Pakistan
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Islamabad
- Population
- 257,047,044 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 796,095 sq km
- Government
- federal parliamentary republic
- Religions
- Muslim 96.4%, Hindu 1.6%, Christian 1.4%; less than 1%: scheduled castes, Qadiani/Ahmadi, other, Sikh. (2020 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Punjabi 44.7%, Pashtun (Pathan) 15.4%, Sindhi 14.1%, Saraiki 8.4%, Muhajirs 7.6%, Baloch 3.6%, other 6.3%
- Currency
- Pakistani rupees (PKR)
- Life Expectancy
- 70.3 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .pk
- Climate
- mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north
- Terrain
- divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands, the Indus River plain in the center and east, and the Balochistan Plateau in the south and west
- Natural Resources
- arable land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited petroleum, poor quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone
- Major Exports
- garments, fabric, refined petroleum, rice, cotton fabric (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world and dating back at least 5,000 years, spread over much of modern-day Pakistan. During the second millennium B.C., remnants of this culture fused with the migrating Indo-Aryan peoples.