Among the many outside influences that were introduced to Pakistan, one of the most profound and influential was the people's conversion to Islam. While many people converted to this religion, many others remained believers in Hinduism or another religion. Islam changed the diet of the people, social interactions, and lifestyle, but it also created a division among the Muslims and the Hindus, as well as other non-Muslims. Over time this division became more important than the shared history and many other similarities the people had with other as Islam became one of the most important identifying features of Pakistani culture.
Although few people in Pakistan are devout Muslims today, the religion has played a significant role in their culture and political sphere as the country gained independence from India primarily on the grounds of religious differences, although political direction and social differences also greatly contributed.
In more recent times Pakistan has been thrown further into flux. Most of the population continues to work on farms, but the British introduced new technologies from the Industrial Revolution and the cities of Pakistan have used this technology to create a new urban lifestyle and jobs that were never available in the past. This is creating another divide among the people, this time by generation as the youth is growing up with high tech communication and fairly liberal attitudes, while many people in the older generations tend to be more conservative and remain in the villages and on their farms. Pakistan is a country that seems to be always moving and changing; where the country goes in the future is seemingly always a mystery.