<item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> status of Kashmir with India; border question with Afghanistan (Durand Line); water-sharing problems (Wular Barrage) over the Indus with upstream riparian India
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> flat Indus plain in east; mountains in north and northwest; Balochistan plateau in west
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> land, extensive natural gas reserves, limited petroleum, poor quality coal, iron ore, copper, salt, limestone
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 26%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 0%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 6%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 4%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 64%
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 162,200 sq km (1989)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> water pollution from untreated sewage, industrial wastes, and agricultural runoff; water scarcity; a majority of the population does not have access to safe drinking water; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> frequent earthquakes, occasionally severe especially in north and west; flooding along the Indus after heavy rains (July and August)
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified—Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> controls Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass, traditional invasion routes between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent