Natural Resources of Pakistan

Pakistan is rich in natural resources. There are several resources found in Pakistan
which includes minerals, human resources, agriculture and the strategic location of
Pakistan itself. Following are the main resources and their details that are found in
Pakistan.

(a) Minerals
1. Mineral oil:
In Pakistan, the oil reserves are situated in Chakwal, Dhullian, Attock, Kot
Mayyal, Dhodhak, Badin,Dadu, Hyderabad and Potohar Plateau. Pakistan is
only able to fulfill fifteen percent of its requirements through its mineral oil
resources.
2. Natural Gas:
In Pakistan natural gas is found in sui (Balochistan province), khairpur, hundi,
seri, mazrani and kandkhot (Sindh province) and pir koh, Dhodak, Dhullian,
Mayyal (Punjab province). Natural gas is used for industrial purposes and
household.
3. Coal:
There are huge resources of coal in mian wali and makkar wal in the Punjab
province. Coal reserves are also found in balocjistan and some parts of Sindh.
Pakistan is unable to utilize its coal efficiently and that is the reason that
Pakistan only take 11 percent of its coal requirements from it natural
resources.
4. Iron ore:
Kalabagh in mian wali is famous for the reserves of iron ore in Pakistan.
Khuzdar , hazara , chitral and muslim bagh also have the natural resources of
iron ore .
5. Gypsum:
Mian wali. Dera ghazi khan, rohri, qutta and sibbi are famous for the reserves
of white colored shining stone known as gypsum.
6. Chromite:
Pakistan is famous for having the world largest resources of chromite. It is a
white colored metal found in chaghi, muslim bagh, kharan, north Waziristan
and malakand.
7. Copper:
Copper is found in saindak, and chaghi. It is used as a good conductor in
electrical appliances.
8. Limestone:
Its reserves are in Hyderabad, manghopir, kot diji, Jhelum, ranipur and
mughul kot.
9. Salt:
Pakistan has the world largest mine of salt. The largest mine is at khewra.
Other salt reserves are in kala bagh, khushab, bahadur khel and mauri pur.
Other minerals include different types of precious stones found in the northern
areas of Pakistan.

(b) Agricultural resources:

Pakistan is an agricultural country and most of its population lives in villages
with the primary occupation of agriculture.

1. Irrigation network

Pakistan has very good and effective irrigation network in Punjab and kpk
province. It covers major cultivated area.

2. Fertile land:

Pakistan has very fertile land which is capable of produing approximately all
kinds of crops including wheat, peas, maze, rice, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane and
different type of vegetables and fruits.

3. Animal husbandry:

As an agricultural country Pakistan is rich in animal husbandry.

4. Fishing:

Fishing is also a very important resource of Pakistan and fulfill the food
requirement of the population along with omega 3. Karachi and gawader sea ports
are very famous for fishing. Fishing on medium scale is carried in different rivers of
the country. Fish is also exported to other countries as well.
(c) Human resources:
Pakistan is the 6th largest country in the word according to population which
comprise mainly of youth making it a very suitable workforce. In a country with such
a huge population there are lot of workers and engineers working in the gulf.

Reasons and remedies for the poor management of natural

resources of the country
Political instability:

Due to the lack of democracy and unstable government structure, Pakistan is unable to
utilize its resources efficiently. The political governments in the past were unable to
complete their tenure due to marshal law imposition by the military generals. The political
government was so corrupt in the past that military overtook many time the government
and the long term plans were laid in delay.

The remedy is to let the government completing its tenures.

Lack of vision and planning:

There is no proper policy or planning to utilize the natural resources effectively. A proper
plan should be made to utilize all the resources efficiently .

Flawed policies:

The policies already made have lot of flaws and problems which are not able to be
implemented.

Bureaucracy and corruption:

As the bureaucracy of the country is strong, there is no proper involvement of the

bureaucracy to be the part of such projects beneficial for the efficient utilization of
resources. There is lot of corruption in the government sector as well.

Law and order situation:

There is no implementation of law by the law enforcement agencies and authorities.

Pakistan is not a poor country but due to the mismanagement of its natural resources it is
unable to boost its economy to a develop level. Effective utilization of the resources will lead
to prosperity of the country and well improves the life standard and self-sustainability of the
country. Terrorism has played a main role in stopping the search and effective utilization of the
country resources. A long term plan should be made without any biasness and discrimination and
corrupt should be dealt severely to avoid the mismanagement of the resources.