Pakistan Introduction

Pakistan Environment >Introduction

Introduction

Biodiversity

Protected Areas

Population

Introduction

Area

Pakistan stretches from the Arabian Sea to the high mountains of Central Asia, and covers an area of 803,944 km²

Location

It lies approximately between 24° and 37° north latitude, and between 61° and 78° east longitude. It neighbours Iran to the west, Afghanistan to the north, China to the northeast, and India to the east and southeast along a 2,000 km, partially contested border. There is a 1,000 km long coastline along the Arabian Sea.

Climate

The climate is continental and is characterised by extreme variations of temperature. Winter (January) temperatures range from 68°F along the coast to 4°F in the high mountains (above 460 m). Summer (July) temperatures range from 95°F in the southeastern deserts to 32°F in the high mountains. The southwest monsoon (July-October) provides rainfall of about 40 inches or more in the mountainous northern areas and about 6-8 inches on the coast. Rainfall varies from year to year, and successive periods of flooding and drought are not uncommon.

Terrain

Pakistan can be divided physiographically into four regions:

The great highlands
The Balochistan Plateau
The Indus Plain
The Desert areas

The Himalayan and the trans-Himalayan mountain ranges, rising to an average elevation of more than 6,000 m and including some of the world's highest peaks, such as K2 (8,611 m) and Nanga Parbat (8,126 m), make up the great highlands which occupy the northern most part of the country. The Balochistan Plateau, a broken highland region about 300 m in elevation with many ridges crossing it from northeast to southwest, occupies the western and southwestern sectors of the country. The Indus Plain, the most prosperous agricultural region of Pakistan, covers an area of 520,000 km²in the east and extends to 1,100 km from northern Pakistan southward to the Arabian Sea. In the southeast are the desert areas.

Administrative Divisions

The main administrative divisions are the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) plus the Federal Capital Territory of Islamabad. Two other regions, the Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) are administered by the Government of Pakistan.