Approximately 13 crore 6 lakh.

But according to latest estimates till March 2008, our population has increased to 1509 lakh. After analyzing the above mentioned statistics it is clear that population of our country is rapidly increasing than other developed countries of the world. As is evident that in 1951 our population was 3.5 crore but in 1998 our population has increased to 1306 lakh. It means that in the last 47 years our population increased by four times and this is increasing rabidly.

POPULATION OF PAKISTAN & GROWTH OF IT CENSUS WISE:

YEAR

POPULATION (In lakh)

% + OR -

1951 1961 1972 1981 1998 MID 2008

338 430 653 842 1306 1609

20.2%+ 27.1%+ 33.0%+ 29.1%+ 55.0%+ 59.4%+

It is also estimated by the experts that according to1981 census the growth rate was 3% but the government took many measures & thus now every year it is decreasing, March 2008, it has decreased to 2.2% as is event from the following table:

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% OF POPULATION GROWTH IN PAKISTAN:

(1981 to 2008)

YEAR OF CENSUS 1981 1990 1998 Mid 2OO8 estimate

POPULATION IN LAKH 842 1080 1306 1609

% INCREASE 3.0% 2.6% 2.3% 2.2%

According to the statistics it becomes clear that there was not any considerable increase according to the 1981 census in different Pakistan provinces, and areas. For example there is a slight increase in the population of NWFP, Sindh & Federal capital, Islamabad. NWFP 13.1 to 13.4 Sindh 22.6 to 23.0 & Islamabads population increased 0.4 to 0.6% where as in Punjab, FATA, Balochistan areas there was decrease in population. For example Punjab 56.2 to 55.6, FATA 2.6 to 2.4, Balochistan 5.1 to 5.0 is noticed. This kind of slight variation in the population in inside or outside the country shows migration of people.

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CAUSES FOR THE GROWTH OF POPULATION IN PAKISTAN:

Pakistan has one of the highest rates of population growth in the world. It was 3.5% per annum during 1961-72 and 3.1% during 1972-81. The present rate of growth of population is roughly estimated at 2.9%. By the turn of the century it goes up to 150 million much more than the resources of the country can bear. Demographers have indicated the following reasons for this phenomenal rate of growth:

1) Hot climate:
The climate of our country is hot. So our children become adults soon. As they reach to the stage of marriage they are married without losing any time. It causes rapid growth of population in the country.

2) Early Marriages:
We are living in a region of such state where marriages are performed in early ages. It is the tradition of this reason. Due to this custom of marriage in young age the population increases rapidly.

3) Religion:
Our religion also teaches us to perform marriage at young age. Especially it is strict instruction about girls that as soon as they reach to the age of marriage, their marriage should be performed without further delay.

4) Social attitude of the people:

In our region people like large families they have a desire to have more children. Especially the males are of the opinion that having more children (boys) they would prosper more & more. It is also thought that the boys support their parents financially. They support in old age when their parents are old weak and they can do nothing.

5) More than one Marriage:

As our religion permits to have more than one wives so people have liberty. They say very proudly: We can have wives up to four because our religion permits it. Although Islam permits it with the condition of equality between all of them, but people do not care about these conditions. They attain their right and perform many marriages and it is also cause of rapid growth in population.
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6) Poverty:
Poverty is also a cause of rapid growth of population. The Poor man likes to have more children so that they would become his financial support. But when girls are born then his burden increases.

7) Illiteracy:
An educated person knows the reality. He is fully aware of the loss of having more children and of early marriage. But the illiterate people do not know the facts. They are unable to look towards the future. They are also unaware of the responsibilities of a married life. They are not ready to listen about the uses of family planning.

8) Joint family system:

This system lesser the burden of bringing up of children on the parents. Having minimum responsibility, they tend to produce more children.

MEASURES TO FACE RAPID GROWTH OF POPULATION:

Employment facilities:
Government should prepare employment schemes to provide employment to every Pakistani: When an individual will be employed he would not think about children to support him.

Educational facilities:
All citizen of Pakistan should be educated. Education will give them light. They will become broad minded. They will think the loss of early marriages and of having more children.

Effective publicity of family planning:

In our country the family planning schemes are working but these are not effective. The staff of these schemes is not fully trained. They are unable to teach people specially the illiterates. These schemes should be publicized effectively. Radio, T.V. and other Medias should be effectively used. It needs to tell the people about horrors of rapid growth of population. They should be fully aware of the shortage of countrys resources.

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DENSITY OF POPULATION:
MEANING:
The density of population in a country means how many persons per square kilometer or mile are living in a particular area.

DEFINATION:
Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenshipexcept for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a countrys total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.

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FACTORS AFFECTING POPULATION DENSITY:

There are a range of human and natural factors that affect population density. The tables below illustrate this.

Physical Factors Relief (shape and height of land) Resources

High Density Low land which is flat e.g. Ganges Valley in India Areas rich in resources (e.g. coal, oil, wood, fishing etc.) tend to densely populated e.g. Western Europe Areas with temperate climates tend to be densely populated as there is enough rain and heat to grow crops e.g. UK

Low Density High land that is mountainous e.g. Himalayas Areas with few resources tend to be sparsely populated e.g. The Sahel Areas with extreme climates of hot and cold tend to be sparsely populated e.g. the Sahara Desert

Climate

Human Factors Political Social

High Density Countries with stable governments tend to have a high population density e.g. Singapore Groups of people want to live close to each other for security e.g. USA Good job opportunities encourage high population densities, particularly in large cities in MEDCs and LEDCs around the world.

Low Density Unstable countries tend to have lower population densities as people migrate e.g. Afghanistan. Other groups of people prefer to be isolated e.g. Scandinavians Limited job opportunities cause some areas to be sparsely populated e.g. Amazon Rainforest

Economic

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DENSITY OF POPULATION IN PAKISTAN:

The progress and development of a country and distribution of its resources can be estimated by the density of population. Although there are number of causes for the difference of density in a country. In the light of the following figures, we shall analyses, the cause for the difference of density in various parts of Pakistan. According to present census, Karachi Division is the most densely populated division in Pakistan. Its density of population is more than 2000 persons per square kilometer. This density is for only the urban areas (including Karachi city and Cantt and others) of Karachi division. Besides this in Punjab, Lahore division is more densely populated than other divisions, such as Lahore district has density of 984 persons per Kilometer) , Sialkot district (505 persons per KM.) is more densely populated than the districts of Kasur and Sheikhupura. Similarly in Sargodha and Faisalabad Divisions, Faisalabad (511) is denser than Sargodha. In Multan division, Multan District (375 persons per KM) has more density than Sahiwal (329 persons per KM) and Vehari. In Punjab there are some districts, which have low density and are very thinly populated. Such as district of Bahawalpur division, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim yar-khan. In Sargodha Division, district of Mainwali, Khushab, Bakkar. In Faislabad Division, Jhang District. In D.G.Khan division, district of Muzaffarghar, Leiah, Rajanpur and in Rawalpindi Division, district of Attock and Jhelum are thinly populated than other areas. In Sindh Karachi division is more densely populated than Hyderabad and Sukkur division. But in Hydrabad Division, Hyderabd district, (178 persons per KM) and in Sukkur division, Larkana district (153 person per KM) are more densely populated than other district, but Khairpur, Mirpur (Thararker) Thatta, Sanghar district are thinly populated in Sindh.

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In NWFP Peshawar Division ranks first in density, while Dera Ismail Khan Division has second position and Malakand has got third position according to density. In this province, Peshawar district (561 persons per KM) and Mardan district (453 persons per Km) are most densely populated, among all the districts of NWFP. While D.I.Khan, Chitral, swat, Dir districts are comparatively thinly populated. Baluchistan province is the largest according to area, but it is thinnest according to population. In this province, Quetta Division is more densely populated than Kalat and Makran Division. Quetta district (27 persons per kilometer) and Kachhi District of Baluchistan. While Chaghal district (2 persons per Km) and Kharan district are thinly populated areas of Baluchistan. Pakistan's people are not evenly distributed throughout the country. There is an average of 146 persons per square kilometer, but the density varies dramatically, ranging from scarcely populated arid areas, especially in Balochistan, to some of the highest urban densities in the world in Karachi and Lahore. About 68 percent of the population lived in rural areas in 1994, a decrease of 7 percent since 1970. In contrast, the number of people living in urban areas has risen substantially, resulting in an urban growth rate of 4.6 percent between 1980 and 1991. More than half of Pakistan's population is below the age of fifteen; nearly a third is below the age of nine. For cultural reasons, enumerating the precise number of females has been difficult--and estimates of the percentage of females in the population range from 47.5 percent in the 1981 census to 48.3 percent in the 1987-88 Labor Force Survey. Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world with an inverse sex ratio: official sources claim there are 111 men for every 100 women. The discrepancy is particularly obvious among people over fifty: men account for 7.1 percent of the country's total population and women for less than 5 percent. This figure reflects the secondary status of females in Pakistani society, especially their lack of access to quality medical care.

SINDH Karachi Sukkur Hyderabad 1517 130 81

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PUNJAB Lahore Rawalpindi Sargodha Multan Bahawalpur 542 237 209 198 105

NWFP Peshawar D.I.Khan Malakand 158 95 73

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BALUCHISTAN Quetta Makran Kalat 11 10 2

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Population of Pakistan By Provinces 1981 & 1998 Censuses:

Population Area Area in Sq.Kms 1981 1998 (Census) (Census) Pakistan Punjab Sindh NWFP 796095 84253644 132352279 205344 47292441 73621290 140914 19028666 30439893 74521 11061328 17735912 6565885 3176331 805235 % Annual change growth 1998 rate 1981over 98 (%) 1981 2.69 2.64 2.80 2.82 2.47 2.19 Sex ratio males per 100 females Density per Sq.Kms (Persons) Proportion of Urban Population (%age)

1981 1998 1981 1998 1981 1998

57.09 111 108 106 166 28.3 32.5 55.67 111 107 230 359 27.6 16.9 59.97 111 112 135 216 43.3 2.7

60.34 109 105 148 238 15.1 31.3 51.55 112 115 44.47 108 108 12 19 15.6 48.8 23.9

Balochistan 347190 4332376 FATA Islamabad 27220 2198547 906 340286

81 117 -

5.19 136.63 119 117 376 889 60.1 65.7

THE REASONS OF DIFFERENCE IN DENSITY POPULATION OF PAKISTAN:

The density of population shows that many areas of our country are densely populated e.g. 2000 persons pr sq. km, where as in many areas the population is less than 2 persons per square kilometer. There are many factors of the variation. Detail of which is as under:

1. Geographical elements:
Geographical factors mountains, plains, plateaus, deserts, rivers & sea-coasts, atmosphere, etc.

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2. Economic & social factors:

Civic amenities modern means of transportation, better opportunities of income, modern availablity of technology.

3. Religious political & social factors:

Saints, religious personalities, dedicated polticians, sense of security.

GEOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS: Geographical characteristics

1) MOUNTAINS:
The mountainous areas are mostly high and uneven. It is very difficult to construct houses there. To get other necessaries of life one has to face innumerable problems and difficulties that is why the provinces of NWFP & balochistan are less congested than other areas.

2) PLIANS:
Usually plains are formed by alluvial soil brought by the rivers. Due to the fertility in the plains and having facilities of irrigation and other easily available necessities of life. People prefer to live in plain areas. That is why people mostly like to live in the plain areas of Sindh and Punjab than other areas.

3) PLATEAUS:
Plateau areas are mostly uneven and consist of rocky areas. Irrigation on large scale can not be carreied out there, people have to face innumerable difficulties to get necessaties of life so the plateau areas of potwar and balochistan are less populated than other areas of the country.

4) DESERTS:
Deserts mostly consist of sand and dunes and due to less rain there is abundance of thorny bushes and due to scarcity of water, irrigation is impossible, hence in the province of Sindh, the areas of Tharparker and Nara and in the province of Punjab, Thal and Cholistans desert area is less populated.

5) RIVER OR SEA-COASTS:
The areas surrounded by rivers and sea- coasts are not suitable for irrigation and due to this most of people do not like to live in these areas that is why only fishermen are leading life near the river and coastal areas of the country and thus less population there.
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6) ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS:
Intense heat and severe cold are injurious to life of the people of Pakistans, Nothern and North-Eastern areas and hot-desert areas are less populated than the other areas of the country.

7) FERTILITY OF SOIL:
Fertility of land plays an important role in the development of agriculture so the areas in the province of Punjab and Sindh are densely populated than the other areas of the country due to more fertility of soil.

8) AVAILABILITY OF ABUNDANT WATER:

Water is an important source in agriculture and other departments so in the areas where water is found in abundance, population is dense & the areas of our country where water is available in insufficient quantity such areas are less developed e.g.Tharparker in the Sindh province & Cholistan in Punjab.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL FACTORS:

1) CIVIC FACILITIES:
As the facilities in villages such as higher education, treated facilities employment opportunities are not available so these are less populated than oyher areas of our country.

2) MODERN MEANS OF COMMUNICATION:

As the village areas of our country are not connected with modern means of communication e.g. roads, rails and airways. So these areas are less populated than the urban areas.

3) BETTER OPPORTUNITIES OF EMPLOYMENT:

There are less opportunities of employment in the villages than the city areas and people prefer to live in cities. There are the places where opportunities of employment or means of increasing income of the people are found in abdunce, so these areas become more populated.

4) AVAILABILITY OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY:

To avail the facilities of the modern technolog, people come to the cities, so the cities nbecome congested.

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RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL, SOCIAL FACTORS:

The main factor of densely population of any areas is the tomb or mausoleum of a saint or religious personality living in that area.

POLITICAL:
In many areas of the country, political, sense of security also plays an important role in density of population.

THE GROWTH & MORPHOLOGY OF TOWNS IN PAKISTAN:

INTRODUCTION:
According to population census those areas administered by some corporation, municipality, town committee,cantonment or civil line, having a population of more than 5000 persons are considered as urban centers or areas. By the study of the following figures, it is clear that our rural population is migrating towards the urban centers, that is why population of cities is increasing while rural population is decreasing every year. Till 1998 the urban population was increased by 5.9% which is now 32.5% and rural was 67.5% of the total population of pakistan.

RURAL & URBAN POPULATION OF PAKISTAN:

Rural population:
Definition: Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. The value for Rural population in Pakistan was 109,363,800 as of 2010. As the graph below shows, over the past 50 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 109,363,800 in 2010 and a minimum value of 35,771,840 in 1960.

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Urban population:
Definition:
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. The value for Urban population in Pakistan was 64,229,550 as of 2010. As the graph below shows, over the past 50 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 64,229,550 in 2010 and a minimum value of 10,148,370 in 1960.

AREA 1951 1961 1971 1981 1998 Mid 2008 Estimate

URBAN 17.6% 22.5% 25.61% 28.18% 32.5% 39%

RURAL 82.4% 77.5% 74.06% 71.72% 67.5% 61%

POPULATION PLANNING POLICIES AND PROBLEMS:

Pakistan's extremely high rate of population growth is caused by a falling death rate combined with a continuing high birth rate. In 1950 the mortality rate was twenty-seven per 1,000 population; by 1990 the rate had dropped to twelve (estimated) per 1,000. Yet throughout this period, the birth rate was forty four per 1,000 population. On average, in 1990 each family had 6.2 children, and only 11 percent of couples were regularly practicing contraception.

In 1952 the Family Planning Association of Pakistan, an NGO, initiated efforts to contain population growth. Three years later, the government began to fund the association and
40

noted the need to reduce population growth in its First Five-Year Plan (1955-60). The government soon combined its population planning efforts in hospitals and clinics into a single program. Thus population planning was a dual effort led by the Family Planning Association and the public sector. In the mid-1960s, the Ministry of Health initiated a program in which intrauterine devices (IUDs) were promoted. Payments were offered to hospitals and clinics as incentives, and midwives were trained to treat patients. The government was able to attract funding from many international donors, but the program lost support because the targets were overly ambitious and because doctors and clinics allegedly over reported their services to claim incentive payments. The population planning program was suspended and substantively reorganized after the fall of Mohammad Ayub Khan's government in 1969. In late December 1971, the population was estimated at 65.2 million. In an attempt to control the population problem, the government introduced several new programs. First, the Continuous Motivation System Programme, which employed young urban women to visit rural areas, was initiated. In 1975 the Inundation Programme was added. Based on the premise that greater availability would increase use, shopkeepers throughout the country stocked birth control pills and condoms. Both programs failed, however. The unmarried urban women had little understanding of the lives of the rural women they were to motivate, and shopkeepers kept the contraceptives out of sight because it was considered manner less to display them in an obvious way. Following Zia ul-Haq's coup d'tat in 1977, government population planning efforts were almost halted. In 1980 the Population Division, formerly under the direction of a minister of state, was renamed the Population Welfare Division and transferred to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. This agency was charged with the delivery of both family planning services and maternal and child health care. This reorganized structure corresponded with the new population planning strategy, which was based on a multifaceted community-based "cafeteria" approach, in cooperation with Family Welfare Centers (essentially clinics) and Reproductive Health Centers (mostly engaged in sterilizations). Community participation had finally become a cornerstone of the government's policy, and it was hoped that contraceptive use would rise dramatically. The population by 1980 had exceeded 84 million. In preparing the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1983-88), the government projected a national population of 147 million in the year 2000 if the growth rate were to be a constant at 2.8 percent per year, and of 134 million if the rate were to decline to the desired 2.1 percent per year by then. By the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1988-93) period, the multipronged approach initiated in the 1980s had increased international donor assistance and had begun to enlist local NGOs. Efforts to improve maternal and child health were coupled with education campaigns. Because of local mores concerning modesty, the government avoided explicit reference to contraceptive devices and instead focused its public education efforts on encouraging couples to limit their family size to two children. The key to controlling population growth, according to activists in the women's movement, lies in raising the socioeconomic status of women. Until a woman's status is determined by something other than her reproductive capabilities, and especially by the number of sons she bears, severe impediments to lowering population growth rates will persist.
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MIGRATION AND GROWTH OF MAJOR CITIES:

Pakistan's cities are expanding much faster than the overall population. At independence in 1947, many refugees from India settled in urban areas. In the 1950s, more than one-half of the residents of several cities in Sindh and Punjab were muhajirs. Some refugee colonies were eventually recognized as cities in their own right. Between 1951 and 1981, the urban population quadrupled. The annual urban growth rate during the 1950s and 1960s was more than 5 percent. This figure dropped slightly in the 1970s to 4.4 percent. Between 1980 and early 1994, it averaged about 4.6 percent. By early 1994, about 32 percent of all Pakistanis lived in urban areas, with 13 percent of the total population living in three cities of over 1 million inhabitants each--Lahore, Faisalabad, and Karachi. The key reason for migration to urban areas has been the limited opportunity for economic advancement and mobility in rural areas. The economic and political control that local landlords exercise in much of the countryside has led to this situation. The urban migrant is almost invariably a male. He retains his ties with his village, and his rights there are acknowledged long after his departure. At first, the migration is frequently seen as a temporary expedient, a way to purchase land or pay off a debt. Typically, the migrant sends part of his earnings to the family he left behind and returns to the village to work at peak agricultural seasons. Even married migrants usually leave their families in the village when they first migrate. The decision to bring wife and children to the city is thus a milestone in the migration process. As cities have grown, they have engulfed surrounding villages, bringing agriculturists into the urban population. Many of these farmers commute to urban jobs from their original homes. The focus of these individuals' lives remains their family and fellow villagers. Similarly, migrants from rural areas who have moved to the cities stay in close touch with relatives and friends who have also moved, so their loyalties reflect earlier patterns. The Pakistani city tends to recreate the close ties of the rural community. Pakistani cities are diverse in nature. The urban topology reflects the varied political history within the region. Some cities dating from the medieval era, such as Lahore and Multan, served as capitals of kingdoms or small principalities, or they were fortified border towns prior to colonial rule. Other pre-colonial cities, such as Peshawar, were trading centers located at strategic points along the caravan route. Some cities in Sindh and Punjab centered on cottage industries, and their trade rivaled the premier European cities of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Under colonial rule, many of the older administrative cities declined. Where the British located a trading post (factory) near an existing administrative center, the city was typically divided into old and new, or European, sections. New towns and cities also emerged, especially in the expanding canal colonies; Faisalabad (formerly Lyallpur) is such a city. The town of Karachi expanded rapidly to become a center of rail and sea transport as a consequence of British rule and as consequence of the opening of massive irrigation
42

projects and the increase in agricultural exports. Thus, Pakistan's two largest cities, Karachi and Lahore, illustrate how differing regional and sociocultural histories have shaped the variations among Pakistan's cities. Karachi absorbed tens of thousands of muhajirs following independence in 1947, grew nearly two and one-half times from 1941 to 1951, and nearly doubled again in the following decade. Karachi is by far Pakistan's largest city and is still rapidly growing. In the early 1990s the population exceeded 10 million. Karachi's rapid growth has been directly related to the overall economic growth in the country. The partition of British India into the independent states of Pakistan and India prompted an influx into Pakistan of Muslim merchants from various parts of the new, Hindu-majority India. These merchants, whom sociologist Hamza Alavi refers to as salariat, had money to invest and received unusual encouragement from the government, which wanted to promote the growth of the new state. Karachi at first developed in isolation. Relatively few people from outlying areas were engaged in running its factories, and the city had little impact on Pakistan's cultural fabric. But when the economies of southern Sindh and parts of Punjab began to expand, large numbers of migrants flooded the city in search of work (generally low-paying jobs), and Karachi become the hub of the nation's commerce. The city, however, also has serious problems. It has the poorest slums in the country, and it suffers from serious interethnic conflict as a consequence of the influx of many competing groups. It was the site of considerable violence in the late 1980s as muhajirs solidified their local power base vis-vis the Pakhtuns and native Sindhis. Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city, contrasts markedly with Karachi. With just under half the population of Karachi, it is regarded as the cultural nucleus of Punjab. Residents of Lahore take special pride in their city's physical beauty, especially in its Mughal architecture, which includes the Badshahi Mosque, Shalimar Gardens, Lahore Fort, and Jahangir's tomb. In the earliest extant historical reference to the city, in A.D. 630 the Chinese traveler Xuan Zang described it as a large Brahmanical city. A center of learning by the twelfth century, Lahore reached its peak in the sixteenth century, when it became the quintessential Mughal city--the "grand resort of people of all nations and a center of extensive commerce." The economy and the population expanded greatly in the 1980s in a number of other cities. The most important of these are Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, and Sialkot in Punjab; Hyderabad in Sindh; and Peshawar and Mardan in the North-West Frontier Province. The nation's capital was situated in Karachi at independence. General Mohammad Ayub Khan, who assumed power in 1958, aspired, however, to build a new capital that would be better protected from possible attack by India and would reflect the greatness of the new country. In 1959 Ayub Khan decided to move the capital to the shadow of the Margalla Hills near Pakistan's third largest city, Rawalpindi. The move was completed in 1963, and the new capital was named Islamabad (abode of Islam). The population of Islamabad continues to increase rapidly, and the official 1991 estimate of just over 200,000 has probably been much exceeded.

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IMPACT OF MIGRATION TO THE PERSION GULF COUNTRIES:

Pakistan had a severe balance of payments deficit in the 1970s. To deal with this deficit, as well as to strengthen ties with the Islamic states in the Middle East, the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto encouraged both skilled and unskilled men to work in the Persian Gulf countries. The government set up a program under the Ministry of Labor, Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanis to regulate this migration and also seconded military troops to many of the Gulf states. By the mid-1980s, when this temporary migration was at its height, there were estimated to be more than 2 million Pakistanis in the Persian Gulf states remitting more than US$3 billion every year. At the peak, the remittances accounted for almost half of the country's foreign-exchange earnings. By 1990 new employment opportunities were decreasing, and the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War forced many workers to return quickly to Pakistan. Workers have only slowly returned to the Gulf since the war ended. The majority of the emigrants are working-class men, who travel alone, leaving their wives and children behind with their extended families in Pakistan. These men are willing to sacrifice years with their families for what they see as their only chance to escape poverty in a society with limited upward mobility. A study in the old quarter (the inner walled city) of Lahore in 1987 suggested that half of all working-class families had at least one close relative working in the Gulf. Families generally use the remittances for consumer goods, rather than investing in industry. The wage earner typically returns after five to ten years to live at home. Although this migration has had little effect on Pakistan demographically, it has affected its social fabric. While a man is away from his family, his wife often assumes responsibility for many day-to-day business transactions that are considered the province of men in this traditional male-dominated society. Thus for the women involved, there is a significant change in social role. Among the men, psychologists have identified a syndrome referred to as "Dubai chalo" ("let's go to Dubai"). This syndrome, which manifests itself as disorientation, appears to result from social isolation, culture shock, harsh working conditions, and the sudden acquisition of relative wealth. Men often feel isolated and guilty for leaving their families, and the resultant sociopsychological stress can be considerable.

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