The territory that now constitutes Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including

the Mehrgarh of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and was later home to
kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including Hindus, Indo-
Greeks, Muslims, Turco-Mongols, Afghans, and Sikhs. The area has been ruled by numerous
empires and dynasties, including the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Alexander III of Macedon, the
Indian Mauryan Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mongol Empire,
the Mughal Empire, the Afghan Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire (partially), and most recently,
the British Empire.
Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in that it is the only country to have been created in the
name of Islam.[24][25] As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and
the subcontinent's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent
homeland for Indian Muslims.[26] It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similarly
diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956,
becoming an Islamic republic. An ethnic civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East
Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. In 1973 Pakistan adopted a new constitution
establishing, alongside its pre-existing parliamentary republic status, a federal government based
in Islamabadconsisting of four provinces and four federal territories. The new constitution also
stipulated that all laws were to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in
the Quran and Sunnah.[27]
A regional[28][29][30] and middle power,[31][32][33] Pakistan has the sixth-largest standing armed forces in the
world and is also a nuclear power as well as a declared nuclear-weapons state, being the second in
South Asia and the only nation in the Muslim worldto have that status. Pakistan has a semi-
industrialised economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector, and a growing services
sector.[34][35] The Pakistani economy is the 24th-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and
the 41st-largest in terms of nominal GDP (World Bank). It is ranked among the emerging and
growth-leading economies of the world,[36][37] and is backed by one of the world's largest and fastest-
growing middle classes.[38][39]
The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule,
political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India. The country continues to face challenging
problems, including overpopulation, terrorism, poverty, illiteracy, and corruption.[40][41][42][43] Pakistan is
a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Economic Cooperation Organisation, the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Developing
Eight, and the G20 developing nations, Group of 24, Group of 77, and ECOSOC. It is also an
associate member of CERN. Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.