Pakistani Economy

Pakistan has great economic potential, but it has been hampered by internal
political unrest, a lack of foreign investment, and its chronic state of conflict
with India. As a result, the per capita GDP is only $5000, and 22 percent of
Pakistanis live under the poverty line (2015 estimates).

While GDP was growing at 6-8 percent between 2004 and 2007, that slowed
to 3.5 percent from 2008 to 2013. Unemployment stands at just 6.5 percent,
although that does not necessarily reflect the state of employment as many are
underemployed.

Pakistan exports labor, textiles, rice, and carpets. It imports oil, petroleum
products, machinery, and steel.

The Pakistani rupee trades at 101 rupees / $1 US (2015).

History of Pakistan
The nation of Pakistan is a modern creation, but people have been building
great cities in the area for some 5,000 years. Five millennia ago, the Indus
Valley Civilization created great urban centers at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro,
both of which are now in Pakistan.

The Indus Valley people mixed with Aryans moving in from the north during
the second millennium B.C. Combined, these peoples are called the Vedic
Culture; they created the epic stories upon which Hinduism is founded.

The lowlands of Pakistan were conquered by Darius the Great around 500 B.C.
His Achaemenid Empire ruled the area for nearly 200 years.

Alexander the Great destroyed the Achaemenids in 334 B.C., establishing

Greek rule as far as the Punjab. After Alexander's death 12 years later, the
empire was thrown into confusion as his generals divided up the satrapies; a
local leader, Chandragupta Maurya, seized the opportunity to return the
Punjab to local rule. Nonetheless, Greek and Persian culture continued to
exert a strong influence on what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Mauryan Empire later conquered most of South Asia; Chandragupta's

grandson, Ashoka the Great, converted to Buddhism in the third century B.C.

Another important religious development occurred in the 8th century A.D.

when Muslim traders brought their new religion to the Sindh region. Islam
became the state religion under the Ghaznavid Dynasty (997-1187 A.D.).

A succession of Turkic/Afghan dynasties ruled the region through 1526 when

the area was conquered by Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire. Babur was a
descendant of Timur (Tamerlane), and his dynasty ruled most of South Asia
until 1857 when the British took control. After the so-called Sepoy Rebellion of
1857, the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, was exiled to Burma by the
British.

Great Britain had been asserting ever-increasing control through the British

East India Company since at least 1757. The British Raj, the time when South
Asia fell under direct control by the UK government, lasted until 1947.

Muslims in the north of British India, represented by the Muslim League and
its leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, objected to joining the independent nation
of India after World War II. As a result, the parties agreed to a Partition of
India. Hindus and Sikhs would live in India proper, while Muslims got the new
nation of Pakistan. Jinnah became the first leader of independent Pakistan.

Originally, Pakistan consisted of two separate pieces; the eastern section later
became the nation of Bangladesh.

Pakistan developed nuclear weapons in the 1980s, confirmed by nuclear tests

in 1998. Pakistan has been an ally of the United States in the war on terror.
They opposed the Soviets during the Soviet-Afghan war but relations have
improved