The population of a country and the trend of population growth determine the number of persons to be fed, clothed, housed and employed today and tomorrow. The population of Pakistan is growing at an explosive rate. Pakistan’s estimated population as of March, 2020 was 219.4 million people, making it the world’s fifth-most-populous country, just behind Indonesia and slightly ahead of Brazil.
During 1950–2011, Pakistan’s urban population expanded over sevenfold, while the total population increased by over fourfold. In the past, the country’s population had a relatively high growth rate that has been changed by moderate birth rates. In 1998 Pakistan’s population was 132.4 million with a population density of 166 person’s km2 . Between 1998-2017, the average population growth rate stood at 2.40%. Pakistan has a multicultural and multi-ethnic society and hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world as well as a young population.
NEIGHBORS OF PAKISTAN
Pakistan is situated in the South Asia, and is positioned in both the eastern and northern hemispheres. It shares its borders with the Iran, Afghanistan, India and China. Following are the interesting facts about the Neighbors of Pakistan include India, china, Afghanistan and Iran.
India
India lies to its east. The Radcliffe Line became the official border between Pakistan and India. Pakistan has a long border with India, which is approximately 1610 km. When discussing Indo-Pak border, Wagah is an important place for both countries. It is the only road border crossing between India and Pakistan, and lies on the Grand Trunk Road between the cities of Amritsar and Lahore. Wagah is also famous for ‘the lowering of the flags’ ceremony which is held there every evening, and is witnessed by a large crowd from both the nations. Wagah is actually a village from which the Radcliffe line was drawn separating India and Pakistan.
China
The border between Pakistan and China is nearly 523 kilometers long and is situated in the northeast of Pakistan China lies to the North of Pakistan. Several agreements took place between 1961 and 1965 in which the borderline was determined between the two countries. The famous agreement called the Sino-Pakistan Agreement, or the Sino-Pakistan Frontier Agreement was passed in 1963 between Pakistan and China, according to which both countries agreed on the border between them.
Lofty snow-capped mountains lie between the two countries. The Karakorum Highway also known as the Eighth Wonder of the World, lies on the border between Pakistan and China links the two countries via the Khunjerab Pass. It connects Sinkiang Uighur of China and Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan and is one of the highest paved international roads in the world.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan is located on the North-western and western border of Pakistan. The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan formally known as the Durand Line is located on the west of Pakistan. The Durand Line is named after Sir Mortimer Durand, who was the foreign secretary of the British India. There are two important roads that link Afghanistan with Pakistan. One links Peshawar (Pakistan) with Kabul (Afghanistan) via the Khyber Pass. There is a proposal to extend the railway from Chaman (Pakistan) to Kandahar (Afghanistan). Afghanistan is landlocked; therefore, a large part of its trade passes through Pakistan. With Afghanistan Pakistan has the longest boundary, which is 2252 km.
Iran
Iran lies to the south-west of Pakistan. The border between Pakistan and Iran is located on the west side, and is known as the Pakistan-Iran Barrier. It is 909 kilometers long and a 700 km concrete wall that is, three feet wide and 10 feet high has been built to stop the flow of illegal border crossings. There is a railway link between Pakistan and Iran as well. The railway runs from Quetta via Dalbandin and Nok Kundi to Iran. Kuh-i-Taftan is the border railway station in Pakistan and Iran. A road runs parallel to the railways. There is another good road link between the two countries, which connects southern Balochistan through Turbat and Mand with Iran. A large trade exists between Pakistan and Iran.
Other neighbors of Pakistan
Other neighbors of Pakistan include Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. All these countries are landlocked, but they could take advantage of port facilities of Pakistan. These countries have rich resources of oil, gas and other minerals. Already there is a proposal to lay down an oil pipeline between Turkmenistan and Pakistan. Pakistan is located to close to the oil-rich countries bordering the Gulf, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF PAKISTAN
The major part of our country consists of lofty mountains on the north and west, it has the world fertile alluvial plain which is drained by the river Indus and its tributaries. It has plateaus and few deserts also and thus Pakistan can be divided into a number of physical regions which are given below:
The North Eastern Mountains
The highest mountain of the world known as “The Himalayas and Karakurram comprising of a series of ranges which is situated in the north-east of our country. The Himalayas stretches like a bow in the north of Indo-Pak sub-continent having a length of about 1500km. The part of this mountain which came into our share, consists of four parallel ranges. With beautiful valleys. The slope of these goes decreasing from the north to south. Thus according to their altitudes, these ranges can be sub-divided as:
The Siwalik Range
These are line of low altitude hills, situated adjacent to plain areas of Hazera district in KPK and Attock, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Gujrat and Sialkot districts in Punjab. Here these hills have a height of between 3000 and 4000 feet from sea level.
The Pir Panjal Range
Pir Panjal range is one of the famous ranges that lie in these areas, it has an average altitude of 14000 to 15000 feet; most of the peaks remain snow covered during winter. These are also covered with natural vegetation; The thiacests forests of Pakistan like here. Forests are also seen at some places.
The Central or Great Himalayas
The average height of these ranges is 20,000 feet. These mountains lie in between the Pir Panjal range and Karakoram Range and most of the peak remains snowcovered throughout the year. The highest peak of this range known as Nanga Parbat lies in Kashmir with 26,660 feet height. The beautiful valley of Kashmir lies between the Pir Panjal range and the great Himalayas.
The Karakoram Range
The famous Karakorum Range lies to the north of central Himalayas in northern Kashmir and Gilgit area. These ranges have an average height of more than 20,000 above sea level. The peaks having a high altitude remain snow covered throughout the year. The north eastern mountains of our country are quite high and it is difficult to cross them. The highest-Peak of these ranges is K-2 with 2,825/feet height which is the 2nd highest peak of the world offer Mount Everest.
The North Western Mountains
The north western ranges of our country are also known as western branches of the Himalayas Mountains. These mountains consist of several parallel ranges and are lower in altitude than the north eastern mountains. As most of these ranges lie outside the course of summer monsoons coming from Arabian Sea, and so there the rainfall is low and these are almost baren of natural vegetation. These mountains act as a boundary between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. These mountain ranges lie north to south, having some passes in river and beds in the valleys. So the north western mountains can be sub-divided into the following divisions:
1. The Hindu-Kush: Between the Knot Pamir and Kabul river lies the Hindu Kush range. The average height of this range is between 10000 to 16000 feet above sea level. Most of the mountain remains snow-covered during winter months. The highest Peak is Tirchmir with 25,230 feet height.
2. Koh-Sufaid: South of the Kabul River up to Khurram pass lies the KohSufaid range which runs east and west. These mountains have an average height of 12000 feet are often covered with snow in winter.
3. Waziristan Hills
Between the Khurram and the Gomal rivers lies the Waziristan hills area. These hills have low altitude. The Tochi River joins the Kurram River from the west in North Waziristan and Gomal River coming from Afghanistan joins Indus near Dera Ismail khan.
4. The Sulaiman Mountain: In the south of the Gomal river lays the Sulaiman Mountain. Its highest peak is known as Takht-i-sulaiman, whose height is 11,440 ft above sea level.
5. The Kirthar Hills: In the west of lower Indus plain lies a hilly area known as “The Kirthar hills”. These hills are not high enough, their average height being about 7000 feet. Hab river drains from these ranges.
The Indus Plain
River Indus is the largest river of our country. This river after originating from the northern slopes of Kailash Range in Tibet (china) passing through the Himalayas and enters in Pakistan’s territory near Gilgit. In the upper region a number of streams join in it, but at the later stage, some of its western and eastern tributaries make it huger and vast in volume and speed. All the plain areas of our country have existed by the sediments brought by river Indus and its tributaries, the whole of the Indus plain can be sub-divided into two main parts:
1. The Upper Indus Plain
From the point of junction of eastern tributaries of river Indus is known as the upper Indus plain. It includes most of the areas of Punjab province. The upper Indus plain has a height from 600 feet to 1000 feet. The north eastern part is comparatively higher. The five big rivers of Punjab drain this plain. The land which lies between the two rivers is known as “Doab”. Thus the area of the Punjab plain can be divided into Bari Doab, The Rachna Doab, The chaj Doab and the Sindh Sagar Doab. Although the north eastern areas of Upper Indus plain receive enough amount of rainfall, but here the average annual rainfall is less than 20 inches, which is insufficient for the agricultural activities, So Irrigates is a practical number of crops such as wheat, rice, cotton, maize and pulses are cultivated in these areas.
2. The Lower Indus Plain
The lower Indus plain differs from the upper Indus plain because of its structure. Lower Indus plain has been formed by the changing course of a single great river and the deposits are of a comparatively recent origin. The lower Indus plain situated between the left bank of the Indus River and Thar Desert. It is a level alluvial plain. It is more productive, but rainfall is scanty and agricultural activities cannot be performed on western side of Indus are comparatively less fertile and most of the areas lying northwest of the Indus river have been suffering from the disease of water logging and salinity. Read more
Leave a Comment