Pakistan

Pakistan

16JAN2015

Pakistan is a sovereign country in South Asia. With a population exceeding 180 million people, it is the sixth most populous country and with an area covering 796,095 km2 (307,374 sq mi), it is the 36th largest country in the world in terms of area. Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan’s narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and also shares a marine border with Oman.

The territory that now constitutes Pakistan was previously home to several ancient cultures, including the Mehrgarh of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including Hindus, Indo-Greeks, Muslims, Turco-Mongols, Afghans and Sikhs. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Alexander of Macedonia, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empireand the British Empire.

As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the subcontinent’s struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of Subcontinent where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic

A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.
Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similar variation in its geography and wildlife. A regional and middle power, Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed forces in the world and is also a nuclear power as well as a declared nuclear-weapons state, being the only nation in the Muslim world, and the second in South Asia, to have that status.

It has a semi-industrialised economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector, its economy is the 26th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and 45th largest in terms of nominal GDP and is also characterized among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world.

The United States of America

The United States of America

10JAN2015

The United States of America (USA) commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.). It is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia is the capital of the United States.The United States is the world’s fourth-largest country by total area and third-largest by population. The United States is the world’s fourth-largest country by total area and third-largest by population.

Climate:
The climate of the United States varies due to large differences in latitude, and a wide range of geographic features, including mountains and deserts.

Language:
English (American English) is the de facto national language. Although there is no official language at the federal level.

Religion:
Christianity is by far the most common religion practiced in the U.S., but other religions are followed, too. Protestantism is the largest Christian religion in the United States. About 26 percent of Americans identify as Evangelical Protestants, while 18 percent are Mainline and 7 percent belong to a traditionally Black church. Roman Catholicism in the United States has its origin in the Spanish and French colonization of the Americas, and later grew due to Irish, Italian, Polish, German and Hispanic immigration. Rhode Island is the only state where a majority of the population is Catholic.

Economy:
The United States has a capitalist mixed economy which is fueled by abundant natural resources and high productivity. The country ranks ninth in the world in nominal GDP per capita. sixth in GDP per capita at PPP. The U.S. dollar is the world’s primary reserve currency. Agriculture accounts for just under 1% of GDP, the United States is the world’s top producer of corn and soybeans.

Culture:
The United States is home to many cultures and a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values. Mainstream American culture is a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of European immigrants.

Food:
Mainstream American cuisine is similar to that in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain with about three-quarters of grain products made of wheat flour and many dishes use indigenous ingredients, such as turkey, venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup which were consumed by Native Americans and early European settlers. These home grown foods are part of a shared national menu on one of America’s most popular holidays; Thanksgiving, when some Americans make traditional foods to celebrate the occasion. Characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dog derive from the recipes of various immigrants. French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed. Americans generally prefer coffee to tea.

Movies:
Hollywood , a northern district of Los Angeles, California, is one of the leaders in motion picture production. The world’s first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City in 1894. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, although in the 21st century an increasing number of films are not made there, and film companies have been subject to the forces of globalization.