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Geography ::.
Location:
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the
east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north.
Geographic Coordinates:
30 00 N, 70 00 E
Area:
Total: 803,940 sq km
Land: 778,720 sq km
Water: 25,220 sq km
Area-Comparative:
Slightly less than twice the size of California
Land
Boundaries:
Total: 6,774 km
Border countries: Afghanistan
2,430 km, China 523 km, India 2,912 km, Iran 909 km
Coast
Line:
1,046 km
Maritime Claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM
Continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the
continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Climate:
Mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north
Terrain:
Flat Indus plain in east; mountains in north and
northwest; Balochistan plateau in west
Elevation Extremes:
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Highest
point:
K2 (Mt. Godwin-Austen) 8,611 m
Natural Resources:
Land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited petroleum, poor
quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone.
Land
Use:
Arable land: 27.81%
Permanent crops: 0.79%
Other: 71.4% (1998 est.)
Irrigated Land :
180,000 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural Hazards:
Frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe
especially in north and west; flooding along the Indus after heavy rains
(July and August).
Environment Current Issues:
Water pollution from raw sewage, industrial
wastes, and agricultural runoff; limited natural fresh water resources; a
majority of the population does not have access to potable water;
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification.
Environment International Agreements:
Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban
Geographical notes:
Controls Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass, traditional invasion routes
between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.
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