es, Taiwan, and Vietnam

Transnational Issues Spratly Islands

Disputes - international: all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by
China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and
the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone
that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands, but has
not publicly claimed the island; in 2000, China joined ASEAN discussions
towards creating a South China Sea "code of conduct" - a non-legally
binding confidence building measure

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Pakistan

Introduction

Pakistan

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.

Geography Pakistan

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

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

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: 28% permanent crops: 1% other: 71% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 180,000 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe especially
in north and west; flooding along the Indus aft