Encyclopaedia of South Asia: Pakistan/S.K. Khanna and K.N. Sudarshan. 1997, 333 p., $46.
Contents: Preface. 1. Historical background--1947-1997. 2. Climate and rainfall. 3. Natural vegetation. 4. Industry trade and commerce. 5. Transportation and communication. 6. Human activity. 7. Environment and land use. 8. Population and ethnic conflicts. 9. Health and education. Index.
"The South Asian region, which comprises that present-day states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives, has long been significant in world affairs. For 5000 years it has been one of the main centers of civilization continually enriching societies beyond its borders and in turn being enriched from outside. Four and a half thousand years ago many millenia of human development reached a striking in the Indus valley cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
"Today, more than one out of five members of the human race lives in the region, and each month their absolute number increases by well over a million.
"The aim of this encyclopaedia of the countries of South Asia is, to make their worlds accessible to as wide a public as possible. At the same time there is the aim of offering new knowledge to the specialist. This volume, Pakistan moreover, is arranged in chapters that readers may absorb a large chunk of knowledge, say in history or in culture, or even if they choose, try to embrace the encyclopaedia as a whole." (jacket)
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