PAKISTAN

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and the Greater Middle East, through its Pashto and Baloch dominated provinces. Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and is the second most populous country with a Muslim majority. Its territory was a part of pre-partitioned British India, and has a long history of settlement and civilisation including the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most of it was conquered in the 1st millennium BC by Persians and Greeks. Later arrivals include the Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Baloch and Mongols. The territory was incorporated into the British Raj in the nineteenth century. Since its independence, the country has experienced both periods of significant military and economic growth, and periods of instability, with the secession of East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh). Pakistan is a declared nuclear weapons state.