Capital: Islamabad
Area: 880,940 sq km
Ranking: 34th largest country in the world and second largest in the South Asia region
Population: 169,300,000 (According to the 2007 estimate). Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia.
Literacy: 56%, Men: 63%, Women: 36% (According to 2007 estimate)
Life Expectancy: 63.8 years
Religions: 97% of the total population is Muslim. There are small non-Muslim religious groups: Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Bahai'is.
Languages: English is the official language of Pakistan while Urdu is regarded as the national language. Some of the other languages spoken within the country are Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi and Brahui.
Independence: 14 August 1947 (From Great Britain)
Head of Government: Prime Minister
Head of Government name: Yousaf Raza Gillani
Head of State: President
Head of State name: General Pervez Musharraf
Legislature: Bicameral.
The bicameral federal legislature consists of the Senate (upper house) and National Assembly (lower house). According to Article 50 of the Constitution, the National Assembly, the Senate and the President together make up a body known as the Majlis-i-Shoora (Council of Advisers).There are a total of 342 seats in the National Assembly. Of these, 272 are filled by direct elections. In addition, the Pakistani Constitution reserves 10 seats for religious minorities and 60 seats for women, to be filled by proportional representation among parties with more than 5% of the vote. The Senate is a permanent legislative body with equal representation from each of the four provinces, elected by the members of their respective provincial assemblies. There are representatives from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and from Islamabad Capital Territory. The Senate consists of 100 members.
Yousaf Raza Gillani Profile
(Nominated by the PPP with the support of coalition partners, Pakistan Muslim League (N), Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, on 22 March 2008. Makhdoom Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, born in June 9, 1952 is the twenty-sixth and current Prime Minister of Pakistan. He is a former Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan (1993-1997) and former Federal Minister (1985-1986). Yousaf Raza Gillani is the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan from the Saraiki-speaking belt. Another Saraiki-speaking politician, Balakh Sher Mazari, served as the caretaker prime minister for a brief period in 1993. Born on June 9, 1952 in Karachi, Pakistan, Syed Makhdoom Yousuf Raza Gillani belongs to an influential and renowned political muslim family of Multan. His father was a descendant of Syed Musa Pak, a spiritual figure of the Qadiri Sufi order. He began his political journey from the platform of Pakistan Muslim League during General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law in 1978. He was also a cabinet member in the three-year government of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo. He served as Minister of Housing and Works from April 1985 to January 1986 and Railways Minister from January 1986 to December 1986. After a short stint with the Muslim League, Gillani become part of the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1988 and has since remained PPP's loyal and steadfast supporter. In the Benazir Bhutto government of 1988-1990, Gillani was again a cabinet minister: He was Minister of Tourism from March 1989 to January 1990 and again served as Minister of Housing and Works from January 1990 to August 1990.
Profile of President General Pervez Musharraf
The position of president in Pakistan has traditionally been one of a figurehead, with actual powers lying with the Prime Minister. However, at various times in history, often related with military coups and the subsequent return of civilian governments, changes in the Constitution have altered the powers and privileges of the president. Pervez Musharraf, born in 11 August 1943, is the current and twelfth President of Pakistan. Previously, he was Chief Executive of Pakistan as well as former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. He seized power in 1999 through a military coup d'état. He took over power on October 12, 1999, ousting Nawaz Sharif, the elected Prime Minister, dismissed the national and provincial legislative assemblies, assumed the title of Chief Executive and became Pakistan's de facto head of government, thereby becoming the country's fourth military dictator. Later in 2001, Musharraf appointed himself President of Pakistan. On November 3, 2007, only days before a bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan was to decide on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of his re-election as president in the controversial October 2007 elections, he suspended the constitution, jailed several justices and lawyers of the supreme court including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, ordered the arrest of political dissidents and human rights activists, and shut down all private television channels. On November 3, 2007, Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan which lasted until December 15, 2007. During this time, the constitution of the country was suspended.
| Parties | Seats |
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 121 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 91 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 54 |
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement | 25 |
| Awami National Party | 13 |
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) | 6 |
| Pakistan Muslim League (F) | 5 |
| Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao) | 1 |
| National Peoples Party | 1 |
| Balochistan National Party (Awami) | 1 |
| Independents | 18 |
| Total | 336 |
One of the largest and most professional armed forces in Asia (8th largest in the world). Is currently actively deployed in many areas including along the Line of Control (LoC) in the India-Pakistan border (state of Jammu & Kashmir), in the high altitude Siachin glacier, in a number of UN peace-keeping operations and in a few Middle Eastern countries. Pakistan has an active nuclear weapons programme as well as a ballistic missile development programme.
Army
Manpower: 619,000 and 528,500 reserve personnel
Infantry Division Equivalents: 20
Armoured Divisions: 2
Battle tanks: more than 2,000
Battlefield Ballistic Missiles: Hatf range plus Ghauri, Ghaznavi and others.
Helicopters: About 134, including 20 attack helicopters.
Air Force
Manpower: 65,000 personnel
10,000 reservists
Combat Aircraft: Exceeds over 700
Combat Squadrons: 21
Transport Squadrons: 4
Helicopter Units: 2
Navy
Manpower: 24,000 active personnel and 5,000 in reserve.
Submarines (Diesel Conventional):11
Destroyers: 2
Frigates: 6
Other: 19 (including missile & patrol boats, fast attack craft, mine sweepers etc.)
Air Arm: 4 Atlantique maritime patrol\attack (three P3C Orions due soon) and 13 armed helicopters
Para-military: 302,000 personnel
Pakistan had inherited some of the richest agricultural lands in all of the Subcontinent. Educated and highly skilled Muslims from what had become India, migrated in the lakhs to the new country, Pakistan. The country did not have to contend with any strong ideological biases as did India and did not have to suffer a functioning democracy. More important, it was from the early 1950s a solid member of the United States led Western alliance. Yet, Pakistan did not become a Korea or a Taiwan. Today, its economy is subject to recurrent crises.
Pakistan fiscal year=July 1 to June 30
Currency: Pakistani Rupee (PKR)
Trade Organisation and Treaties: ECO, SAFTA, ASEAN, WIPO and WTO
Inflation: 7.9% (2006 est.)
GDP: $504.3 billion (2008 est.)
GDP real growth rate (at PPP): 6.9% (2008 est.)
GDP growth rate: 6.6% (2008 est.)
GDP per capita: $3320.12 (2008 est.)
Population Below Povery Line: 23% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate: 7.5% (2007 est.)
Import:$30.99 billion (2007 est.)
Export:$20.58 billion (2007 est.)
Balance of Payment: -$1.753 billion (2007 est.)