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Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان listen (help·info)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is located in the region where South Asia converges with Central Asia and the Middle East.[7][8] It has a 1,046 kilometer (650 mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast.[9]

The region forming modern Pakistan was home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and the Indo-Greek kingdom. The area has witnessed invasions and settlement by the Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Turks, Afghans and the Mongols. It was a part of British India until 1947, when the political agitation for a state for Muslims, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League resulted in the partition of India and the creation of the state of Pakistan from the provinces of Sind, Northwest Frontier Province, West Punjab, Baluchistan and East Bengal. With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic. In 1971, a civil war resulted in the independence of East Bengal as Bangladesh. Pakistan's history has been characterized by periods of economic growth as well as military rule and political instability.

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. Pakistan is a founding member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Developing 8 Countries and the Economic Cooperation Organization. It is also a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization , G33 developing countries, Group of 77 developing nations and is a nuclear power.