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, but has never exercised administrative authority over either region. 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.
The Provincially Administered Tribal Area (PATA) was the former administrative subdivision of Pakistan designated in the Article 246(b) of the Constitution of Pakistan. No Act of Provincial Assembly can be applied to PATA whereas the Governor of the respective province has a mandate parallel to the authority President of Pakistan has over Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In 2018, a Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan merged PATA, as well as FATA into full control of the Khyber-Paktunkhwa government, thus the PATA designation has no legal standing in the future of Khyber-Paktunkhwa.
Dir is a region in northwestern Pakistan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Before the independence of Pakistan, Dir was a princely state, and it remained so until 1969 when it was abolished by a presidential declaration, and the Dir District was created the following year. The area covers 5,280 square kilometres. In 1996 Dir district was officially divided into Lower Dir District and Upper Dir District.
The former administrative units of Pakistan are states, provinces and territories which mainly existed between 1947 and 1975 when the current provinces and territories were established. The former units have no administrative function today but some remain as historical and cultural legacies. In some cases, the current provinces and territories correspond to the former units – for example the province of Punjab includes almost all the territory of the former province of West Punjab.
The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is the provincial government of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 32 districts come under its authority and jurisdiction. The government includes the cabinet, selected from members the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, and the non-political civil staff within each department. The province is governed by a unicameral legislature with the head of government known as the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, invariably the leader of a political party represented in the Assembly, selects members of the Cabinet. The Chief Minister and Cabinet are thus responsible the functioning of government and are entitled to remain in office so long as it maintains the confidence of the elected Assembly. The head of the province is known as the Governor, appointed by the federal government, on behalf of the President, while the administrative boss of the province is Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The four provinces, capital territory, and two autonomous territories of Pakistan are subdivided into 39 administrative "divisions", which are further subdivided into districts, tehsils, and finally union councils. These divisions were abolished in 2000, but restored in 2008.
The Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) were a special set of laws of British India, and which were applicable to the Tribal Areas. They were enacted by the British Empire in the nineteenth century and remained in effect in Pakistan until 2018. They were extended to the Gilgit Agency in Jammu and Kashmir in 1901 and to Baltistan in 1947, remaining in effect till the 1970s.
Pakistan is a federal republic with three tiers of government: national, provincial and local. Local government is protected by the constitution in Articles 32 and 140-A, and each province also has its own local-government-enabling legislation and ministries responsible for implementation. District councils and metropolitan corporations are respectively the highest rural and urban tiers of local government in the provinces. Both urban and rural local government have two or three tiers in all provinces except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where councils are not identified as either urban or rural. There are 129 district councils across the four provinces, 619 urban councils made up of one city district, four metropolitan corporations, 13 municipal corporations, 96 municipal committees, 148 town councils, 360 urban union committees, and 1,925 rural councils. Additionally there are 3339 neighbourhood, ‘tehsil’ and village councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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.
Severe storm hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan on the night of 26 April 2015. It caused considerable damage in the cities of Peshawar, Nowshera, and Charsadda. The storm featured heavy rains accompanied by hail and high-speed winds of over 120 kilometers per hour. As a result of the storm's damaging effects, 45 people were killed and over 200 were wounded.
Administrative System of FATA was the system by which semi-autonomous tribal region of Federally Administered Tribal Areas was governed.
National Disaster Management Act, 2010 was passed by Parliament of Pakistan in 2010, it received the assent of the President on 8 December 2010. The Act applies to whole Pakistan including tribal areas of FATA. The Act was passed in backdrop of 2010 Floods in Pakistan and strengthen Disaster Management system.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was passed by the Parliament of Pakistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in May 2018. Under the amendment, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) are to be merged with the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The Constitution Act, 2017 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan seeking to create seats for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and establish a new judicial system in the tribal belt. The amendment would have added new provisions to the Constitution to create room for FATA lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly after the merger of FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The amendment was introduced to the National Assembly of Pakistan alongside the Tribal Areas Rewaj Act.
Provincial elections were held in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's constituencies belonging to areas previously known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on 20 July 2019. After the election, the new members joined the already elected members from the rest of the province to complete the formation of 11th Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Pakistan Levies, or Federal Levies, are provincial paramilitary forces (gendarmeries) in Pakistan, whose primary missions are law enforcement, assisting the civilian police in maintaining law and order, and conducting internal security operations at the provincial level. The various Levies Forces operate under separate chains of command and wear distinct patches and badges.
On 31 May 2018, with the application of 25th Amendment, Federally Administrated Tribal Areas ceased to exist, and stood merged into neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority is an agency of the Government of Balochistan to deal with both natural and manmade disasters. It was formed after the promulgation of the NDMA Act 2010. The Authority coordinates and collaborates to prevent and minimize damage to life, infrastructure, and environment.
In 2016 Pakistan experienced higher rainfall than normal (10-20%), especially in the pre-monsoon season. Heavy monsoon rains are common in the region. This led to multiple periods of flooding, landslides, and damage particularly in Northern Pakistan. The Swat River overflowed and multiple landslides occurred around Pakistan including in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu, and Kashmir.
