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

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north

Terrain:

flat Indus plain in east; mountains in north and northwest;
Balochistan plateau in west

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: K2 (Mt. Godwin-Austen) 8,611 m

Natural resources:

land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited petroleum, poor
quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone

Land use:

arable land: 24.44%
permanent crops: 0.84%
other: 74.72% (2005)

Irrigated land:

182,300 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

233.8 cu km (2003)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 169.39 cu km/yr (2%/2%/96%)
per capita: 1,072 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe especially in north and
west; flooding along the Indus after heavy rains (July and August)

Environment - current issues:

water pollution from raw sewage, industrial wastes, and agricultural
runoff; limited natural fresh water resources; most of the
population does not have access to potable water; deforestation;
soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note:

controls Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass, traditional invasion routes
between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent

People
Pakistan

Population:

172,800,048 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 37.8% (male 33,617,953/female 31,741,258)
15-64 years: 58% (mal