Driving Directions Pakistan
PAKISTAN lies just north of the Tropic of Cancer and has the Arabian Sea as its southern border. The far north of Pakistan covers Jammu and Kashmir’s disputed territory, which has been the cause of a severe conflict with India.
Driving Directions
The Indus river system is the country’s principal topographical feature. It splits the country into a highland region in the west and a lowland region in the east. The Indus enters the state in the northeast. It is joined by four other major rivers, the Jelűm, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej, which dominate the north-central area before flowing southwestwards to the Arabian Sea West of the Indus Valley lies the Baluchistan Highlands – an arid, rugged plateau interrupted by many mountain ranges which push southwards from the high Hindu Kush in the north.
The north of Pakistan is dominated by the vast mountains of the Hindu Kush and the Karakorum range, containing K2, which, at 8,607 meters or 28,238 feet, is second in height only to Everest.
In southeast Pakistan, the Thar Desert extends across the border into India.
A weak form of tropical monsoon climate occurs over most countries, and conditions in the north and west are arid. Temperatures are high everywhere in summer, but winters are cold in the mountains. In most parts of the country, rainfall is light and falls in the summer months.
Natural vegetation varies considerably from coniferous and evergreen forests to scrub and desert, and there is a wide range of indigenous wildlife.
The Indus river system’s alluvial plain provides useful agricultural land, but the cultivatable area is restricted because of waterlogging and saline soils. Most agriculture is subsistence, with wheat and rice as the primary food crops and cotton and rice as the main cash crops.
Pakistan’s wide range of mineral resources has not been extensively developed, and the industry concentrates on food processing, textiles, and consumer goods. Handicrafts include carpets and pottery.
A lack of modern transport systems, due to the country’s mountainous terrain, hinders further economic progress.
Google Maps Pakistan
Pakistan can be divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands, the Indus River plain, and the Baluchistan Plateau. About one-third of the Pakistan-India border is also the cease-fire line in the Jammu and Kashmir region, disputed between the two countries since their independence. Pakistan lies at the border of three tectonic plates: the Arabian, Indian, and Eurasian. The Arabian Plate meets with the Eurasian Plate at the coastline in southeastern Pakistan. On Pakistan’s eastern and northeastern border, the Eurasian Plate collides with the Indian Plate; thus, seismic activity is high along this border. The region surrounding Quetta is also prone to frequent and devastating earthquakes.
The coastline of Pakistan meets the Arabian Sea of the northern Indian Ocean. Baluchistan’s Ormara Turtle Beaches, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) along the western coast, are a habitat for endangered sea turtles; mud volcanoes also sputter along this shore. Sonmiani Bay indents the central coast. The coast has few settlements, except for Pakistan’s largest city, the port of Karachi. The city’s beaches are badly polluted by oil spills, sewage, and industrial toxic waste, all of which pours directly into the ocean.
Click here for Pakistan Google Maps, MapQuest & more detailed country facts.