Pakistan

 Pakistan

Pakistan: South Asia's Pakistan, formally the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,[f] is a nation. As a consequence of the British Indian Empire's dissolution, Pakistan became visible on the international map in August 1947 as an independent sovereign state. Its population, as of the 2008 Census, is around 172.80 million, spread throughout a land area of 881,913 sq. km. [including Federal Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, and Federal Administered Northern Areas, or FANA]. This terrain is among the oldest known to humankind in history. Before Babylon was constructed, its towns were thriving, and its population were practicing good citizenship long before the illustrious ancient Greeks.

When British India was being divided, Pakistan was created in response to demands made by Islamic nationalists. 

A portion of the historic Silk Road runs through it, as does the Khyber Pass, a well-known route that has allowed outside influences to infiltrate the otherwise remote subcontinent. High peaks like Nanga Parbat and K2, which are located in the Kashmir area ruled by Pakistan, are a formidable attraction for mountain climbers. One of the birthplaces of civilization is the ancient site of Mohenjo-daro, situated along the Indus River, which runs across the nation.

Yet Pakistan has had difficulty defining itself on the political and cultural fronts. Pakistan gained independence in 1947 following the Partition of the British Indian Empire, which granted separate statehood to its Muslim-majority regions and was accompanied by an unprecedented mass migration and death toll. Pakistan was propelled by the Pakistan Movement, which sought a homeland for the Muslims of British India, and election victories in 1946 by the All-India Muslim League.[19] Pakistan, which had been a Dominion of the British Commonwealth, formally drew up its constitution in 1956 and became an Islamic republic.

Acts of violence against religious minority have grown, and ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic conflicts have periodically flared up in different sections of the nation, frequently making such areas essentially ungoverned by the central government.

Up to 10 million Muslim refugees left their homes in India during the 1947 partition and sought safety in Pakistan, with roughly 8 million of them living in West Pakistan. Almost equal numbers of Sikhs and Hindus were driven from their homes and homeland in what would become Pakistan and fled to India. 

Land

Pakistan is a naturally beautiful country. The terrain changes as one moves northward from coastal beaches, lagoons, and mangrove swamps in the south to high mountains with attractive valleys, snow-covered summits, and unending glaciers in the north. In the midst are sandy deserts, barren plateaus, lush plains, and split highland. The coast of the Arabian Sea forms its southern boundary.

Relief and drainage

The northern highlands, the Indus River plain, which has two major sections that roughly correspond to the provinces of Punjab and Sindh, and the Balochistan Plateau make up Pakistan's three main geographic regions. Some geographers identify other significant areas.
The Himalayan and Karakoram ranges, along with their subranges; the Hindu Kush and western mountains; the Balochistan plateau; the submontane plateau (which includes the Potwar Plateau, Salt Range, trans-Indus plain, and Sialkot area); and the Indus River plain comprise the five main sections of the territory. There are many subdivisions, including several arid regions, inside each major division.

The ranges of the Karakoram and Himalaya

The Karakoram mountain range (/ˊkɑ\rəˈkɔ\rəm, ˌkaer-/)[1] is located in the Kashmir area and spans the borders of China, India, and Pakistan. Its northwest extremity also reaches Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Himalayas have traditionally divided South and Central Asia, both geographically and culturally. Stretching from north to south over Kashmir and northern Pakistan, the Pir Panjal, Zaskar, and Ladakh ranges divide the western Himalayan chain.

Numerous significant rivers enter Pakistan through the mountains of Kashmir. The Jhelum River, which splits the well-known Vale of Kashmir, rises in the Pir Panjal Range, the Indus River flows between the Zaskar and Ladakh ranges, and the Shyok River rises in the Karakoram Range. 

The Pamirs, located in the northwest beyond the Hindu Kush, are where Pakistan and Tajikistan are separated only by the Vākhān (Wakhan Corridor), a thin strip of Afghan land. When Chinese and Pakistani engineers finished the Karakoram Highway in 1970, connecting the town of Gilgit in Gilgit-Baltistan with Kashgar (Kashi) in Xinjiang, they broke through the Himalayan range. The highway, a wonder of contemporary engineering, facilitates a great deal of trade between the two nations but hasn't done much to foster cross-cultural interaction.

Pakistan's precipitation pattern is influenced by the northern mountain barrier, which blocks monsoon (rain-bearing) winds coming from the south. The rivers, such as the Indus, that emerge from the east-west orientated peaks and flow southward are also fed by melting snow and glacial meltwater from the Himalayas. 

Because the country's mountain structure is geologically young, it naturally experiences regular seismic activity in its northern and western parts. Small earthquakes frequently occur in the area. However, because many buildings are shoddily built and those in the highlands are sometimes positioned precariously, a number of earthquakes have been violent and extremely devastating.

In this harsh northern area, people are normally small in number, but in a few well-chosen locations, they are numerous. Barley is the typical crop in the majority of these small communities; apricot and other fruit farming is particularly significant. There are some areas with timber, primarily pine species, however the amount and type of timber depends on elevation and precipitation. Overgrazing and excessive timber harvesting have stripped cover from many hillsides.

Western mountains and the Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush splits off southwest from the Pamir Knot, a major orogenic uplift, in far northern Pakistan. While the Karakorams' ridges extend from the knot in a southeasterly to northwesterly direction, the Hindu Kush's ridges typically trend from northeast to southwest. The Hindu Kush is composed of two separate ranges: a watershed range in Afghanistan to the west of the main range, which separates the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) drainage basin from the Indus system of rivers. The main crest line is crossed by transverse streams.

Several branches of the Hindu Kush flow southward through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Chitral, Dir, and Swat regions. The Kunar, Panjkora, and Swat rivers run through these branches, which have narrow, deep valleys. The ranges are covered in permanent snow and ice in the far north; high peaks include Tirich Mir, which is 25,230 feet (7,690 meters) high. Because the valley sides are isolated from factors that cause precipitation, they are typically bare. The area features wide grasslands and trees made up mostly of pine and deodar, a type of cedar, towards the south.

Situated to the south of the Kābul River and forming a boundary with Afghanistan, the Safid Mountain Range rises to an elevation of approximately 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) and trends generally east to west. Its outliers are dispersed throughout Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kohat district. The Gumal River flows much further south, and the Kurram and Tochi rivers cut through the Waziristan hills to the south of the Safid Range. The mountain passes to the south of the Kābul River are relatively broad. They are the Khyber, Kurram, Tochi, Gomal, and Bolan, in that order from north to south.The Khyber Pass is particularly noteworthy historically because, although it is wide enough to accommodate enormous army movements, it frequently serves as the entry point for armies advancing into the subcontinent.

The Sulaiman Range extends roughly north-south to the south of the Gumal River. Takht-e Sulaiman, the highest point in the range, features two peaks, the higher of which rises to 18,481 feet (5,633 meters). In the south, the Marri and Bugti hills are where the Sulaiman Range tapers. The Balochistan plateau is divided from the Indus plain by the Sulaiman and, to the south, the low Kirthar Range.

The Balochistan plateau

Balochistan's large tableland is home to a wide range of geographical features. A lobe with a trellis design, encircled by mountain ranges on all sides, is formed in the northeast by a basin centered on the cities of Zhob and Loralai. The Toba Kakar Range is to the north and northwest, and the Sulaiman Range is to the east and southeast. It merges with the Central Brahui Range close to Quetta. To the west, it becomes the Khwaja Amran Range. Ras Koh Range marks a less severe transition from the mountainous terrain toward the southwest.Mountains encircle the small Quetta basin on all sides. It seems as though the entire region forms a node of high ranges. The overall topography of northwest Balochistan is made up of a number of low-lying plateaus split by hills, situated west of the Ras Koh Range. The Chagai Hills are next to a genuine desert area in the north, which is made up of hamuns (playas) and inland drainage.

The Central Brahui Range forms the spine of the immense wilderness of mountain ranges that makes up Southern Balochistan. The Pab Range to the west backs the easternmost Kirthar Range. The Makran Coast Range, whose sharp southern face splits the coastal plain from the remainder of the plateau, and the Central Makran Range are two more significant ranges in southern Balochistan. The Makran coastal trail is primarily made up of level mud flats encircled by ridges of sandstone. An ongoing development project in Gwadar, connected to Karachi by an enhanced road transit system, has broken the parched plain's isolation.

The submontane plateau

Most of the region is covered in gravel or clay alluvial detritus, which is made up of loose particles or fragments that have been removed from rock blocks by erosion and other processes. The Vale of Peshawar receives between 10 and 15 inches (250 and 380 mm) of precipitation annually, and canal irrigation systems water the most of the cultivable land.

Compared to the Vale of Peshawar, Kohat is less developed. It has precipitated 400 mm, or around 16 inches. Despite the relatively high water table, only a small portion of the cultivated area is canal-irrigated, and its groundwater resources are not fully utilized. The majority of the region is made up of poor grazing land and scrub. The area is mostly divided by limestone ridges, and boulders, gravel, and lacustrine clays are scattered across the uneven limestone floor.

Approximately 25% of the land under cultivation in Bannu is irrigated. There is little precipitation each year—roughly 11 inches (275 mm). Kohat and Bannu are home to fat-tailed sheep, camels, and donkeys; wool is a significant revenue crop.

It eventually dips into the Salt Range to the south, where it offers a steep face that rises to a height of roughly 2,000 feet (600 meters) even further south. The Soan River's structurally downwarped basin sits in the center of the Potwar Plateau.

The entire region of the basin is made up of soft Shiwalik beds, which are known locally as khaderas and comprise the basin's overall landscape of intertwined ravines. The area's top layer is composed of wind-blown loessic silt, which eventually deteriorates into sand and gravel as it approaches the hillside. The twin towns of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are situated on the little Rawalpindi plain in the north.

The Potwar Plateau experiences 15 to 20 inches (380 to 510 mm) of yearly precipitation on average. The southwest is quite arid, despite the northwest having slightly more precipitation. Streams rip and destroy the environment, cutting into the land and removing dirt during rainy seasons. Because they are often deeply ingrained, the streams are rarely or never useful for irrigation. It is primarily a poor agricultural region, and the populace overuses the region's resources.

The submontane region to the north and the plain of the Indus River to the south are separated by the incredibly dry Salt Range. At 4,992 feet (1,522 meters), Mount Sakesar is the highest point in the Salt Range. Geologists are interested in the Salt Range because it has the world's longest uninterrupted sequence of exposed rocks, spanning from the early Cambrian (approximately 540 million years ago) to between 2,600,000 and 11,700 years ago, during the Pleistocene Epoch.

The northeastern portion of Sialkot is a small submontane area. In contrast to the Potwar Plateau, this area is rich in agriculture. The soil is heavy and extremely rich, and the water table is high, allowing for well and tube-well irrigation. The annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 35 inches (650 to 900 mm). There is a dense population distribution, and the land is split up into small farms that engage in intensive farming.

The plain of the Indus River

The plain has no features other than the micro relief. Due to the physiographic differences between the upper and lower Indus plains, it can be divided into two regions. The Indus and its tributaries, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers, drain the upper Indus plain, creating a sophisticated network of interfluves in Punjab province called locally as doabs (Persian panj āb, "five waters," referring to the five rivers). The Indus River has a Nilotic character in the lower plain, meaning that it forms a single, sizable river without any notable tributaries.Near Mithankot, where the Sulaiman Range approaches the plain and the Indus River unites with its final significant tributary, the Panjnad River (which is actually only the confluence of the five Punjab rivers), the plain narrows to form a corridor. Due to the annual strong rains that fall mostly in July and August, flooding is a persistent issue, particularly along the Indus River.The Himalayan piedmont, the doabs, and the Sulaiman piedmont—known locally as the Derajat—are the three segments that make up the upper Indus plain. The small strip of land where the rivers enter the plain from their mountain stage, providing them a somewhat greater gradient, is known as the Himalayan piedmont, also known as the sub-Shiwalik zone. Numerous rivulets that have created a fractured topography in some areas of the zone are what define it. Except during the rainy season, when they swell into roaring streams with significant erosive strength, these streams stay dry.

The micro topography found in the doabs between the several rivers is similar and consists of four different landforms: scalloped interfluves, meander floodplains, cover floodplains, and active floodplains. Adjacent to a river, an active floodplain (known locally as a khaddar or bet) is frequently referred to as "the summer bed of rivers" since it is submerged nearly all the time during the rainy season. Although there are numerous protective bunds (levees) placed along the outer edge of the bet to hold back river water during the rainy season, the sight is one of shifting river channels.The meander floodplain, which is located next to the active floodplain and is made up of higher ground away from the river, is dotted with levees, oxbow lakes, bars, and abandoned channels. As a result of sheet flooding, the cover floodplain is a vast area of geologically recent alluvium that covers the old riverine features. The center, taller portions of the doab are known as the scalloped interfluves, or bars, and they are composed of old, uniformly textured alluvium. At points above 20 feet (6 meters) in height, river-cut scarps define the boundaries of the scalloped features.This portion of the plain's normally level surface is broken up into tiny pockets at Sangla Hill and Chiniot, which are located close to the heavily deforested Kirana Hills and stand out in sharp pinnacles. These hills are thought to represent the Indian Aravali Range's outliers.

The Sindh Sagar Doab, which is largely desert and located between the Indus and Jhelum rivers, is the largest but poorest of the doabs. The richest agricultural regions in the nation, however, are found in the doabs that lie east of it. The building of a "tidal drain" that would stretch 26 miles (42 km) to the sea was the last phase of the LBOD. Nevertheless, the badly planned tidal drain in southeast Sindh caused an environmental catastrophe instead of removing salt water: freshwater lakes and ponds and vast tracts of land were inundated with salt water, ruining agriculture and freshwater fisheries.

A large artificial river was to be built approximately east of and parallel to the Indus to transfer salt water from the plains of Punjab and Sindh provinces to the Arabian Sea shore in the Badin district in southeast Sindh. The final stage of the LBOD involved constructing a "tidal drain" that would run 26 miles (42 km) to the ocean. Nevertheless, rather than eliminating salt water, the poorly designed tidal drain in southeast Sindh destroyed freshwater lakes, ponds, and large areas of land, devastating freshwater fisheries and agriculture. The lower Indus plain is flat, with a gradient as little as 1 foot every 3 miles (1 metre per 10 km), and it passes through the province of Sindh. The micro sculpture bears a striking resemblance to the upper Indus plain. Because of the Indus's aggradational work, the valley and its banks have risen higher than the surrounding area. The river also frequently changes course because the alluvial sands and clays of the surrounding soil tend to give way before floods, despite the river's protective bunds along its course. The plain's level surface is broken up at Sukkur and Hyderabad by sporadic limestone outcroppings. The deltaic plain is formed by the river's distributaries below the apex of the Indus delta, which is located close to Thatta. The Rann of Kachchh (Kutch), a vast area of saltmarsh, is southeast of that point. With the exception of the Pabbi Hills and the area between Karachi and Ras Muari (Cape Monze), the coastline tract is low and level.

West of the Indus, Manchhar is a marshy lake that is 14 square miles (36 square km) in size at low tide and at least 200 square miles (500 square km) when it is full, making it one of South Asia's largest freshwater lakes. The Indus plain's groundwater varies in quality, with the majority of it being saline and unsuitable for agricultural use in the southern zone (Sindh). Both salinity and waterlogging have impacted large stretches of the plain in both its northern and southern zones. Unlike the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, the Indus delta is a wild waste in the south. A 20- to 30-kilometer stretch of the coast is submerged when high tides and Indus floods coincide.

The desert areas

From eastern Bahawalpur to the Thar Parkar region in the south, the southeast portion of the Indus plain is a typical desert that stretches from Pakistan to India and is an extension of the Thar Desert. The Ghaggar River's dry bed in Bahawalpur and the Nara Canal in Sindh to the east divide it from the plains' central irrigated zone. The desert is sometimes referred to as the Pat or Thar Desert in Sindh and the Cholistan or Rohi Desert in Bahawalpur. The desert's surface is a crazed tangle of sand ridges and dunes. Before the Jinnah Barrage was built on the Indus River close to Kalabagh in 1946, the majority of the Sindh Sagar Doab, the most western of Punjab's doabs, was an infertile wasteland known as the Thal Desert. Some areas of the desert have been converted into productive agricultural land thanks to the Thal canal system, which uses water from the barrage.

Soils

Pedocals, a dry soil category with high calcium carbonate concentrations and low organic matter content, are what make up Pakistan's soils; they are indicative of a region with irregular and infrequent precipitation. The three main categories of soils are desert sands, mountain soils, and soils from the Indus basin. Even in tiny regions, nevertheless, their diversity arises from the fundamental process of soil creation. The texture, color, chemical makeup, and organic content of these soils differ from location to location.

The majority of the thick alluvium that rivers have deposited in the Indus basin is relatively recent. The most recent soils are those found near river courses, and their textures range from sand to silt loam to silty clay loams. They are referred to as the "khaddar soils" because of their poor organic content. Older alluvial soils, known as bangar, are widely dispersed away from the river and toward the center of the doabs. These soils are poor in organic matter, have a medium to fine texture, and produce a lot when fertilized and irrigated. But these soils are salinized in certain wet places. Soils with high alkalinity are found in a few isolated areas. These soils are noncalcareous and contain a slightly higher organic content in submontane locations that experience subhumid conditions. The estuary soils of the delta are extremely salinized and desolate.

Mountain soils can be classified as transported or residual, meaning they formed in a stationary position. In the fractured hill terrain and along the slopes, shallow residual soils have formed. These soils are often deficient in organic matter and highly calcareous; but, in subhumid environments, their organic matter rises.

The Cholistan region of Sindh Sagar Doab and western Balochistan are covered in sandy desert soils. They consist of both clayey floodplain soils and shifting sandy soils. Among them are eolian (carried by wind) and somewhat calcareous soils.

Climate

Pakistan's climate is primarily arid, with its continental characteristics evident in the wide range of temperatures. Pakistan is located on the brink of a wet-dry monsoonal system. In general, the country has unpredictable and very variable precipitation. Summertime brings most of the precipitation, with the rainy monsoon winds blowing in sporadic spurts whose exact limits fluctuate from year to year. Although they are unpredictable in nature, tropical storms from the Arabian Sea bring precipitation to the coastal regions.

Due to its concentration from early July to mid-September, when high temperatures promote loss through evaporation, the monsoonal precipitation is inefficient. Precipitation increases significantly under maritime influence, reaching approximately 6 inches (155 mm) in Hyderabad and 8 inches (200 mm) in Karachi.

The Potwar Plateau and a portion of the Indus plain in the northeast are delineated by the 20-inch (500-mm) precipitation line that extends northwest from close to Lahore; these regions receive adequate rainfall for dry farming, or farming without irrigation. Up until the invention of irrigation, agriculture is mostly limited to riverine strips south of this region. The Balochistan plateau is unusually arid for most of its length, particularly in the west and south.