Borders of Pakistan

Pakistan's International borders are the external borders of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Geographical location of Pakistan.

Geography change

Pakistan’s geosphere is geographically unique. It is located within Southcentral Asia. It is an integral part of Greater Middle East Region, with the Indus River and its tributaries as its main water supply or lifeline, the world's largest Irrigation system.

The nation is bordered by the Hindu Kush and Sulaiman Mountain ranges in the west, Karakoram mountain range in the north, Sutlej river and Thar desert in east, and Arabian Sea in the south.

Historical background change

The country in its present form was created by the Pakistanis themselves out of the imperial colonial British Raj.

Surrounding nations change

Pakistan borders the People's Republic of China in the north (Xinjiang Autonomous Türkic Region), and in the north-east Tibet Autonomous Region, the disputed territory of Occupied Kashmir which was part of the British Indian territory until 1948 is also included. Pakistan borders the entire eastern length of the country with the Republic of India and on the south towards the Arabian Sea, to the north-west Pakistan is separated by fourteen kilometres of a narrow strip of the Afghan-occupied Gorno-Badakhshan territory called the Wakhan Corridor which extends between Northern Pakistan and Tajikistan.[1]

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is to the west and north, and Iran (Ancient Persia) is to the southwest. Pakistan also shares to the extreme south-west a marine border with Oman.

Land borders of Pakistan change

Land Border Country Length (m) and (m) Force Comments
  Afghanistan 2,640 km (1,640 mi)[2] Pakistan Army Also see Durand Line[3] As of January 2019, 900 km has been completed.[4]
  China 596 kilometres (370 mi) Gilgit Baltistan Scouts and Northern Light Infantry Depends on the Resolution of territorial conflicts between Islamabad and New Delhi. Article 6 of the 1963 Sino-Pakistan treaty provides for a renegotiation of the China-Pakistan boundary if the Kashmir dispute is resolved. However, with Indian relations have deteriorated with China, and poor-to-hostile with Pakistan, it is unlikely the boundary dispute will be resolved anytime soon.[5] Also see Kashmir conflict.
  Republic of India (Bharat) 3,323 km (2,065 mi)[6] Pakistan Rangers and Pakistan Army Also see Rann of Kutch, Operation Gibraltar and Kori Creek.
  Iran 909 kilometres (565 mi)[7] Pakistan Army Open border.
  Tajikistan (de jure) 350 kilometres (220 mi)[8] Pakistan Army and Gilgit Baltistan Scouts Tajikistan claims a border with Pakistan specifically via the Wakhan Corridor (under Afghan's control) with the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan (PAK) northern Pakistani region, which is currently under Pakistani administration (see Kashmir dispute).

Maritime borders of Pakistan change

The Maritime borders of Pakistan are the maritime boundary recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Government of Pakistan promulgated Territorial and Maritime Zones Act 1976. In 1997, Pakistan also declared a straight baseline along its coast. Now the territorial sea is measured 12 nautical miles into sea from the baseline. Using Unclos III, Pakistan has also demarcated its sea boundaries with both Iran and Oman.

Sea frontier with India in the East remains in dispute. Pakistan and India have held 12 rounds of discussions for deciding the exact sea frontier at Kori Creek and the un-demarcated Rann of Kachchh. At times, the negotiations appear promising. However, there has been no progress since June 2012. Pakistan's coastline is 1,146 Square kilometres² (712 Square miles²) long, with its claim of a 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi) territorial maritime zone and 200-nautical-mile (370 km; 230 mi) exclusive economic zone, has a more than 1,000-kilometre (620 mi) maritime border shared with the three nations namely;

Maritime Border Country Force Comments
  India Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Coast Guard Kori Creek
  Iran Pakistan Navy Sea of Oman
  Oman Pakistan Navy Arabian Sea

References change

  1. "Pakistan: Geography". US Country Studies. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
  2. "The Durand Line | National Geographic Society". education.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  3. "Focus on bilateral border dispute". IRIN. 30 October 2003. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. Al Jazeera English (29 January 2019), 🇵🇰 'Trump-style wall': Pakistan building wall on Afghan border | Al Jazeera English, retrieved 15 March 2019
  5. International Boundary Study No. 85 – China-Pakistan Boundary (PDF), 15 November 1968, archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2021, retrieved 24 September 2018
  6. "International Land Border" (PDF). mha.gov.in.
  7. Fiske, Philip (May 19, 2000). "Border patrol with Iran's drugbusters". BBC. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  8. The pass was crossed by a couple in 1950 and by a couple in 2004. See J.Mock and K. O'Neil: Expedition Report