O Level Geography of Pakistan key facts

The land of Pakistan

Location of Pakistan

• Tropic of Cancer (23½°N): just south of Karachi and the coast of Sindh.
• 30°N: passes close to Quetta and Multan.
• 36°N: passes close to Chitral and Gilgit in the far north.
• 64°E in the west, 70°E through the centre, 76°E in the far north-east; Lahore is at about 74°E.
• Neighbours: Iran (south-west), Afghanistan (west and north-west), China (north-east), India (east).
• The Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan separates Pakistan from Tajikistan.
• The Arabian Sea lies to the south; places further east see the sun rise earlier.

Administrative areas and cities

• Provincial capitals: Lahore (Punjab), Karachi (Sindh), Peshawar (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Quetta (Balochistan).
• Islamabad: the national capital, at the foot of the Margalla Hills, next to Rawalpindi; Murree is the hill station to the north-east.
• Central and north-east Punjab: Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Faisalabad; Multan is in southern Punjab.
• Gujranwala lies on the Grand Trunk Road between Lahore and Rawalpindi.
• The far north: Chitral (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Gilgit (Gilgit-Baltistan).
• Sindh: Karachi on the coast, Hyderabad inland on the east bank of the Indus.
• Balochistan: Quetta in the north of the province, Gwadar on the Makran coast.

Natural topography and drainage

• K2 (8,611 m) is in the Karakoram; Nanga Parbat is in the Himalaya; Tirich Mir is in the Hindu Kush.
• The Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej all join the Chenab, which then joins the Indus.
• The Kabul River joins the Indus near Attock; the Hab and the Dasht are small rivers in the south-west that flow to the Arabian Sea.
• Deserts: Thar (south-east Sindh), Thal (Punjab, between the Indus and the Jhelum), Kharan (western Balochistan).
• A doab is the land between two rivers that meet.
• A plateau is high, fairly level land; the Potwar is dissected, which means cut into gullies and ravines.
• In mountains, roads follow valleys and passes, and farmers cut terraces into the slopes.

Climate

• Monsoon rain: July to September, heaviest in the north-east, least in the south-west.
• Western depressions: December to March, from the Mediterranean region; rain for the north and west.
• In winter the cold land has high pressure and dry winds blow outwards, so the south stays dry.
• Tropical cyclones strike the coast mainly just before and just after the monsoon.
• Arid region: very little rain (under about 250 mm a year), hot summers, large daily range of temperature.
• Highland region: cold winters with snow, cool summers; temperature falls as height increases.
• The sea keeps coastal places cooler in summer and milder in winter, so their annual range is small.

Natural resources

Water

• Tarbela Dam: on the Indus. Mangla Dam: on the Jhelum. Warsak Dam: on the Kabul River near Peshawar.
• Barrages on the Indus: Jinnah, Chashma, Taunsa, Guddu, Sukkur, Kotri.
• Treaty of 1960: Indus, Jhelum and Chenab mainly to Pakistan; Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India.
• Link canals carry water from the western rivers to canals once fed by the eastern rivers.
• Silt settling in reservoirs reduces how much water they can store.
• Lining canals and watercourses with bricks or concrete reduces loss by seepage.
• Factories and cities should treat waste water before it enters rivers.

Forests

• Coniferous forest: northern mountains; deodar, blue pine, fir, spruce.
• Scrub forest: Potwar Plateau, Salt Range and other dry hills; small thorny trees such as phulai and kao.
• Riverine (bela) forest: along the Indus, where summer floods keep the soil moist; shisham and babul.
• Mangrove forest: tidal creeks of the Indus delta; nursery grounds for fish and shrimps.
• Irrigated plantations: Changa Manga and Chichawatni in Punjab; shisham and mulberry.
• Effects of deforestation: soil erosion, silting of reservoirs, more flooding, landslides.
• Solutions: afforestation, other fuels (gas cylinders, small hydel), controlled cutting and grazing.

Mineral resources

• Rock salt: Khewra and Warcha in the Salt Range; used as table salt and to make soda ash and caustic soda.
• Limestone: Salt Range, Potwar and other areas; mainly used to make cement.
• Gypsum: Salt Range and near Kohat; used in cement, plaster of Paris and to improve salty soils.
• Chromite: Muslim Bagh, Balochistan. Copper and gold: Saindak, Chagai district, Balochistan.
• Iron ore near Kalabagh is low grade, so the steel industry has used imported ore.
• Life of a deposit (years) = reserves ÷ amount mined each year.
• Sustainable steps: recycle scrap, reduce waste, refill and replant old quarries.

Fish

• Sindh coast ports: Karachi, Ibrahim Hyderi, Keti Bandar. Makran coast ports: Gwadar, Pasni, Ormara.
• Marine catch: shrimps, pomfret, tuna, sardines, mackerel.
• Inland: carp such as rohu and thaila in ponds and lakes; trout in cold northern streams; palla in the Indus.
• A trawler is a fishing boat that tows a large net.
• Improvements: engines, nylon nets, echo sounders, ice and insulated holds, freezing and canning plants.
• Mangroves are nursery grounds for shrimps and young fish.
• Sustainable steps: larger mesh, closed breeding seasons, catch limits, protecting mangroves, fish farming.

Power

Sources of power

• Open-cast mining: seam near the surface; the rock and soil above it are removed.
• Adit mining: seam shows on a hillside; a level tunnel is driven in.
• Shaft mining: seam deep underground; a vertical shaft is sunk to it.
• Non-renewable: coal, oil, natural gas, uranium (nuclear).
• Renewable: hydel, wind, solar, biogas.
• Hydel: water stored behind a dam falls through pipes, turns turbines and drives generators.
• Biogas is made when animal dung and plant waste rot in a closed tank.

Non-renewable power

• Thar coal (Sindh) is lignite: low heat value, so it is burned in power stations built beside the mines.
• Local coal cannot make coke, so coking coal for steel is imported; imported coal travels inland from the ports by rail.
• Sui gas field is in Balochistan; gas goes by pipeline to cities, power stations and fertiliser factories.
• Old oilfields such as Dhulian and Balkassar are on the Potwar Plateau; home production is far below demand, so oil is imported.
• Pipelines carry large volumes cheaply; road tankers and LPG cylinders serve places with no pipeline.
• Nuclear power stations (Chashma on the Indus, and the coast near Karachi) need a lot of cooling water.
• Non-renewables get dearer: the easy reserves are used first while demand keeps rising.

Renewable power

• Hydel: cheap to run and clean, but high building cost, people must be resettled, reservoirs silt up, and output falls in winter when rivers are low.
• Good dam site: narrow, deep valley; strong, solid rock; large, reliable river flow from rain or snowmelt.
• Wind: best in the Gharo–Jhimpir area of southern Sindh, where strong sea winds blow; output changes with wind speed.
• Solar: plenty of sunshine and no grid needed; no power at night without batteries, and panels cost money to buy.
• Wave power: equipment is costly and storms damage it, so it is hardly used.
• Shortages (load-shedding): demand rising faster than supply, old lines losing power, theft, and costly imported fuel.
• Remote, scattered villages are often off the grid because lines to them cost too much.

Agricultural development

Agricultural systems

• Inputs: things put in (rain, soil, seed, water, labour, fertiliser, machinery, capital).
• Processes: actions, usually words ending in -ing (ploughing, sowing, weeding, irrigating, harvesting, milking, shearing).
• Outputs: products and by-products (grain, straw, raw cotton, milk, wool, dung).
• Natural inputs come from the environment; human inputs are supplied by people.
• Subsistence farm: small holding, family labour, simple tools, low yields, little or nothing to sell.
• Cash crop farm: larger holding, much capital, machinery and chemicals, most output sold.
• Feedback: an output used again as an input (dung as manure, profit reinvested, seed kept for next year).

Crops and livestock

• Cotton: southern Punjab and Sindh; long, hot, frost-free season with canal water. Lint for textiles; seed for cooking oil and oil cake.
• Rice: basmati in north-east Punjab (Gujranwala, Sialkot); also Sindh. Needs heat and standing water.
• Sugar cane: Punjab, Sindh and the Peshawar valley. Gives sugar and gur; by-products are bagasse (fuel) and molasses.
• Wheat: grown across the plains, mostly in Punjab; flour for chapatis and bread; straw (bhusa) for animals.
• Fruit and other crops: kinnow oranges at Sargodha; mangoes at Multan and Mirpur Khas; dates at Khairpur and Makran; apples around Quetta and in Swat; tobacco at Mardan and Swabi.
• Millet (bajra) tolerates drought and sandy soil; maize is food and also feed for poultry and livestock.
• Buffalo (Nili-Ravi) for milk; cattle for milk, meat, hides and draught work; sheep and goats for meat, wool, hair and skins; poultry farms near big cities.

Factors affecting production and irrigation

• Kharif: sown about April to June, harvested about October to December (rice, cotton, maize, millet).
• Rabi: sown about October to December, harvested about April to May (wheat, gram, barley, oilseeds).
• Barani farming depends on rainfall alone (for example the Potwar Plateau); yields are low and uncertain.
• Inundation canal flows only when the river is high in summer; perennial canal flows all year from a barrage or dam.
• Karez: underground tunnel bringing groundwater from the foot of hills (Balochistan). Persian wheel: animal turns a wheel with a chain of pots. Tubewell: pump lifts groundwater whenever needed.
• Canal water path: barrage → main canal → distributary → watercourse → field.
• Cures for waterlogging and salinity: line canals, pump with tubewells (SCARP), dig drains, plant eucalyptus, then flush salts away. Land reforms of 1959 and 1972 put limits on the size of landholdings.

Industrial development

Common terms

• Value added = selling price of the product − cost of the materials bought in.
• Processing changes the form of a raw material (ginning cotton, milling flour); manufacturing makes a new finished product (cloth, garments).
• Refining removes impurities or separates a material into parts (crude oil into petrol, diesel and kerosene).
• Primary: farming, fishing, forestry, mining. Secondary: factories, mills, construction. Tertiary: transport, trade, teaching, health, banking.
• Cottage industry: family at home, simple tools, very little capital.
• Small-scale industry: a small workshop with a few paid workers and simple machines.
• Large-scale industry: a big factory with much capital, heavy machinery and many workers.

Manufacturing and processing industries

• Cement: limestone, clay and gypsum, with gas or coal as fuel; works near limestone in the Salt Range and near Rohri.
• Cotton textiles: ginning → spinning → weaving → dyeing and finishing → garment making; main centres include Faisalabad and Karachi.
• Sugar: cane is crushed soon after cutting; bagasse is burned in the mill's boilers, molasses is a by-product.
• Fertiliser (urea): natural gas is the main raw material, so plants stand close to gas fields and pipelines.
• Iron and steel: Pakistan Steel Mills at Pipri near Port Qasim used imported iron ore and coking coal; scrap from Gadani goes to re-rolling mills.
• Sialkot: hand-stitched footballs, other sports goods and surgical instruments, mostly exported to Europe and the USA.
• Location factors: capital, site, raw materials, power, water, labour, transport and communications, market, government policy.

Formal and informal sectors; promoting industry

• Formal: registered, taxed, contracts, regular pay, pensions and sick leave, safety laws apply.
• Informal: unregistered, untaxed, no contract, irregular and often low pay, no job security.
• Industrial estate: an area with ready plots, roads, power, water and gas to attract factories (for example Hattar, Nooriabad).
• Export processing zone (EPZ): firms making goods for export get tax and customs duty concessions; the aims are investment, jobs and foreign exchange.
• Other help: tax holidays, cheap loans, lower duties on imported machinery, training, dry ports.
• Call centres come to Pakistan for educated English speakers and lower wages; power cuts and weak internet links hold them back.
• Serving customers in other time zones means evening and night shifts for staff in Pakistan.

Tourism

• Natural: K2 and Nanga Parbat, Hunza, Swat and Kaghan valleys, Lake Saiful Muluk, the coast.
• Cultural: Mohenjo-daro (Sindh), Taxila (Gandhara Buddhist ruins), Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque, Makli tombs near Thatta, Nankana Sahib (birthplace of Guru Nanak).
• Benefits: jobs, income, foreign exchange, better infrastructure, a market for crafts and farm produce.
• Problems: litter, sewage, tree felling, seasonal jobs, higher local prices, pressure on local culture.
• GDP: the value of all goods and services produced inside a country in one year.
• GNP: GDP + income earned abroad by the country's people and firms − income earned in the country by foreigners.
• Snow closes many mountain roads and passes in winter, so mountain tourism is mainly a summer industry.

Trade

Exports and imports

• Main exports: cotton textiles and clothing (yarn, cloth, garments, towels), rice, leather goods, sports goods, surgical instruments, carpets.
• Main imports: crude oil and petroleum products, machinery, chemicals, iron and steel, vehicles, palm oil, tea.
• GDP (gross domestic product) = the value of all goods and services produced inside a country in one year.
• GNP (gross national product) = GDP + net income from abroad.
• Net income from abroad = income residents earn abroad − income foreign owners send out of the country.
• Balance of trade = value of exported goods − value of imported goods. Negative = deficit, positive = surplus.
• Dearer oil or a poor cotton crop widens the deficit; more manufactured exports narrow it.

Trading partners

• Imports: oil from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait; machinery and electrical goods from China; palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia.
• Exports: textiles and clothing to the USA, the UK and the European Union (for example Germany); food and other goods to Afghanistan by road.
• Tariff = a tax on imported goods. Quota = a limit on the amount that may be imported. Embargo = a ban on trade.
• Non-tariff barrier = a rule, such as a health or quality standard, that keeps goods out.
• Pakistan is a member of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and of SAARC.
• GSP Plus (European Union, from 2014): reduced or zero duties on many Pakistani goods sold in the EU.
• Rupee falls: exports cheaper abroad, imports dearer at home. Rupee rises: the opposite.

Transport and telecommunications

Internal transport

• Densest networks: central and northern Punjab. Sparsest: Balochistan, the northern mountains and desert areas.
• Main railway line: Karachi, Hyderabad, Rohri, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar.
• Motorways: controlled access and several lanes, so traffic is faster and safer. M-2 links Lahore and Islamabad; M-1 links Islamabad and Peshawar.
• Mountains: steep slopes, landslides and snow make roads costly. Plains: rivers need long bridges and embankments, and floods cause damage.
• Road carries most of Pakistan’s goods and passengers because trucks and buses reach places with no railway.
• Rail: cheapest per tonne for bulk goods such as coal, cement, wheat and oil over long distances.
• An airport needs a large area of flat land outside the built-up area, with clear approaches.

International transport

• Khunjerab Pass: Karakoram Highway to China. Sost is the dry port on this route.
• Khyber Pass: Peshawar to Torkham and on to Kabul (Afghanistan). Khojak Pass: Quetta to Chaman (Afghanistan).
• Taftan: border crossing on the Quetta to Zahedan route (Iran). Wagah, near Lahore: the main crossing to India.
• Keamari: a natural harbour sheltered by Manora; Pakistan’s oldest and busiest port.
• Port Qasim: built east of Karachi to ease congestion at Keamari and to serve Pakistan Steel.
• Gwadar: a deep-water port on the Makran coast of Balochistan, linked to western China by CPEC.
• Dry ports include Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Sost. International airports include Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar.

Telecommunications

• Education: distance learning by radio, television and the internet, as used by Allama Iqbal Open University.
• Farming: weather and market prices by mobile phone, so farmers choose where and when to sell.
• Industry and trade: email and websites link exporters with foreign buyers quickly and cheaply.
• Services: mobile banking, health advice and emergency warnings reach people without travel.
• Problems in remote areas: high ridges block signals, many towers serve few people, power supply is unreliable, incomes and literacy are low.
• Solutions: satellite links, solar-powered transmitters and government subsidies to companies.
• Telecommunications support development but cannot replace roads, power and schools.

Population and employment

Population structure and growth

• Birth rate = live births per 1000 people per year. Death rate = deaths per 1000 people per year.
• Natural increase = birth rate − death rate (per 1000). Divide by 10 to give a percentage.
• Dependency ratio = (people aged 0–14 + people aged 65 and over) ÷ people aged 15–64 × 100.
• Wide base = high birth rate. Narrow top = short life expectancy. Narrowing base = falling birth rate.
• Reasons for high birth rate: early marriage, low female literacy, children as farm labour and support in old age, limited use of family planning.
• Lady Health Workers visit homes to give family planning and child health advice.
• Many young people can boost the economy only if there are enough schools and jobs for them.

Movements of population

• Emigration = leaving a country to live elsewhere. Immigration = coming into a country to live.
• Seasonal migration = moving for part of the year and then returning, such as herders moving flocks between high and low pastures.
• Refugee = a person forced to leave their country by war, persecution or disaster. Afghan refugees came from 1979, after the Soviet invasion.
• Katchi abadi = unplanned squatter settlement of poorly built homes. Tent city = temporary camp after a flood or earthquake.
• Rural depopulation: villages lose young adults, leaving the old, women and children to farm.
• Emigration brings remittances but loses skilled people such as doctors and engineers.
• Self-help scheme: residents improve their own area with advice, as in the Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi (lane sewers).

Distribution and density

• Population density = total population ÷ area, in people per km².
• High density: central Punjab, the Peshawar valley, the Indus valley in Sindh, Karachi.
• Low density: Balochistan plateau, Thar and Kharan deserts, high northern mountains.
• Physical reasons: relief, soil, rainfall and water supply, climate.
• Economic reasons: irrigated farming, industry, mining, ports, transport links.
• Social reasons: schools, hospitals, family ties. Political reasons: government decisions, such as building Islamabad as the capital.
• In mountain and desert areas people cluster in valleys and on plains where water allows farming.

Employment

• Primary: farming, fishing, forestry, mining. Secondary: manufacturing and construction. Tertiary: teaching, health, transport, trade, banking.
• Trend: the primary share of the workforce falls; the secondary and tertiary shares rise.
• Rural underemployment: farm work is seasonal, with little to do between sowing and harvest.
• Urban unemployment: job seekers, including migrants, increase faster than new jobs.
• Skilled labour has training or qualifications; manual labour relies on physical effort.
• Literacy is highest for urban men and lowest for rural women.
• Educated women tend to marry later, have fewer and healthier children, and earn more.