• Total prison population: 87,000 prisoners
• Crime trend: Down 27% in 2000

Crime rates

Compared with similar Islamic states, rates of murder, kidnapping, narcotics trafficking, and rape are high, though official reporting is low. Corruption and the abuse of women are major causes for concern; reports of deaths or death threats for refusing to accept arranged marriages are rising. Torture and rape of prisoners and deaths in custody are frequent. The most dangerous area is Sindh: Karachi is terrorized by severe factional violence. Militant sectarian groups are also blamed for a recent rise in crime in Punjab. Special part-military courts were established in 2002 to combat terrorism and other "serious" crimes. The MMA provincial government of North West Frontier Province fulfilled its electoral promise to impose sharia (Islamic law) in 2003.

• Annual defense budget: $2.54bn

PAKISTANI ARMED FORCES

• Army: 2317 main battle tanks (PRC Type-59/69/85, M-48A5, T-54/55/80) (550,000 personnel)
• Navy: 10 submarines, 8 frigates, 9 patrol boats (25,000 personnel)
• Air force: 374 combat aircraft (52 Mirage 5, 41 Q-5) (45,000 personnel)
• Nuclear capability: Capability undisclosed; weapons tested in 1998

Pakistan is an important regional arms trader and established itself as a nuclear power with successful nuclear tests in 1998; leading scientists in the program were later accused of selling secrets to Iran, Libya, and North Korea. Defense spending accounts for about a quarter of government expenditure; troop numbers were cut for the first time in 2004. The US, once a key arms supplier, imposed sanctions in 1990–2001 and most military hardware is now produced domestically; the Shaheen surface-to-surface missile was tested in 2004.

The army has been heavily involved in politics, including at times when a military regime was not actually in power. The National Security Council assures it a formal role in civilian decision-making.

• Gross National Product (GNP): $60.9bn

Score card

• World GNP ranking: 44th
• GNP per capita: $420
• Balance of payments: $3.6bn
• Inflation: 2.9%
• Unemployment: 8%

Exports

Imports

Economic performance indicator

Strengths

Gas, water, coal, oil. Substantial untapped natural resources. Low labor costs. Potentially huge market. One of the world's leading producers of cotton and a major exporter of rice.

Weaknesses

Production of cotton and rice vulnerable to weather conditions. History of inefficient and haphazard government economic policies. Weak and overstretched infrastructure. Terrorism threat inhibits foreign investment.

Profile

Pakistan has yet to show progress in tackling its considerable economic problems. Though successive governments have reversed the nationalization policies instituted in the 1970s, private enterprise has been stifled by the rules of a massive bureaucracy. There is some foreign investment in previously state-only sectors such as water, other utilities, and banking. Efforts by the military government to tackle endemic corruption and widespread poverty were praised by the World Bank in 2001. Pakistan has benefited from its role as a frontline state in the "war on terrorism" through international aid and the rescheduling of debt. Defense spending remains high.