The Muslim-majority state of Pakistan occupies an area which was
home to some of the earliest human settlements and where two of
the world's major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, were
practised. The modern state was born out of the partition of the
Indian sub-continent in 1947 and has faced both domestic
political upheavals and regional confrontations. Created to meet
the demands of Indian Muslims for their own homeland, Pakistan
was originally made up of two parts. The east wing - present-day
Bangladesh - is on the Bay of Bengal bordering India and Burma.
The west wing - present-day Pakistan - stretches from the
Himalayas down to the Arabian Sea. The break-up of the two wings
came in 1971 when the Bengali-speaking east wing seceded with
help from India. The disputed northern territory of Kashmir has
been the flashpoint for two of the three India-Pakistan wars -
those of 1947-8 and 1965. There was a further brief but bitter
armed conflict after Islamic militants infiltrated Indian-
administered Kashmir in 19