Portal:Pakistan/Introduction
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The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان, islāmī jamhūriya i pākistān), or Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان, pākistān), is a country located in South Asia and Central Asia and was a part of Ancient Pakistan and became a subject to British rule in the 1800s. The country borders India, Afghanistan, Iran (Persia), China and the Arabian Sea. With around 162 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country, the second most populous Muslim-majority nation. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the OIC.
Pakistan was made into a separate nation from Britain in 14th August 1947 for Muslims of the sub-continent, but the region has a long history of settlement and civilisation that includes some of the most ancient cultures. The region was invaded by Greeks, Persians and Arabs, before being invaded by the British Raj in the Eighteenth century. Following independence, Pakistan has seen the loss of East Pakistan in 1971, repeated military coups, widespread Islamic fundamentalism and significant military and economic growth, with the second-fastest growing economy amongst the ten most populous countries in the world in 2005 and the twenty-fifth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. Pakistan has the seventh largest armed forces in the world and is one of eight declared nuclear weapons states.
