The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a country located in South Asia that overlaps with the Greater Middle East. It has a thousand-kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south and borders Afghanistan and Iran to the west, India to the east and the People's Republic of China in the far northeast.[2] The name Pakistan (IPA:/pa:kɪst̪a:n/) means Land of the Pure in Urdu and Persian and was coined in 1933 by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, who published it in the pamphlet Now or Never[3] as an acronym of the names of the "Muslim homelands" of western India — P for Punjab, A for Afghania (the Afghan areas), K for Kashmir, S for Sindh and tan for Baluchistan. An i was later added to the English rendition of the name to ease pronunciation. Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and the second most populous Muslim country. Pakistan was established as a modern state in 1947, but the region has a long history of settlement and civilisation including some of the most ancient cultures. The region was invaded by Greeks, Persians and Arabs, and incorporated into British India in the nineteenth century. Since independence, Pakistan has seen both instability, with the loss of East Pakistan, and significant military and economic growth. In 2005 the economy was the second-fastest growing economy amongst the ten most populous countries and the twenty-fifth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. Pakistan has the seventh largest armed forces in the world and is one of eight declared nuclear powers.

Motto: Iman, Ittehad, Nazm (English: Faith, Unity, Discipline) Anthem: Pak sarzamin shad bad (Blessed Be The Sacred Land) Capital Islamabad 33°40′ N 73°10′ E Largest city Karachi Official language(s) Urdu and English Government President Prime Minister Federal republic Pervez Musharraf Shaukat Aziz Independence - Declared - Republic From the United Kingdom 1947-08-14 1956-03-23 Area - Total - Water (%) 880,254 km² (34th) 339,778 mi² 3.1 Population - 2006 est. - Density 163,985,373[1] (6th) 186/km² (42nd) 483/mi² GDP (PPP) - Total - Per capita 2005 estimate $385.2 billion (26th) $2,388 (135th) HDI (2003) 0.527 (135th) – medium Currency Rupee (Rs.) (PKR) Time zone - Summer (DST) PST (UTC+5:00) not observed (UTC+5:00) Internet TLD .pk Calling code +92