North Waziristan District

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North Waziristan District
ضلع شمالی وزیرستان
شمالي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ
Shawall Bush Irea 15 - panoramio.jpg
Mir Ali Patasi Adda 7 - panoramio.jpg
Top: Shawal Valley
Bottom: street in Mir Ali
North Waziristan District Locator.png
North Waziristan District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Coordinates: 32°58′54″N70°08′00″E / 32.98161274532541°N 70.13333546791706°E / 32.98161274532541; 70.13333546791706
CountryFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Province PK-NWFP.svg  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Division Bannu
Established1910 (as an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas)
Headquarters Miranshah
Number of Tehsils 9
Government
[1]
  TypeDistrict Administration
   Mayor N/A
   Deputy Commissioner Manzoor Ahmed Afridi
  District Police OfficerFarhan Khan (BPS-18 PSP)
Area
   District
4,707 km2 (1,817 sq mi)
Population
 (2023) [2]
   District
693,137
  Density150/km2 (380/sq mi)
   Urban
4,131 (0.60%)
   Rural
689,201
Time zone UTC+5 (PST)
Main language Pashto
Website northwaziristan.kp.gov.pk

North Waziristan District (Pashto : شمالي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, Urdu : ضلع شمالی وزیرستان) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. [3] [4] [5] It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering 4,707 square kilometres (1,817 sq mi). [6] The capital city of North Waziristan is Miranshah.

Contents

Overview and history

North Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between the Kurram River (Tochi) to the north and the Gomal River to the south. Miranshah is district headquarter of North Waziristan. The city of Bannu lies immediately to the east, while the largest town on the Afghan side of the border is Khost.

North Waziristan is divided into the three subdivisions of Mirali, Miran Shah, and Razmak. The three subdivisions are further divided into nine tehsils: Datta Khel Tehsil, Dossali Tehsil, Gharyum Tehsil, Ghulam Khan Tehsil, Mir Ali Tehsil, Miran Shah Tehsil, Razmak Tehsil, Shewa Tehsil, Spinwam Tehsil. [7]

British (1894–1947)

The British entered Waziristan in 1894. After the British military operations in 1894–95, Waziristan was divided into two "agencies", North Waziristan and South Waziristan. The two parts have quite distinct characteristics, though both tribes are subgroups of the Wazir tribe, after which the region is named. [8]

War on Terror

In 2014, about 98,640 people were reported to be internally displaced from North Waziristan as a result of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, a military offensive conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces along the Pak-Afghan Border. [9] [10]

In 2018, it became a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan with merger of the entire FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Parliament's approval.

Administration

North Waziristan District is currently subdivided into nine tehsils. [11] [12] [13]

Provincial Assembly

Member of Provincial AssemblyParty AffiliationConstituencyYear
Muhammad Iqbal Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-111 North Waziristan-I 2018
Mir Kalam Wazir IndependentPK-112 North Waziristan-II

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1951 128,235    
1961 159,470+2.20%
1972 250,663+4.20%
1981 238,910−0.53%
1998 361,246+2.46%
2017 540,546+2.14%
2023 693,332+4.24%
Sources: [14] [15]

As of the 2023 census, North Waziristan district has 99,595 households and a population of 693,332. The district has a sex ratio of 104.71 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 32.82%: 46.94% for males and 18.03% for females. 254,259 (36.68% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 4,131 (0.60%) live in urban areas. [2] 2,170 (0.31%) people in the district were from religious minorities, mainly Christians. [16] Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 99.66% of the population. [17]

Mining

The following minerals have been found in the area:

Notable people

Places of interest

Miran Shah is the headquarters of North Waziristan District, It is connected with Bannu and other important places in the district by metalled roads. This town houses the offices of all government departments in the agency and also serves as a market centre for people of the area.

Razmak and Shawaal Valleys are both summer resorts for the local Waziristanis and beautiful tourist spots for tourists, thousands of tourists visit here annually.

Razmak Cadet College is one of the most famous and historical educational institutions of the country, and students from all corners of the country come to study here. [19]

Pakistan's new Waziristan strategy

On 4 June 2007, the National Security Council of Pakistan met to decide the fate of Waziristan and take up a number of political and administrative decisions to control "Talibanization" of the area. The meeting was chaired by president Pervez Musharraf and it was attended by the Chief Ministers and Governors of all four provinces. They discussed the deteriorating law and order situation and the threat posed to state security. [20]

The government decided to take a number of actions to stop the "Talibanization" and crush the armed militancy in the Tribal regions and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The NSC of Pakistan has decided the following actions will be taken to achieve the goals:

The ministry of interior has played a large part in the information gathering for the operations against militants and their institutions. The Ministry of Interior has prepared a list of militant commanders operating in the region and they have also prepared a list of seminaries for monitoring.

The government is also trying to strengthen the law enforcement in the area by providing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police with weapons, bulletproof jackets and night-vision devices. The paramilitary Frontier Corps will be provided with artillery and APC's. The state agencies are also working on studying ways to block FM frequencies of illegal FM radio channels. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

Waziristan is a mountainous region of Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Waziristan region administratively splits among three districts: North Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan District, and Upper South Waziristan District. Waziristan region, consisted of three districts, covers around 11,585 square kilometres (4,500 sq mi) and is mainly populated by the Mehsud, The Wolves, & Wazir Pashtun tribe, who speak the Waziri dialect of the Pashto language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bannu District</span> District in Pakistan

Bannu District is a district in the Bannu Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Its status as a district was formally recorded in 1861 during the British Raj.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orakzai District</span> District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan

Orakzai District is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before 1973, it was part of FR Kohat. Up until 2018, it was an agency within the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. However, with the merger of the FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it attained the status of a district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Waziristan District</span> District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan

South Waziristan District was a district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, before splitting into the Lower South Waziristan District and the Upper South Waziristan District on 13 April 2022. It covers around 11,585 km2 (4,473 mi2). Waziristan is located in the southwest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is situated between two rivers, the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. The region was an independent tribal territory from 1893, separated from both Afghanistan and the British-ruled empire in the subcontinent. Raiding the tribal areas was a constant problem for the British, requiring frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945. Troops of the British Raj coined a name for this region "Hell's Door Knocker" in recognition of the fearsome reputation of the local fighters and inhospitable terrain. The district headquarter of the South Waziristan district is Wanna. South Waziristan is divided into three administrative subdivisions of Ladha, Sarwakai, and Wanna. These three subdivisions are further divided into eight Tehsils: Ladha, Makin, Sararogha, Sarwakai, Tiarza, Wanna, Barmal, and Toi Khula.

Mīrānshāh (Pashto: میران شاه) is a small town that is the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Miranshah lies on the banks of the Tochi River in a wide valley surrounded by the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains. It is located at an elevation of about 930 metres (3,050 ft), 17 kilometres (11 mi) from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The nearest city in Pakistan is Bannu, about 55 kilometres (34 mi) to the east, while the nearest city across the border in Afghanistan is Khost, 60 kilometres (37 mi) to the northwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khyber District</span> District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan

Khyber District is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018, it became a district. It ranges from the Tirah valley down to Peshawar. It borders Nangarhar Province to the west, Orakzai District to the south, Kurram District to southwest, Peshawar to the east and Mohmand District to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohmand District</span> District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan

Mohmand District is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas, with merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it became a district. It was created as an agency in 1951. Mohmand is bordered by Bajaur District to the north, Khyber District to the south, Malakand and Charsadda districts to the east and Peshawar district to the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bannu Division</span> Division in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Bannu Division is one of seven divisions in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It consists of three districts: Bannu, Lakki Marwat, and North Waziristan. The division borders Dera Ismail Khan Division to the south and west, Kohat Division to the north and east, and the province of Punjab, Pakistan to its east. CNIC code of Bannu Division is 11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mir Ali, Pakistan</span> Tehsil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Mir Ali or Mirali is a town in North Waziristan District, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Mirali is located in the Tochi Valley, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east of Miramshah, 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of the city of Khost, Afghanistan. Mirali is at an altitude of 674 metres (2,211 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razmak</span> Town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Razmak is one of the three subdivisions of North Waziristan District in Pakistan, the other two being Mir Ali and Miran Shah. The inhabitants are almost exclusively Wazir Pashtuns, along with a few from the Mahsud tribe. The town of Razmak is located just north of Makeen, South Waziristan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wazir Tehsil</span> Subdivision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Wazir Tehsil is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Bannu District, Bannu Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The total population, according to the 1998 census, was 19,600, 98.1% of which have Pashto as a first language, and the remaining 1.9% speak Punjabi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bettani Tehsil</span> Tehsil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Bettani Tehsil is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. This subdivision shares its boundary on the north with Bannu Subdivision, on the west with Jandola Tehsil, to the west with North and South Waziristan and to the northeast with the district of Lakki Marwat. Its total area is 132 square kilometers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federally Administered Tribal Areas</span> Former semi-autonomous region in north-western Pakistan (1947–2018)

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the Twenty-fifth amendment to the constitution of Pakistan. It consisted of seven tribal agencies (districts) and six frontier regions, and were directly governed by the federal government through a special set of laws called the Frontier Crimes Regulations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Datakhel</span> Town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Datakhel or Datta Khel is a town in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eidak</span> Village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Eidak is a village in North Waziristan, Pakistan, 50 kilometres to the east of Bannu, lying close to the border with Afghanistan. Its inhabitants are mainly Pashtun-speaking Dawaris.

Wana Tehsil is a subdivision located in Lower South Waziristan District District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The population is 152,881 according to the 2017 census.

Gharyum Tehsil is a subdivision located in North Waziristan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The population is 11,780 according to the 2017 census.

Miran Shah Tehsil is a subdivision located in North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The population is 100,680 according to the 2017 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razmak Tehsil</span> Tehsil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Razmak Tehsil is a subdivision located in North Waziristan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The population is 17,629 according to the 2017 census.

References

  1. "District North Waziristan". Department of Local Government, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  3. "President signs Fata-KP merger bill into law". The Nation. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  4. Wasim, Amir (24 May 2018). "National Assembly green-lights Fata-KP merger by passing 'historic' bill". Dawn . Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  5. Sirmed, Marvi (29 May 2018). "For FATA residents, the good news may be short-lived – Daily Times". Daily Times . Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  6. "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  7. "DISTRICT AND TEHSIL LEVEL POPULATION SUMMARY WITH REGION BREAKUP – North Waziristan" (PDF). pbscensus.gov.pk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  8. "Tribe: Ahmadzai Wazir" (PDF). Naval Postgraduate School.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. Sherazi, Zahir Shah (8 July 2014). "North Waziristan IDPs figure reaches 800,000". Dawn . Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  10. "Air raids flatten 5 militant hideouts". The Express Tribune . 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  11. "DISTRICT AND TEHSIL LEVEL POPULATION SUMMARY WITH REGION BREAKUP [PDF]" (PDF). pbscensus.gov.pk. 3 January 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  12. "District North Waziristan". Local Government, Elections and Rural Development Department. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  13. "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  14. "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  15. "Detailed results (Census 2023)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  16. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics .
  17. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics .
  18. Nawazkahn, M. "PAKISTAN MINERAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION-FATA-DC PESHAWAR". Geological Report of Shinkai Copper Mineralization North Waziristan Agency. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  19. Yusufzai, Rahimullah. "24 FC soldiers die in N Waziristan suicide bombing". The Indonesian Embassy, Islamabad Pakistan. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  20. Perlez, Jane (30 June 2007). "Taliban Spreading, Pakistani President Is Warned". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  21. Khan, Ismail (2007). "Plan ready to curb militancy in Fata, settled areas". Dawn. Newsweek international edition. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.