Download Pakistan - UN Youth Australia

 Pakistan Type of Government: Troubled transitioning democracy Prime Minister: Nawaz Sharif (term ends 2018) Capital City: Islamabad.
Ideology: Does not map on to conventional Western ideologies; primary
political divisions are between army and civilians, secular and theocrats
Region: Pakistan is the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East and
Central Asia. Neighbors: Afghanistan, China, India, Iran. Demographics ●
●
●
●
●
Population: 180.1 million. High population growth (1.52% ranked 76th in the world), but high infant and mother death rate. Religion: 97% of Pakistanis are Muslim (90% sunni, 10% other).
Pakistan is a highly religious nation. Age: Median age 22 (low), life expectancy of 66 (low) Ethnicities: Pakistan is home to various ethnic groups, with
Punjabi being the largest, accounting for 78.5 million (44%) of the
population. Pashtuns are the next largest ethnic group,
accounting for 27.2 million Pakistanis. The remainder are Sindihis (10.53%), Seraikis (7.57%) and
various other, smaller groups. National Language: Urdu (90%) and English. Economy High GDP of US $514.6 billion (27th worldwide), inflation rate of 11.3% World Bank Classification: Lower Middle Income 22% live below the poverty line, with 5.6% unemployment and chronic underemployment. Serious infrastructure problems, owing to natural disasters and bad government. Major Industries ● Farming accounts for 20.1% of GDP, with textiles manufacturing making up the majority of
Pakistanʼs industrial earnings.
● Majority relies on underpaid and overworked jobs in industry or services to survive.
●
●
●
●
Exports ● Major Trading Partners: China, The EU, The UAE, Saudi Arabia, The US and Kuwait. ● Pakistanʼs main export is textiles, which makes up the majority of their manufacturing base. In
total the exports of Pakistan come to US$24.66 billion Imports ● In 2012 the total value of imports was US$40.82bn (61st in the world). ●
Major Imports include petroleum, petroleum products
and machinery. Natural Resources ● Sizable reserves of natural gas, petroleum oil, iron
ore, gold, silver, precious stones and gems. ● Large areas of arable land, 57% of Pakistanʼs total
land area is under cultivation. Military Size: 638,000 active personnel, 513,000 reservists. Supported
by 420,000 paramilitaries. Army: 3,124 Tanks, 3,230 other armoured vehicles, 3,258
artillery units and thousands of aircraft. Air Force: 700 aircraft, including 560 jets and 140 helicopters. Navy: 71 ships (including multiple submarines) and 40 aircraft.
Other forces: Pakistan has a sizeable intelligence force (the Inter-Services Intelligence) conducting
paramilitary operations, and a stock of nuclear weapons. Politics Domestic Politics ● With low development, bad infrastructure, and high corruption (33rd most corrupt state on Earth),
basic service provision (most importantly electricity) is the most important political issue. ● Pakistani democracy is extremely shaky; Sharifʼs government is the first time an elected
government has followed another elected government. The military has a history of coups; Islamic
terrorists constantly fight to establish a theocratic state. Foreign Policy Concerns: ●
●
●
●
●
●
At the heart of Pakistanʼs foreign policy is an extreme dislike of India (which it broke away from
when India became independent). The border with Kashmir is a particularly sore point, and Pakistan
has supported many terrorist groups specifically to destabilize India.
Pakistanʼs long border with Afghanistan means it has become deeply destablised by the US-led
invasion there; Pakistan is the rumored hideout of the remaining members of Al-Queda. It also has a
complicated relationship with Iran (since Iran is Shia and Pakistan is Suuni).
Relations with the USA, historically strong, have soured as the US conducts drone strikes on
Pakistani territory and, especially, when the US sent in a strike team to kill Osama bin Laden.
In general, Pakistan is strongly against foreign intervention or anything that removes sovereignty,
but would support UN aid missions and humanitarian efforts (being a beneficiary of the same).
Pakistan feels a strong sense of solidarity with other countries in the Muslim world.
Pakistan is a declared nuclear power, and has multiple active and tested weapons.
More Information
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan
CIA: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12965779
Latest news from the New York Times (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/pakistan/index.html), the
the Economist ( http://www.economist.com/topics/pakistan),
the Guardian ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/pakistan), and
Al-Jazeera (http://www.aljazeera.com/category/country/pakistan),