U.S. Consulate in Lahore is located on 50 Sharah-E-Abdul Hamid Bin Badees (Old Empress Road), near Shimla Hill Rotary; tel:(92-42)603-4000 or (91-92)603-4250; fax: (92-42) 603-4200; website: http://lahore.usconsulate.gov; email: amconsul@ brain.net.pk.

The U.S. Consulate in Peshawar is located at 11 Hospital Road, Cantonment, Peshawar; telephone: (92-91) 526-8800; fax: (92-91) 528-4171; website: http://Peshawar.usconsulate.gov.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov where the Worldwide Caution Travel Alert and the Pakistan Country Specific Information and Travel Warning can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada, or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.