Section 2: Geography Pakistan is situated between the latitudes 23° and 36° North and between the longitudes of 61° and 75° East. It has an area of 796,095 square kilometers (kms). India is on its eastern border, the People’s Republic of China lies to the north east. Afghanistan is situated on its northwestern boundary line while Iran shares border with Pakistan in the southwest. In north only a 24 km long Wakhan border of Afghanistan separates it from the Tajikistan. Jammu and Kashmīr is a disputed territory located between Pakistan and India. Pakistan controls a portion of the territory as Azad (Free) Kashmīr and the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA), while India controls a portion as the state of Jammu and Kashmīr. Pakistan extends some 1,700 kilometres northward to the origins of the Indus among the mountains of the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakoram. Many of their peaks exceed 8,000 metres including K-2, at 8,611 metres, the second highest in the world. Pakistan has a coastline of about 1,046 kilometres with 22,820 square kilometres of territorial waters and an Exclusive Economic Zone of about 196,600 square kilometres in the Arabian Sea. The land mass of Pakistan originated in the continent of Gondwanaland which is thought to have broken off from Africa, drifted across the Indian Ocean, and joined mainland Asia some 50 million years ago. With the creation of a land-bridge between Gondwanaland and south-east Asia, Indo-Malayan life-forms are thought to have invaded the evolving sub-continent, and these now predominate in Pakistan eastof the river Indus. The north and west of the country is dominated by Palaearctic forms. Some Ethiopian forms have become established in the south-western part. About 20 million years ago, the gradual drying and retreat of the Sea of Tethys created the Indus lowlands, and a violent upheaval 13 million years ago gave rise to the Himalayas. A series of Pleistocene ice-ages, the last ending just 10,000 years ago, gave rise to some unique floral and faunal associations.   References and Credits: Pakistan," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2004 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Biodiversity Action Plan for Pakistan © 2000 by Government of Pakistan, World Wide Fund for Nature, Pakistan and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Pakistan First National Report on the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, LEAD Pakistan, Ministry of Environment and Local Government Pakistan and UNEP COUNTRY REPORT BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN PAKISTAN, Ejaz Ahmad Conservation Director, World Wide Fund For Nature - Pakistan BIODIVERSTIY CONSERVATION IN PAKISTAN : AN OVERVIEW, Muhammad Ajmal Director (Industries & Ozone) Ministry of Environment, Urban Affairs, Forestry and Wildlife C/O Pakistan National, Commission for UNESCO Pakistan at a Glance, The World Resource Institute     ©1997-2004 Wildlife of Pakistan-All Rights Reserved.