Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly known as North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Pakistan by land area and the third-largest province by population. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan to the south, Punjab to the south-east, the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan to the north and north-east, Islamabad Capital Territory to the east and Azad Kashmir to the north-east. It shares an international border with Afghanistan to the west. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a varied landscape ranging from rugged mountain ranges, valleys, plains surrounded by hills, undulating submontane areas and dense agricultural farms.
The administrative units of Pakistan comprise four provinces, one federal territory, and two disputed territories: the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan; the Islamabad Capital Territory; and the administrative territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan. As part of the Kashmir conflict with neighbouring India, Pakistan has also claimed sovereignty over the Indian-controlled territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh since the First Kashmir War of 1947–1948. It also has a territorial dispute with India over Junagadh, but has never exercised administrative authority over either regions. All of Pakistan's provinces and territories are subdivided into divisions, which are further subdivided into districts, and then tehsils, which are again further subdivided into union councils.
Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Pakistan after Islam. Though Hinduism was one of the dominant faiths in the region a few centuries ago, Hindus accounted for just 2.17% of Pakistan's population in the 2023 Pakistani census. The Umerkot district has the highest percentage of Hindu residents in the country at 54.6%, while Tharparkar district has the most Hindus in absolute numbers at 811,507.
Sikhism in Pakistan has an extensive heritage and history, although Sikhs form a small community in Pakistan today. Most Sikhs live in the province of Punjab, a part of the larger Punjab region where the religion originated in the Middle Ages, with some also residing in Peshawar in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is located in Pakistan's Punjab province. Moreover, the place where Guru Nanak died, the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib is also located in the same province.
Law enforcement in Pakistan is one of the three main components of the criminal justice system of Pakistan, alongside the judiciary and the prisons. The country has a mix of federal, provincial and territorial police forces with both general and specialised functions, but the senior ranks of all the provincial forces and most of the federal ones are manned by members of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP). The PSP is one of the most prestigious part of the Central Superior Services, Pakistan's main civil service organisation. Federal law enforcement agencies are generally overseen by the Ministry of Interior of the Government of Pakistan, while provincial police forces are overseen by a department of the government of that province.
Tourism in Pakistan is a growing industry. In 2010, Lonely Planet termed Pakistan "tourism's 'next big thing'". The country is geographically and ethnically diverse, and has a number of historical and cultural heritage sites. Condé Nast Traveller ranked Pakistan The Best Holiday Destination for 2020 and also declared it the third-highest potential adventure destination in the world for 2020. As security in the country improves, tourism increases; in two years, it has increased by more than 300%.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Pakistan:
A Member of the Provincial Assembly, or MPA is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the legislature or legislative assembly of a subnational jurisdiction. In Pakistan, the members are elected by the voters in provinces for a term of five years.
The four provincial governments of Pakistan administer the four provinces of Pakistan. There is also a federal capital territory and two territories which have similar governments but with some differences. The head of each province is a non-executive Governor appointed by the President. The Governors play a similar role, at the provincial level, as the President does at the federal level. Each province has a directly elected unicameral legislature, with members elected for five-year terms. Each provincial assembly elects a Chief Minister, who then selects a cabinet of ministers from amongst the members of the Provincial Assembly. Each province also has a High Court, which forms part of the superior judiciary.
Presidential elections were held on 30 July 2013 in Pakistan to elect the 12th President of Pakistan. Incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari’s term was scheduled to expire on 8 September 2013; and as such, Article 41 of the Constitution of Pakistan required the elections to be held no later than 8 August 2013. The Electoral College of Pakistan – a joint sitting of the Senate, National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies – were tasked with electing a new president to succeed President Zardari, who declined to seek a second term in office. After the Pakistan Peoples Party and its allies boycotted the presidential election, the two candidates were Mamnoon Hussain backed by the Pakistan Muslim League (N), and Wajihuddin Ahmed backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Agra-born Hussain was elected president by a majority securing 432 votes. The elections were the first time in Pakistani history where a civilian president was elected while an incumbent civilian President was still in office, completing a historic and democratic transition of power that began with the 2013 General Elections.
The Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy is an institution of higher learning in Peshawar, Pakistan which focuses on legal and judicial studies. Its mission is "to change the attitude of young law graduates as judges and to inculcate in them patience, sobriety, confidence, discipline and skill of high quality legal reasoning; to develop their capacity; to enable them to create harmony among all justice sector institutions; to sensitize them to the rights of all litigant public, notably, of the vulnerable communities; and to make them leaders to contribute to the rule of law.
The seven Bar Councils in Pakistan came into being as a result of enactment of Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973. These Bar Councils regulate legal professionals across provincial, territorial and national level. All bar associations in the country are affiliated to and work under the control of one of these bar councils.
Senate elections were held in Pakistan on 5 March 2015 to elect the replacements for 52 retiring senators. Those retiring include chairman Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and deputy chairman Sabir Ali Baloch of the upper house. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the majority party in Senate, would lose 21 members, followed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz would lose 9 and Awami National Party would lose 6 members.
The triennial Senate Electionsof Pakistan were held on 3 March 2018 to replace 52 retiring senators - half of the Senate's strength - with the winning candidates serving six-year terms. Overall, Pakistan Muslim League (N) came out as the largest party, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The results of these elections were steeped in controversy due to rampant allegations of horse trading and vote-buying, which lead to the Prime Minister and opposition leader Imran Khan calling for reforms. Prior to this election, PML (N) candidates were declared as independents by the Election Commission of Pakistan owing to a Supreme Court judgment.
The 2016 Pakistan Cup was a five-team limited overs (one-day) cricket tournament that took place in Faisalabad, Punjab, from 19 April to 1 May 2016. It was contested by teams representing Pakistan's four provinces and the capital. Squads for the tournament were selected based on a draft system.
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, officially known as the Constitution Act, 2017, allows for the adjustment of seats in the Parliament of Pakistan in response to the provisional results of the 2017 Census. The overall number of seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan will remain the same, with Punjab losing seats, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gaining seats, and Sindh retaining the same number of seats.
The 2022–23 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 27 September to 30 November 2022. In September 2022, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed the fixtures for the tournament. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the defending champions but did not qualify for the final.
The events listed below are both anticipated and scheduled for the year 2023 in Pakistan.
