Pakistan: background information

History

WaterAid currently focusses its work in urban areas of Pakistan where the lack of water, sanitation and sewerage are large problems.

Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Penn

The partition of British India in 1947 resulted in the formation of West and East Pakistan. After a war in 1971 East Pakistan seceded and became the separate state of Bangladesh and West Pakistan became what is now Pakistan.

Its history has been characterised by a poor relationship with neighbouring India, with an ongoing dispute over the state of Kashmir.

In 1999 there was a military takeover led by Musharraf, who declared himself president in June 2001. A referendum in April 2002 extended his presidency a further five years.

Geography and economy

Long-term economic prospects remain uncertain.

Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Penn

Pakistan is a land of mostly hot, dry desert with limited natural freshwater supplies. It predominantly consists of the flat Indus River plains with mountainous areas in the north and northwest.

Though endowed with natural gas reserves, it is an impoverished and underdeveloped country, and has suffered from internal political disputes, lack of foreign investment, and a costly confrontation with neighbouring India, leaving it with poor human development indicators and a reliance on international creditors for hard currency inflows.

The long-term economic prospects remain uncertain as GDP growth is heavily reliant on agricultural production and import dependency on foreign oil means a vulnerability to fluctuating oil prices. Trade levels have suffered with the global economic downturn.