View Intelligence Dossier Back to 1990 CSV Excel Print All Years

Communications

Airports [time series]

115 total, 102 usable; 70 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

30 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

101,315 km total (1987); 40,155 km paved, 23,000 km gravel, 29,000 km improved earth, and 9,160 km unimproved earth or sand tracks (1985)

Merchant marine [time series]

29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 338,173 GRT/508,107 DWT; includes 4 passenger-cargo, 24 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker

Pipelines [time series]

250 km crude oil; 4,044 km natural gas; 885 km refined products (1987)

Ports [time series]

Gwadar, Karachi, Port Muhammad bin Qasim

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

8,773 km total; 7,718 km broad gauge, 445 km meter gauge, and 610 km narrow gauge; 1,037 km broad-gauge double track; 286 km electrified; all government owned (1985)

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

good international radiocommunication service over microwave and INTELSAT satellite; domestic radio communications poor; broadcast service good; 564,500 telephones (1987); stations--16 AM, 8 FM, 16; satellite eath station--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Air Force, Navy, Civil Armed Forces, National Guard

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

5.6% of GNP, or $2.4 billion (1989 est.)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 26,215,898; 16,080,545 fit for military service; 1,282,294 reach military age (17) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

24% of GNP, over 50% of labor force; world's largest contiguous irrigation system; major crops--cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables; livestock products--milk, beef, mutton, eggs; self-sufficient in food grain

Aid [time series]

(including Bangladesh before 1972) US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $4.2 billion authorized (excluding what is now Bangladesh); Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-87), $7.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $2.3 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $2.9 billion

Budget [time series]

revenues $7.5 billion; expenditures $10.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.3 billion (FY89 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Pakistani rupee (plural--rupees); 1 Pakistani rupee (PRe) = 100 paisa

Electricity [time series]

7,575,000 kW capacity; 29,300 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

Pakistani rupees (PRs) per US$1--21.420 (January 1990), 20.541 (1989), 18.003 (1988), 17.399 (1987), 16.648 (1986), 15.928 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$4.5 billion (f.o.b., FY89); commodities--rice, cotton, textiles, clothing; partners--EC 31%, US 11%, Japan 11% (FY88)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$17.4 billion (1989)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 July-30 June

GNP [time series]

$43.2 billion, per capita $409; real growth rate 5.1% (FY89)

Illicit drugs [time series]

illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade; government eradication efforts on poppy cultivation of limited success; 1988 output of opium and hashish each estimated at about 200 metric tons

Imports [time series]

$7.2 billion (f.o.b., FY89); commodities--petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, transportation, equipment, vegetable oils, animal fats, chemicals; partners--EC 26%, Japan 15%, US 11% (FY88)

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 3% (FY89)

Industries [time series]

textiles, food processing, beverages, petroleum products, construction materials, clothing, paper products, international finance, shrimp

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

11% (FY89)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Pakistan is a poor Third World country faced with the usual problems of rapidly increasing population, sizable government deficits, and heavy dependence on foreign aid. In addition, the economy must support a large military establishment and provide for the needs of 4 million Afghan refugees. A real economic growth rate averaging 5-6% in recent years has enabled the country to cope with these problems. Almost all agriculture and small-scale industry is in private hands, and the government seeks to privatize a portion of the large-scale industrial enterprises now publicly owned. In December 1988, Pakistan signed a three-year economic reform agreement with the IMF, which provides for a reduction in the government deficit and a liberalization of trade in return for further IMF financial support. The so-called Islamization of the economy has affected mainly the financial sector; for example, a prohibition on certain types of interest payments. Pakistan almost certainly will make little headway against its population problem; at the current rate of growth, population would double in 32 years.

Unemployment rate [time series]

4% (FY89 est.)

Geography

Climate [time series]

mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north

Coastline [time series]

1,046 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly less than twice the size of California

Contiguous zone [time series]

24 nm;

Continental shelf [time series]

edge of continental margin or 200 nm;

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

boundary with India; Pashtun question with Afghanistan; Baloch question with Afghanistan and Iran; water sharing problems with upstream riparian India over the Indus

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe especially in north and west; flooding along the Indus after heavy rains (July and August); deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water logging

Extended economic zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries [time series]

6,774 km total; Afghanistan 2,430 km, China 523 km, India 2,912 km, Iran 909 km

Land use [time series]

26% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 64% other; includes 19% irrigated

Natural resources [time series]

land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited crude oil, poor quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone

Note [time series]

controls Khyber Pass and Malakand Pass, traditional invasion routes between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent

Terrain [time series]

flat Indus plain in east; mountains in north and northwest; Balochistan plateau in west

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

803,940 km2; land area: 778,720 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

4 provinces, 1 tribal area*, and 1 territory**; Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas*, Islamabad Capital Territory**, North-West Frontier, Punjab, Sindh; note--the Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region includes Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas

Capital [time series]

Islamabad

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

the Communist party is no longer outlawed and operates openly

Constitution [time series]

10 April 1973, suspended 5 July 1977, restored 30 December 1985

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Zulfikar ALI KHAN; Chancery at 2315 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-6200; there is a Pakistani Consulate General in New York; US--Ambassador Robert B. OAKLEY; Embassy at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, Islamabad (mailing address is P. O. Box 1048, Islamabad); telephone [92] (51) 8261-61 through 79; there are US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, and a Consulate in Peshawar

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag [time series]

green with a vertical white band on the hoist side; a large white crescent and star are centered in the green field; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam

Independence [time series]

15 August 1947 (from UK; formerly West Pakistan)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court, Federal Islamic (Shariat) Court Chief of State--President GHULAM ISHAQ Khan (since 13 December 1988); Head of Government--Prime Minister Benazir BHUTTO (since 2 December 1988) Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto; Pakistan Muslim League (PML), former Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo; PML is the main party in the anti-PPP Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA); Muhajir Quami Movement, Altaf Hussain; Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), Fazlur Rahman; Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Qazi Hussain Ahmed; Awami National Party (ANP), Khan Abdul Wali Khan

Legal system [time series]

based on English common law with provisions to accommodate Pakistan's stature as an Islamic state; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch [time series]

bicameral Federal Legislature (Mijlis-e-Shoora) consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or National Assembly

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ADB, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OIC, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WFTU, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

National holiday [time series]

Pakistan Day (proclamation of the republic), 23 March (1956)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

military remains dominant political force; ulema (clergy), industrialists, and small merchants also influential

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 21 President--last held on 12 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results--Ghulam Ishaq Khan was elected by the Federal Legislature; Senate--last held March 1988 (next to be held March 1990); results--elected by provincial assemblies; seats--(87 total) PML 84, PPP 2, independent 1; National Assembly--last held on 16 November 1988 (next to be held November 1993); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(237 total) PPP 109, IJI 65, MQM 14, JUI 8, PAI 3, ANP 3, BNA 3, others 3, independents 29

Government type (Type) [time series]

parliamentary with strong executive, federal republic

People

Birth rate [time series]

43 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

14 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun (Pathan), Baloch, Muhajir (immigrants from India and their descendents)

Infant mortality rate [time series]

110 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

28,900,000; 54% agriculture, 13% mining and manufacturing, 33% services; extensive export of labor (1987 est.)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Urdu and English (official); total spoken languages--64% Punjabi, 12% Sindhi, 8% Pashtu, 7% Urdu, 9% Balochi and other; English is lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries, but official policies are promoting its gradual replacement by Urdu

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

56 years male, 57 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

26%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Pakistani(s); adjective--Pakistani

Net migration rate [time series]

- 6 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

about 10% of industrial work force

Population [time series]

114,649,406 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

97% Muslim (77% Sunni, 20% Shia), 3% Christian, Hindu, and other

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.7 children born/woman (1990)