Pakistan or the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a country in South Asia. The capital is Islamabad. The area of the country is 803,940 km. The country is the 34-th largest country of the world. Pakistan was created due to disintegration of the British Empire. It has a coastline along the Arabian sea, and is bordered by Afghanistan in the northwest, by Iran in the southwest, by China in the north and by India in the east. The length of land borders: with Afghanistan - 2430 km, with China - 523 km, with India - 2912 km, with Iran - 909 km. The total population (as of 2005) is 162 419 946 people, it is the sixth most populated country in the world (202 /km).

Pakistan is a federation of 4 provinces (Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province and Belochistan). The head of state is the president (Perves Musharraf - the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan), elected by the Federal Parliament (the upper house (the Senate) and the lower house (the National Assembly) for a period of 5 years. The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court (which members are appointed by the President) and Federal Islamic Shariat Court. The government approved by the President, is formed and headed by the Prime Minister usually representing a party or majority coalition in the National Assembly. Perves Musharraf came to power in 1999 due to a bloodless coup. On June 20, 2001 P.Musharraf became the President.

On October 6, 2007 the presidential election was held. The current head of state General Pervez Musharraf won a victory. The Supreme Court refused to confirm legality of his election until he retires from the Army.

On November 3, 2007 Perves Musharraf declared an emergency rule across the country and suspended the Constitution. New members of the Supreme Court loyal to Musharraf agreed to recognize him as the President. On November 25, Ex Prime Minister Navaz Sharif returned to Pakistan. He claimed his intent to participate in the parliamentary election scheduled for January 8, 2008. On November 28, Musharraf retired from the post of the Chief of Staff of the Army, and on November 29, he took an oath as a civil head of state. On December 27, Benazir Bhutto was killed by terrorists at a meeting with her supporters.

In fiscal year of 2005 (ended on June 30, 2005) the GNP increased by 8.4 %. Two thirds of the Pakistani export are represented by textile and cloths. The basic agrarian cultures are cotton and wheat.

Pakistan is an agrarian-industrial country. The majority of its labor power works in the agricultural sector. The agriculture remains a basis of the Pakistani economy.

The mining industry. In 1952, the first fields of natural gas were discovered in Belochistan, later they were discovered also in Sindh and Panjab. 7 oil fields were discovered. The estimated crude oil reserves total 300 million barrels. Other produced mineral resources include coal, Cr ores, marble, table salt, limestone, uranium, phosphorites, barite, sulfur, precious and semiprecious stones.

The textile industry is the most developed manufacturing industry of Pakistan. This industry uses domestic raw materials. The Pakistani power engineering is based on numerous hydroelectric power plants and a few thermal power plants.

In the III - II millennia BC the territory of Pakistan was a center of the Harappa, one of the most ancient civilizations in the history of mankind. In the I millennium BC , the Indo-Aryan nations founded their states here. In the VIII century BC the territory was conquered by the neighboring Moslem empires that resulted in outspread of Islam. In the XVIII century large feudal states were established in Sindh, Belochistan and Punjab. In the XIX century the territory of Pakistan was occupied by British troops and included into the British Indian Empire.

The first Governor General of Pakistan as an independent administrative unit was Jinnah , and the first Prime Minister of the country – Liaquat Ali Khan. In 1947, the state of Pakistan was established to include northeastern and northwestern provinces of Hindustan predominantly populated by Moslems. In 1965 and 1971 Pakistan had military conflicts with India. In 1977, there was a military coup. After President Zia-ul-Haq died in an aircraft accident on August 17, 1988, the state power passed to the civil government.