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The basic unit of currency is the Rupee, which is divided into 100 paisas. One US dollar is approximately equal to 60 rupees. The economy is now strengthening and is seen to improve.
Main article: History of Pakistan, History of South Asia, Prime Minister of Pakistan
The country that is now Pakistan was part of British India until August 14, 1947. The first proponents of an independent Muslim nation began to appear during the times of British colonial India. Among the first of these proponents was the writer/philosopher Allama Iqbal, who felt that a separate nation for Muslims was essential in an otherwise Hindu-dominated subcontinent. The cause found a leader in Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who became known as the Father of the Nation and eventually persuaded the British to partition the region into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India.
The name was coined by Cambridge student and Muslim nationalist Choudhary Rahmat Ali. He devised the word and first published it on January 28, 1933 in the pamphlet Now or Never. He saw it as an acronym formed from the names of the "homelands" of Muslims in South Asia. (P for Punjab, A for the Afghan areas of the region, K for Kashmir, and S for Sindh , thus forming 'Pakstan.' An 'i' was later added to the English rendition of the name to ease pronunciation, producing Pakistan.) The word also captured the concepts of "Pak" meaning "Pure" and "stan" for "land" or "home" (as in the names of Central Asian countries in the region; Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, etc), thus giving it the meaning "Land of the Pure".
From August 14, 1947, until 1971, the nation consisted of West Pakistan and East Pakistan, separated from each other by India. In 1971, East Pakistan rebelled, and with the aid of Indian troops became the independent state of Bangladesh. Since independence, Pakistan has also been in constant dispute with India over the territory of Kashmir. The Kashmir dispute has complicated relations between Pakistan and India. Pakistan has also had a dispute - relatively dormant since the Cold War ended after the withdrawal of Soviet forces - with Afghanistan over the Durand Line. Since the US invasion of Afghanistan, the viability of the Durand Line is of much greater concern to global security.
Pakistani political history is divided into alternating periods of military dictatorship and democratic civilian/parliamentary rule. Although dominion status was ended in 1956 with the formation of a Constitution and a declaration of Pakistan as an Islamic Republic, the military took control in 1958 and held power for more than 10 years. Civilian rule returned after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, but was interrupted in the late 1970s, with the execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was convicted of murdering a political opponent in a controversial split decision by Pakistan's Supreme Court.
During the 1980s, Pakistan received substantial aid from the United States and took in millions of Afghan (mostly Pashtun) refugees fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The influx of so many refugees - the largest refugee population in the world - has had a heavy impact on Pakistan. The dictatorship of General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq also saw an expansion of Islamic law, as well as an influx of weaponry and drugs from Afghanistan. In 1988, the general died in an aircraft crash and Pakistan returned to an elected government, ushered in with the election of Benazir Bhutto.
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