Land area

769,095 sq km

Population

156.8m (June 2006 official estimate)

Main towns

Population in millions, June 2003

Karachi: 10.1

Lahore: 5.6

Faisalabad: 2.3

Climate

Subtropical, cold in highlands

Weather in Karachi

Hottest month, June, 28-34°C (average daily minimum and maximum); coldest month, January, 13-25°C; driest month, October, 1 mm average monthly rainfall; wettest month, July, 81 mm average rainfall

Languages

Urdu is the national language. English is widespread in business circles and as a second language

Measures

Imperial system, changing to metric. Local measures include 1 seer = 0.933 kg; 1 maund = 40 seers = 37.32 kg

Numbers are still commonly expressed in crores and lakhs: 1 crore = 10m, written 1,00,00,000; 1 lakh = 100,000, written 1,00,000, although in 1978 the internationally accepted system of millions, billions and so on was introduced

Currency

Pakistan rupee (PRs); PRs1 = 100 paisa. Average exchange rate in 2010: PRs85.2:US$1

Time

5 hours ahead of GMT

Fiscal year

July 1st-June 30th

Public holidays

February 16th (Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi); March 23rd (Pakistan Day); August 14th (Independence Day); August 31st (Eid al-Fitr); November 9th (Allama Iqbal Day); November 7th (Eid al-Adha); December 6th (Ashura); December 25th (birth of Quaid-i-Azam). (Ashura, Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are dependent on the Islamic lunar calendar, and their dates may therefore vary slightly from those listed)