PAKISTANI  HINDUS     

     Introducing Pakistan  
Pakistan displays some of Asia’s most magnificent landscapes as it stretches from the Arabian Sea, its southern border, to some of the world’s most spectacular mountain ranges in the north. Pakistan is also home to sites that date back to world’s earliest settlements rivaling those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Pakistan does trace it's history back to at least 2,500 years before Christ. Then a very developed civilization had flourished in the Indus valley area. Excavation at Harrapa, Moejodaro and Kot Diji have unearthed the remains of an advance civilization which existed in most ancient times. In about 1,500 DC the Arayans did rule this region influencing the Hindu civilization and it's centre moved further eastward to the Ganges valley. Later on, the Persians occupied and held the Northern regions in the 5th century up to the 2nd Century BC. There are so many stupas and monasteries of the Ghandhara civilization which have roots in the 6th Century. At that time it formed part of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia (518 to 330 BC). In 327 BC the Greeks arrived under Alexander the Great from Macedonia and then onwards it reigned under the successive rule of the Mauryans, the Bactrian Greeks, Scythians, Parthians, Kushanas and Sasanians until its final ruin by the White Huns in the 5th century AD.  In 712 AD, the Arabs under the command of Mohammad Bin Qasim, after landing at the Southern coast near Karachi, ruled the lower regions of Pakistan for 200 years
     Location

Pakistan is located in South Asia. It is bound by India to the east, Afghanistan and Iran to the west, China to the north and the Arabian Sea to the south. The country is divided into three main geographical regions. (1.) the northern highlands which include the Hindu Kush Mountain Ranges, including the K2 peak while south of the Khyber Pass they include the Safed Koh, Toba Kakar and Ras Koh Ranges. (2.) The Indus River Plain which contains fertile agricultural land and to the west the Thal and Thar Deserts. (3.) The Baluchistan Plateau which is an arid tablelands with a number of small mountain ranges such as the Central Brahui, Kirthar, Makran and Sulaiman Ranges. The principal river is the Indus with its major tributaries, the Kabul, Gumal and Panjnad Rivers. Major Cities (pop. est.); . Land Use; forested 4%, pastures 7%, agricultural-cultivated 28%, other 61% (1993).

The variety of landscape divides Pakistan into six major regions: 

the North High Mountainous Region, 
the Western Low Mountainous Region, 
the Balochistan Plateau, 
the Potohar Uplands, 
the Punjab and 
the Sindh Plains. 

High Mountain Region: Stretching in the North, from east to west, are a series of high mountain ranges which separate Pakistan from China, Russia and Afghanistan. They include the Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindukush. The Himalayas spread in the north-east and the Karakoram rises on the north-west of the Himalayas and extends eastward up to Gilgit. The Hindu Kush mountains lie to the north-west of the Karakoram, but extend eastward into Afghanistan. With the assemblage of 35 giant peaks over 24,000 ft. high (7,315m), the region is the climbers' paradise. Many summits are even higher than 26,000 ft.(7,925 m) and the highest K-2(Mt.Godwin Austin) is exceeded only by Mt.Everest. Inhospitable and technically more difficult to climb than even Everest, they have taken the biggest toll of human lives in the annals of mountaineering. 
Pakistan has seven of the 16 tallest peaks in Asia. The statistics are simply baffling: 40 of the world's 50 highest mountains are in Pakistan; in Baltistan over 45 peaks touch or cross the 20,000 foot mark; in Gilgit within a radius of 65 miles, there are over two dizens peaks ranging in height between 18,000 to 26,000 feet. 

Seasons The four well-marked seasons in Pakistan are:- 

(i) Cold season (December to March). 
(ii) Hot season (April to June). 
(iii) Monsoon season (July to September). 
(iv) Post-Monsoon season (October and November). 

    People and Population 

Pakistan's population is 135.28 million (as per 1996 estimates). Major cities include the seaport Karachi (10 million), Lahore (5.5 million), Faisalabad (2 million) Rawalpindi (0.928 million), Hyderabad (0.8 million) and Islamabad (0.340 million). The population growth rate a is about 2.8% per annum. Population is mainly Muslim (95%). There are several minorities such as Hindu (2.0%) (in 1947 was 25%)  and Christian (3.0%). Urdu is national language while English is used as the official language.

DEMOGRAPHIC/VITAL STATISTICS: Density; 144 persons per sq km (372 persons per sq mi) (1991).             Urban-Rural; 32.0% urban, 68.0% rural (1993). Sex Distribution; 52.5% male, 47.5% female (1990). Life Expectancy at Birth; 59.3 years male, 60.7 years female (1990). Age Breakdown; 46% under 15, 25% 15 to 29, 14% 30 to 44, 9% 45 to 59, 5% 60 to 74, 1% 75 and over (1988). Birth Rate; 43.3 per 1,000 (1990). Death Rate; 10.5 per 1,000 (1990). Increase Rate; 32.8 per 1,000 (1990). Infant Mortality Rate; 113.0 per 1,000 live births (1990).

LANGUAGES:     The official language is Urdu, which is spoken by 8% of the population while English is spoken by only 2%. Over 30 distinct languages are more widely spoken with Punjabi spoken by an estimated 65% of the population. Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi and Pushto are the main regional languages.

EDUCATION: Aged 25 or over and having attained: no formal schooling 78.9%, incomplete primary 8.7%, incomplete secondary 10.5%, higher 1.9% (1981). Literacy; literate population aged 15 or over 11,938,790 or 25.6% (1981).

CURRENCY: The official currency is the Rupee (PRs) divided into 100 Paisa.

ECONOMY: Gross National Product; USD $54,045,000,000 (1993). Public Debt; USD $20,306,000,000 (1993). Imports; PRs 258,250,100,000 (1994). Exports; PRs 205,499,400,000 (1994). Tourism Receipts; USD $111,000,000 (1993). Balance of Trade; PRs -22,968,000,000 (1994). Economically Active Population; 33,800,000 or 28.0% of total population (1993). Unemployed; 6.3% (1992).

MAIN TRADING PARTNERS: Its main trading partners are Japan, Saudi Arabia, the USA, the UK and Germany.

MAIN PRIMARY PRODUCTS: Antimony, Bauxite, Copper, Cotton, Fruit, Gypsum, Iron Ore, Maize, Natural Gas, Oil, Rice, Sugar Cane, Tobacco, Wheat.

MAJOR INDUSTRIES: Agriculture, Cement, Cotton, Fertilizers, Food Processing, Petroleum Refining, Sports Goods, Sugar Refining, Yarn and Fabric.

MAIN EXPORTS: Cotton and Cotton Textiles, Guns, Hand Crafted Carpets, Leather Goods, Petroleum Products, Rice, Sports Goods.

TRANSPORT: Railroads; route length 8,775 km (5,453 mi) (1990), passenger-km 20,052,000,000 (12,460,000,000 passenger-mi) (1990), cargo ton-km 6,612,000,000 (4,529,000,000 short ton-mi) (1990). Roads; length 140,077 km (87,040 mi) (1990). Vehicles; cars 738,059 (1989), trucks and buses 171,519 (1989). Merchant Marine; vessels 71 (1990), deadweight tonnage 507,684 (1990). Air Transport; passenger-km 9,298,701,000 (5,777,943,000 passenger-mi) (1989), cargo ton-km 427,527,000 (292,813,000 short ton-mi) (1989).

COMMUNICATIONS: Daily Newspapers; total of 274 with a total circulation of 809,000 (1992). Radio; receivers 10,200,000 (1994). Television; receivers 2,080,000 (1994). Telephones; units 1,604,800 (1993).

MILITARY: 587,000 (1995) total active duty personnel with 88.6% army, 3.7% navy and 7.7% air force while military expenditure accounts for 6.4% (1993) of the Gross National Product (GNP).

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