Location:
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north
Geographic coordinates:
30 00 N, 70 00 E
Map references:
Asia
Area: Area - comparative: Land boundaries: Coastline: Maritime claims: Climate: Terrain: Elevation extremes: Natural resources: Land use: Irrigated land: Total renewable water resources: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): Natural hazards: Environment - current issues: Environment - international agreements: Geography - note:
total: 796,095 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 36
land:
770,875 sq km
water:
25,220 sq km
slightly less than twice the size of California
total: 6,774 km
border countries:
Afghanistan 2,430 km, China 523 km, India 2,912 km, Iran 909 km
[see also: Land boundaries country ranks ]
1,046 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone:
24 nm
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
continental shelf:
200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north
More Climate Details
flat Indus plain in east; mountains in north and northwest; Balochistan plateau in west
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
[see also: Elevation extremes - lowest point country ranks ]
highest point:
K2 (Mt. Godwin-Austen) 8,611 m
land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited petroleum, poor quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone
arable land: 26.02%
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops:
1.05%
other:
72.93% (2011)
199,900 sq km (2008)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]
246.8 cu km (2011)
[see also: Total renewable water resources country ranks ]
total: 183.5 cu km/yr (5%/1%/94%)
[see also: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - total country ranks ]
per capita:
1,038 cu m/yr (2008)
frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe especially in north and west; flooding along the Indus after heavy rains (July and August)
water pollution from raw sewage, industrial wastes, and agricultural runoff; limited natural freshwater resources; most of the population does not have access to potable water; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
Marine Life Conservation
controls Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass, traditional invasion routes between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent