Pakistan

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and converging with Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometer coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan, Iran, India and China.

The region forming modern Pakistan was home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and the Indo-Greek kingdom. The area has witnessed invasions and settlement by the Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans and the Mongols. It was a part of British India until 1947, when the political agitation for a state for Muslims resulted in the independence and the creation of the state of Pakistan. With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic. In 1971, a civil war in East Pakistan resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. Pakistan's history has been characterized by periods of economic growth as well as military rule and political instability.

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. The country is a nuclear state.