Asia–Pacific
Pakistan
Capital: Islamabad
- 255MPopulation
- 247MMuslim
- 97%Muslim share
- $1,400GDP per person
- 5.5%Unemployment
- 40%In poverty
- 58%Literacy
- 66Life expectancy
- System
- parliamentary republic
- In power
- PM Shehbaz Sharif
- Currency
- rupee
- In the UN since
- 1,947
Life today
Cricket rules; a lively TV-drama industry watched across the region; heavy youth unemployment and emigration.
Word on the street
YouTube and WhatsApp dominate; jugaar is the national art of making things work.
Names the world knows
- Muhammad Ali Jinnah founder
- Muhammad Iqbal poet-philosopher
- Malala Yousafzai Nobel laureate
- Abdul Sattar Edhi humanitarian
- Benazir Bhutto prime minister
Did you know?
Pakistan's name is an acronym of its regions: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh — plus 'stan'.