Education in Pakistan (info)

Pakistan has very varied scenery from coastal beaches, lagoons and mangrove swamps in the south to sandy deserts, desolate plateaus, fertile plains, dissected upland in the middle and high mountains with beautiful valleys, snow-covered peaks and eternal glaciers in the north.
The variety of landscape divides Pakistan into six major regions the North High Mountainous Region, the Western Low Mountainous Region, the Balochistan Plateau, the Potohar Uplands, the Punjab and the Sindh Plains High Mountain Region.
Pakistan, officially Islamic Republic of Pakistan, republic in south Asia, bordered on the north and north-west by Afghanistan, on the north-east by Jammu and Kashmir, on the east and south-east by India, on the south by the Arabian Sea, and on the west by Iran. The status of Jammu and Kashmir is a matter of dispute between India and Pakistan. Pakistan became an independent state in 1947. Until December 1971 it included the province of East Pakistan (previously East Bengal), which, after its secession from Pakistan, assumed the name Bangladesh. The area of Pakistan is 796,095 sq km (307,293 sq mi), excluding the section of Jammu and Kashmir under its control. The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad; Karachi is the largest city.

Population 129,808,000 (1995 estimate) Population Density 163 people/sq km (422 people/sq mi) (1996 estimate) Urban/Rural Breakdown 32%Urban 68%Rural Largest Cities Karachi5,103,000 Lahore2,922,000 Faisalabad1,092,000 (1981 census) Ethnic Groups 48%Punjabi 13%Pashto 12%Sindhi 10%Saraiki 8%Urdu 9%Other including Baluchis and Afghans Languages Official Language English National Language Urdu Other Languages Punjabi, English, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Baluchi Religions 97%Islam 3%Other including Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism

Only 65 percent of adult Pakistanis are literate. The constitution prescribes free primary education. While enrollment rate in primary school is high for boys, less than one-half of girls attend school. Five years has been established as the period of primary school attendance. In the 1996 school year 81 percent of primary school-aged children were enrolled in school, while only 30 percent of secondary school-aged children attended. In the early 1990s, 336,600 students attended institutions of higher education. Among Pakistan’s leading universities are the University of Karachi (1951), the University of the Punjab (1882), in Lahore; the University of Peshawar (1950); the University of Sind (1947), in Dadu; and the University of Agriculture (1909), in Faisalabad.