Introduction to Pakistan
"Name" of the islamic republic of Pakistan (TheIslamicRepublicofPakistan).
【 Area 】 796,095 square kilometers (excluding Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).
[Population] 240 million. Pakistan is a multi-ethnic country with 63% Punjabi, 18% Sindh, 11% Pashtuns and 4% Baloch. Urdu is the national language, the official languages are Urdu and English, and the main national languages are Punjabi, Sindh, Pashto and Baloch. More than 95% of the residents practice Islam (the state religion), with a small number of Christians, Hindus and Sikhism.
Islamabad, population 2.3 million (2023). Located inland, 503-610 meters above sea level, it is a subtropical monsoon climate, with a clear distinction between the dry season and the rainy season. The average annual precipitation is 1143 mm, the highest temperature is 47℃, and the lowest temperature is 0℃.
[Head of State and Government] The current President Asif Ali Zardari took office on 10 March 2024. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif assumed office on 4 March 2024.
【 Important Holidays 】 National Day: March 23; Independence Day: August 14.
Pakistan is located in the northwest of the South Asian subcontinent. It borders India to the east, China to the northeast, Afghanistan to the northwest, Iran to the west, and the Arabian Sea to the south. The coastline is 980 km long. In addition to the southern part of the tropical climate, the rest of the subtropical climate. The south is hot and humid, affected by the monsoon, the rainy season is longer; The northern part is dry and cold, and some places have snow all year round. The average annual temperature is 27℃.
Pakistan was part of British India. In 1858, India became a British colony. In March 1940, the All India Muslim League passed a resolution on the establishment of Pakistan. In June 1947, the United Kingdom announced the "Mountbatten Plan" and implemented the partition of India and Pakistan. On 14 August of the same year, Pakistan declared its independence and became a dominion of the British Commonwealth, comprising East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was established on 23 March 1956 and remained a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 1972 and rejoined in 1989. In March 1971, East Pakistan declared the People's Republic of Bangladesh, and in December of the same year, Bangladesh became independent.
After the establishment of Pakistan, three constitutions were promulgated in 1956, 1962 and 1973. In 1977, Zia Ul-Haq imposed martial law and partially suspended the constitution. The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1985, giving the president the power to dismiss the National Assembly and the federal Cabinet, and to appoint and dismiss the head of the military and judges. The 12th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in July 1991, gives the federal government the power to establish special courts and appellate courts to fight crime and regulate public order. In April 1997, the Sharif government passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in Parliament, which removed the power of the President to dismiss the National Assembly and the federal Cabinet, and returned the power to the Prime Minister to dismiss provincial assemblies and cabinets, appoint and remove provincial governors, chiefs of staff and chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Supreme Court judges. Subsequently, the Pakistani Parliament passed the 14th Amendment to the Constitution "anti-job-hopping law", which aims to prohibit lawmakers from defecting to the party.
After Musharraf came to power in 1999, he issued Decree No. 1 of the Interim Constitution, announcing the suspension of the Constitution. In August 2002, Moh issued the "Legal Framework Order" (LFO), which reinstated the 1973 Constitution and the Eighth Amendment to the Haq era Constitution, giving the president the power to dissolve the National Assembly, appoint the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. On 29 December 2003, the Pakistani Parliament passed the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives the president the right to dissolve Parliament with the approval of the Supreme Court and the right to appoint and remove the leaders of the armed forces after consultation with the Prime Minister.
On 8 April 2010 and 15 April 2010, the National Assembly and the Senate respectively passed the 18th amendment to the Constitution, transferring some presidential powers to the Prime Minister and adjusting major sensitive issues concerning the decentralization of power between the central and local authorities. On 22 December 2010, the Pakistani parliament passed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives the Prime Minister the power to appoint judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court, with the final approval of the President. On 20 February 2012, the Pakistani Parliament passed the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which removed the power of the president to appoint a caretaker prime minister and replaced it with a consultation between the prime minister and opposition leaders. The amendment also includes extending the term of office of the election committee.
In January 2015, the National Assembly and the Senate respectively passed the 21st Amendment to the Constitution to establish military courts for a period of two years to fast-track cases of terrorism and endangering national security. In June 2016, the 22nd Amendment was passed to adjust the qualifications of members of the Election Committee. In January 2017, the National Assembly and Senate passed the 23rd Amendment to reinstate the military courts established by the 21st Amendment and extend them for two years.
Parliament The federal legislature. After the establishment of the country in 1947, it was a unicameral system for a long time, and after the promulgation of the Constitution in 1973, the bicameral system was implemented, consisting of the National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (Upper house). The National Assembly is elected by universal suffrage, and the Senate is elected by the provincial Assembly and the National Assembly on the basis of the principle of equal representation in each province.
The National Assembly has 336 seats, 266 of which are elected by universal suffrage. Sixty seats are reserved for women and ten for non-Muslims, to be allocated by political parties in proportion to the number of votes received in the general election. The National Assembly has a speaker and a deputy speaker, each serving a five-year term. On 1 March 2024, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq took office as Speaker of the National Assembly. The Senate is composed of 104 members who serve six-year terms, half of whom are elected every three years. There will be one chairman and one vice Chairman each for a term of three years. As a result of the incorporation of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pashtunkhwa Province by the Pakistani government in May 2018, eight seats in the region will be eliminated in subsequent elections, reducing the total number of Senate seats to 96. On 9 April 2024, Yusuf Raza Gilani was inaugurated as President of the Senate.
On March 11, 2024, Pakistan's new cabinet was sworn in. There are 18 federal ministers in the Pakistani Cabinet, including 1 Minister of State and 1 Special Assistant to the Prime Minister.
[Administrative divisions] The country has four provinces: Punjab, Khyber Pashtunkhwa, Baluchistan, Sindh and Islamabad Capital Region. Each province has a special district, county, township and village federation.
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority, and the provinces and Islamabad have high courts, each composed of a Chief Justice and a number of judges. The current Chief Justice of Pakistan is QaziFaezIsa. There is an attorney-General throughout the country and a provincial Attorney-General in each province. The current Attorney general, MansoorUsman Manawan.
[Political Parties] Pakistan has a multi-party system. There are now about 200 political parties with numerous factions. At present, the major national parties are:
(1) PakistanMuslimLeague (Sharif) (PakistanMuslimLeague-Nawaz) : referred to as "MuslimLeague (Shabab)". It was founded in 1906 as the All India Muslim League, and changed its name to the Pakistan Muslim League after the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. The Party constitution provides for political, social and economic reforms in Pakistan.
(2) PakistanPeople'sParty (PakistanPeople'sParty) : referred to as the "People'sParty". Founded in December 1967, it is mainly based in Sindh and Punjab, advocating parliamentary democracy, freedom and equality, and economic privatization. The current chairman of the party is BilawalBhutto, son of the late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
(3) Tehreek-e-InsaF (Pakistan Tehreek-e-InsaF) : Founded in 1996, its chairman is Gohar Ali Khan, and its former chairman is ImranKhan, a well-known cricket star and former prime minister of Pakistan.
(4) The main parties are: PakistanMuslimLeague (Q), Jamaat-i-Islami, Muttahida QaumiMovement, AwamiNationa lParty), etc.
President Asif Ali Zardari, husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013. He served as Minister of Investment, Minister of Environment and Senator of the Federal Government of Pakistan. He became co-chairman of the People's Party in December 2007. His son Bilawal is the chairman of the BJP.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is the brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Muslim League (Sherif). He was elected to the Punjab Provincial Assembly in 1988 and to the National Assembly in 1990. He has long ruled Punjab and served as its chief minister three times. He was elected president of the Muslim League (Sharif) in March 2018. He served as Prime Minister from April 2022 to August 2023. On 4 March 2024, he was sworn in as the 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Pakistan's economy is dominated by agriculture, which accounts for 22% of GDP, and its industrial base is weak. The main economic data for the financial year 2022-2023 (July 2022 to June 2023) are as follows:
Gross Domestic Product: $341,554 million.
GDP per capita: $1,568.
GDP growth rate: 0.29%.
Currency Name: Pakistani Rupee.
Exchange rate: $1 is about 287 rupees (2023).
(Source: World Bank data and Annual Economic Survey of Pakistan)
[Resources] The main mineral reserves are: 605.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 184 million barrels of oil, 186 billion tons of coal, 430 million tons of iron, 74 million tons of bauxite, and a large amount of chromium ore, marble and precious stones. The forest coverage rate is 4.8%. In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, Brazil produced 27.56 million barrels of crude oil, 36.22 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and 37.26 million kilowatts of installed power generation capacity.