Pakistan

G

Foreign Trade

The foreign trade of Pakistan consists largely of the export of raw materials and basic products such as cotton yarn and the import of manufactured products. The United States is the largest trading partner of Pakistan. In 2003 exports earned $12.7 billion and imports cost $15.5 billion. The chief exports were cotton textiles, cotton yarn and thread, clothing, raw cotton, rice, carpets and rugs, leather, fish, and petroleum products; the main imports were machinery, electrical equipment, petroleum products, transportation equipment, metal and metal products, fertilizer, and foodstuffs.

H

Transportation

The lack of modern transportation facilities is a major hindrance to the development of Pakistan. Its terrain, laced with rivers and mountains, presents formidable obstacles to internal overland transportation. The country has 254,410 km (158,083 mi) of roads. The railroad network totals 7,791 km (4,841 mi).

Karāchi is the principal port of Pakistan. The coastline is underdeveloped because of the rugged topography, but it has promise for development. In recent years successive governments of Pakistan have made efforts to build infrastructure along the Makran Coast. Toward this end, the government of Pakistan signed an agreement with China in the late 1990s to develop an international shipping port at Gwādar as an alternative to Karāchi. Gwādar is located on a peninsula that is accessible to large ships traveling from the Gulf of Oman, which leads to the Persian Gulf.

The Karakoram Highway was constructed between China and Pakistan in 1978 and opened to regular traffic in 1982. This all-weather road is 1,300 km (800 mi) long and passes through the Himalayas, reaching an elevation of 5,000 m (16,000 ft) at Khunjerab Pass. It is of strategic significance for Pakistan and China, connecting Islāmābād with Kashgar, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

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Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national airline, is in large part government owned. PIA offers flights within Pakistan and to a number of other countries. In the early 1990s the government ended the PIA’s monopoly on domestic service, allowing private carriers to offer domestic flights. Privately owned international airlines also operate in Pakistan. The country’s main international airports serve Karāchi, Lahore, Islāmābād, and Rāwalpindi.

I

Communications

In 2005 Pakistan had 34 telephone mainlines for every 1,000 people. The number of cellular-phone subscribers is growing rapidly. Radio receivers number 94 and television sets 131 per 1,000 residents.

Television broadcasting began in Lahore in 1964 and in Karāchi in 1966. Since then television-broadcasting centers have been set up in Peshāwar, Rāwalpindi, Islāmābād, and Quetta, giving the Pakistani television network an almost total nationwide reach. In the early 1990s satellite dishes made it possible for international television programming to reach even the remotest areas of the country. More recently, the availability of cable television has improved accessibility to the international networks. Newspapers are mainly printed in Urdu and English. Pakistan has 352 daily newspapers, most with small circulations. The major dailies are concentrated in Lahore, Karāchi, and Islāmābād.

VI

Government of Pakistan

Since independence in 1947 Pakistan has had three constitutions, adopted in 1956, 1962, and 1973, consecutively. The 1973 constitution was the result of consensus among the political parties that were represented in the parliament. After a military coup d’état in 1977, martial law was imposed and the constitution was suspended. In 1985 a civilian government was reestablished, and the 1973 constitution was restored, although in a radically amended form. The Eighth Amendment confirmed and legalized all acts and orders that had been issued under the martial law regime, including amendments to the constitution. The amended constitution significantly expanded the powers of the president. It also included clauses that promoted Islam as the supreme law of Pakistan. In 1997, however, the constitution was amended to repeal the main provisions of the Eighth Amendment, stripping the president of the power to dismiss the prime minister and dissolve the parliament. After another military coup in 1999, the constitution was suspended and the democratically elected parliament was dissolved. In August 2002 a presidential decree amended the constitution to grant sweeping powers to the president, restoring the president’s power to dismiss the prime minister and dissolve the parliament. Parliamentary elections were held in October to restore civilian rule in the country. The 1973 constitution was formally revived in November 2002.

A

Executive

Pakistan’s head of state is a president. Under the constitution, the president is elected to a five-year term by members of the national and provincial legislatures. A prime minister is the chief executive official. After legislative elections, the president appoints the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the legislature to serve as prime minister. As amended in August 2002, the constitution allows the president to dissolve the national legislature, appoint military chiefs and Supreme Court justices, and chair the National Security Council, a quasi-military advisory body.

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