PAKISTAN

Located: mountainous region adjoining Central Asia and the Middle East. Coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south Bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, the Republic of India in the east and the People's Republic of China in the far northeast.

Location

 Capital- Islamabad
Largest city- Karachi Currency- Pakistani Rupee

The estimated population of Pakistan is 172,800,000. World's sixth most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Russia.

Languages
Multilingual country English is the official language Urdu is the national language

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

Religion
Majority of the Pakistanis are Muslim
Almost 85% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims and 15% are Shi'a Muslims 2nd largest religion is Hinduism 3rd largest is Christianity

Politics
In the current semi-presidential system, the President of Pakistan is the head of state. The Prime Minister is the head of government. There is a multi-party system.

President
Asif Ali Zardari

Prime Minister
Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani

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

Suffering Economy
Economy suffered from decades of internal political disputes a fast growing population mixed levels of foreign investment a costly, ongoing confrontation with neighboring India

India-Pakistan Conflict
VS.

History of the Conflict

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

The Problem
The Kashmir area was predominantly Muslim. The ruler of Kashmir fled to India and agreed to place Kashmir under Indian rule if India would protect Kashmir from invasion. If there had been a vote in Kashmir, the majority probably would have voted to become part of Pakistan for religious reasons.

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

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

The Importance of Kashmir to India and Pakistan The geography is mostly rural, with large mountains, deserts, and valleys. The region could have natural resources such as oil, gold, or silver that has not yet been discovered.

Control of the Indus River

The Indus begins in Kashmir, flows through Pakistan, then flows into mainland India. Since Kashmir is part of India, they could dam the Indus and change the flow of the river. Without fertile land to grow crops, Pakistan would become a desert and its people would starve.

Religious Sites
Both Pakistan and India have sites in Kashmir that are important to their respective religions.
Pakistan is predominately Muslim. Kashmir is predominately Muslim. India is predominately Hindu.

Strategic Location
India-Kashmir acts as a buffer. Pakistan-Kashmir offers a fertile roadway into India for possible invasion.

War & Terrorism

Both India and Pakistan are convinced that they are right and that they will prevail In the past 60 years, Pakistan and India have fought three wars over ownership of Kashmir. India won all three. Today, the fight continues with acts of terrorism. The people of Kashmir are probably wondering why the UN and U.S. won't help them

Why doesn't the U.S. lend a helping hand with the Kashmir conflict?
The U.S. wants to be allies with both Pakistan and India. Pakistan shares a border with Afghanistan so need Pakistans help with war on terrorism. We do a great deal of trade with India that is mutually advantageous.