Pakistan - Simple Directory

Simple directory > Regional > Pakistan

Official name: Islami Jamhuriya e Pakistan (Islamic Republic of Pakistan)
Head of State: President Pervez Musharraf (sworn in 20 Jun 2001)
Head of government: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz (sworn in 28 Aug 2004)
Ruling party: Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid e Azam (PML-QA)
Area: 803,943 square km
Population: 157.06 million (2004)
Capital: Islamabad
Official language: Urdu (national language) and English
Currency: Rupee (Rp) = 100 paisa
Exchange rate: Rp59.57 per US$ (Nov 2004)
GDP per capita: US$470 (2003)
GDP real growth: 5.10% (2003)
Unemployment: 7.30% (2003)
Inflation: 3.20% (2003)
Balance of trade: -US$444.00 million (2003)
Foreign debt: US$32.30 billion (2003)

Historical profile

1906 The Muslim League was founded to promote Indian Muslim separatism.

1940 The Muslim League endorsed the idea of a separate nation for Indian Muslims.

1947 Pakistan, including what is now Bangladesh, was granted independence as a British Dominion following the partition of the British Indian Empire. The Hindu ruler of Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir joined secular India rather than Islamic Pakistan. India and Pakistan have disputed Kashmir ever since.

1948 Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, died. India and Pakistan again fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

1951 Jinnah's successor, Liaquat Ali Khan, was assassinated.

1956 The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was proclaimed.

1958 Martial law was declared and General Ayub Khan took power.

1960 Ayub Khan became president.

1965 India and Pakistan went to war in Kashmir again.

1969 Ayub Khan resigned and General Yahya Khan took over.

1970 The separatist Awami League won elections in East Pakistan (later Bangladesh).

1971 India-Pakistan war over East Pakistan.

1972 The Simla peace agreement sets a new Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, which is separated into Indian and Pakistan controlled areas.

1973 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto became prime minister.

1977 A military coup was led by General Zia ul Haq following widespread civil disturbances over election results, which saw a victory for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

1978 Zia became president.

1979 Bhutto was executed by the military government.

1980 The US pledged military assistance to Pakistan in order to strengthen the Islamicist opposition to the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan.

1985 After nearly eight years of martial law, parliamentary democracy with a civilian prime minister was reintroduced.

1986 Benazir Bhutto returned from exile to lead the PPP.

1988 Former military dictator and president, Zia ul Haq, remained pre-eminent until he died with the US ambassador and top Pakistani army officers in a mysterious air crash. General elections on a party basis were finally allowed and were won by the PPP. Benazir Bhutto became prime minister.

1990 Benazir was dismissed as prime minister on charges of incompetence and corruption.

1991 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif began a programme of economic liberalisation. Islamic sharia was incorporated into Pakistani law.

1993 Sharif was forced to resign under pressure from the military. Benazir returned to power.

1996 President Leghari dismissed Benazir's government for corruption.

1997 Sharif returned to power as prime minister after his Pakistan Muslim League (PML) won the elections.

1998 Pakistan and India each conducted underground nuclear tests. International sanctions were imposed on both countries.

1999 Prime Minister Vajpayee of India made a historic bus ride to Pakistan for a peace summit with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. This was followed by a month-long conflict between Pakistani and Indian forces in the Kargil area of Kashmir. General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a coup. Pakistan was subsequently expelled from the Commonwealth. Benazir and her husband were convicted of corruption in absentia and given jail sentences. Consequently, Benazir refused to return to Pakistan.

2000 US President Bill Clinton visited Pakistan and urged a return to democracy. Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment on hijacking and terrorism charges, but was later pardoned and sent into exile in Saudi Arabia.

2001 General Pervez Musharraf had himself sworn in as president, replacing the figurehead president, Rafiq Tarar. Musharraf backed the US war on terrorism in Afghanistan, leading to a lifting of the sanctions imposed after the nuclear bomb tests. There was an attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists on India's parliament. India demanded that Pakistan should act against the terrorist groups.

2002 Musharraf announced a gradual return to democracy. Musharraf was approved as president in a referendum. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali (PML-QA) was elected prime minister by the National Assembly. Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali won a vote of confidence, receiving 188 votes in the 342-seat National Assembly.

2003 The ruling party won most seats in the upper house; the elections are said to be the final stage of the transition to democracy. In November, the Indian and Pakistani armies began a cease-fire across the line of control dividing the disputed state of Kashmir and the Himalayan glacier of Siachen – the first formal cease-fire since an insurgency began in Kashmir 14 years ago.

2004 On 1 January, President Pervez Musharraf won confidence votes in both houses of parliament and in the four provincial assemblies. The 100-member Senate voted 56–1 in his favour and the 342-member lower house 191–0.

The prime minister of India visited Pakistan in January – his first visit since 1999, for a meeting with President Musharraf. Over four years since its exclusion after a military coup, Pakistan was readmitted to the Commonwealth. On 26 June, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigned; Shaukat Aziz was elected by the National Assembly and sworn in as prime minister on 28 August.

2005 Despite an attack by Islamic militants, the first bus-link for 57 years between divided India- and Pakistan-held Kashmir commenced on 8 April. Not only did the Pakistani cricket team return victorious in May from its first tour of India in six years, but diplomatic relations were also boosted. In May, Abu Faraj Farj al Libbi, said to be the third-in-command of Al Qaeda, was captured.

Web Links