Pakistan           Introduction        

Background:        The separation in 1947 of British India into the Muslim state of Pakistan (with two sections West and East) and largely Hindu India was never satisfactorily resolved. A third war between these countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan seceding and becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. A dispute over the state of Kashmir is ongoing. In response to Indian nuclear weapons testing, Pakistan conducted its own tests in 1998.

Pakistan           Geography           

Location:         Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north

Geographic coordinates:        30 00 N, 70 00 E

Map references:         Asia

Area: total:  803,940 sq km

land:  778,720 sq km

water:  25,220 sq km

Area - comparative:        slightly less than twice the size of California

Land boundaries:         total:  6,774 km

border countries:  Afghanistan 2,430 km, China 523 km, India 2,912 km, Iran 909 km

Coastline:         1,046 km