*** $25 billion resources ***, page-13

Ni, I haven't been to Pakistan. But our cricketers have.
I'll have to check up with a few. lol.
So have the Indian cricketers.

From the TYC website:

"Pakistan is a nation of 140 million people with a unique blend of history and culture from the East and the West. It extends from the dry sandy deserts of Balochistan in the west to the Indus River Valley in the east (the cradle of one of the world's earliest civilisations), and up to the formidable spectacle of four of world's greatest mountain ranges in the north.

Pakistan is the ninth most populous nation in the world. Its strategic location gives it access to markets covering a quarter of humanity. Through the 1990's Pakistan ranked among the top seven fastest growing economies in Asia.

Pakistan has existed as a sovereign political unit since the partition and independence of British India in 1947. However the country has been settled since at least the early stone age and archaeological records show agricultural activities in Balochistan Province as early as 4000 BC. The Indus River Valley Civilisation was one of the great early civilisations of mankind - a centralised and literate society that is thought to have had trade and cultural links with Mesopotamia and Egypt. It flourished along the Indus River between the 23rd and 18th Centuries BC.

Pakistan's location on one of the main trade routes between Europe and Asia kept it open to a variety of influences over the millennia. Islam arrived in 709 AD but only became established some 250 years later. An enlightened and liberal form of Islam is now the central moral force in Pakistan.

Pakistan's early modern history was dominated by British Colonialism. During the 19th Century, British power extended north and westwards from the Indian Subcontinent and, driven partly by fear of Russian influence through North-Western Frontier, eventually extended through the Indus River Valley and by the 1870's had reached the remote western region of Balochistan.

The long struggle for independence from Britain culminated in 1947 with the creation of the sovereign nations of Pakistan and India. In one of the great avoidable tragedies of the 20th Century, the Hindu prince of Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim, decided to join his state to India. This brought about the first war between India and Pakistan. Each country now occupies a portion of Kashmir. With the geopolitical orientations of the cold war in place, India was allowed to evade its commitment to a referendum in Kashmir (which was one of the conditions to the UN-brokered ceasefire in 1949) to the bitter resentment of Pakistan. The Kashmir question continues to poison relations between Pakistan and India and has had hugely negative consequences throughout the region.

The past few decades have been difficult ones for Pakistan. The country was badly affected by the Russian war in Afghanistan and the ongoing turbulence there. India's unilateral testing of a nuclear device led Pakistan (under strong popular pressure) to do the same.

Pakistan is divided into four provinces (Punjab, Sind, North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan) and two federally administered regions (Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir).

The bulk of the population lives along the Indus River in the Punjab and Sind provinces.

The biggest sector of the economy is agriculture. Pakistan has one of the largest areas under irrigation of any country in the world. Manufacturing and industry is growing rapidly however and now accounts for 25% of GDP.

Wealth is inequitably distributed among the population, and this together with the feudal land holding arrangements and the societal instability caused by the Kashmir and Afghanistan issues are major challenges.

The fundaments of common civil and commercial law are derived from the British system. English is the official language and the national language is Urdu.


Balochistan Province
Balochistan is a desert province with a population of about six million people. Apart from Quetta (the capital) most settlements are hamlets or villages around oases. Balochistan has a land area of 343,000km2 or 43% of Pakistan. Much of the land area is at an elevation of between 1000 and 1500 metres above sea level and this produces a generally moderate and pleasant climate, though dry.

The people are a mixture of Baluch, Afghan and Pustun (Pathan) tribes. Outside of Quetta there are few settlements and much of the population follow traditional nomadic lifestyles.

Balochistan is on the main West Asian route of the Euro-Asian Highway passing from Zahedan in Iran to Taftan. A rail link and sealed road passes EW from Iran to Quetta and then southwards to Karachi. This link passes only 30km south of the Reko Diq Project."