Description

The Federation of Pakistan, also called the Dominion of Pakistan, was an independent federal dominion in South Asia established on 14 August 1947. At its inception, the Dominion of Pakistan did not include its princely states, which gradually acceded over the next year. Its status as a federal dominion within the British Empire ended in 1956 with the completion of the Constitution of Pakistan, which officially established the country as an Islamic Republic. The constitution also administratively split the nation into West Pakistan and East Pakistan, which were until then governed as a singular entity despite being separate geographic exclaves. In 1971, East Pakistan seceded as the new nation of Bangladesh.