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This photo shows a 2010 test firing of a Pakistani Hatf V ballistic missile, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead deep into Indian territory. Both Pakistan and its long-time antagonist India are nuclear powers, which has made finding peaceful solutions to Kashmir and other conflicts essential to regional security.

E stablished as an independent state in 1947, Pakistan is rel- atively young, although this country in southern Asia con- tains traces of some of the world’s most ancient civilizations. Pakistan means “the land of the pure” in Urdu, the national lan- guage. Unfortunately, the creation of the new country resulted in one of the 20th century’s most sudden and bloody conflicts. With its heart-stopping vistas of jagged mountains and forested lowlands, Pakistan has lured the adventurous for thousands of years. The country’s trading partners have seen it as a source of important natural resources, and it has also served as a strategic base for broader control of Asia and the Middle East. In the past, the region that is now Pakistan was dominated by a succession of world powers, and throughout its history the inhabi- tants were influenced by three major religions—Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. Today, the country is unified by Islam, the religion practiced by nearly all its citizens. During the years leading Pakistan’s Place in the World

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