Territorial organization of Pakistan

Provinces and territories of Pakistan after the merger of the Tribal Areas and Jaiber Pastunjuá in 2018.

Pakistan is a federal state, organized into five provinces as of 2018 (Balochistan, Khaiber Pashtunjua, Punjab, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan), an autonomous territory (Azad Kashmir) and a federal territory (Islamabad). Each province and territory is subdivided into divisions, which in turn are subdivided into districts, and these into tehsils or taluka, which are divided into union councils.

History

The provinces and territories of Pakistan were inherited from British India after its independence on August 14, 1947.

Two days after its independence, the Muslim-majority Murshidabad district of Bengal passed from Pakistan to India due to the Radcliffe Commission's mapping.

In 1947 Pakistan consisted of two sections, which were separated by 1,000 miles of Indian territory. The western section consisted of the amalgamation of the provinces of the North West Frontier, West Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and thirteen princely states. The eastern section consisted of East Bengal, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and Sylhet of the former British province of Assam.

In 1948 Karachi was separated from Sindh to form the Federal Capital Territory.

Map of the Domain of Pakistan in 1955.

In 1950 the North West Frontier province absorbed the princely states of Amb and Phulra, while West Punjab changed its name to Punjab.

In 1952 the four princely states in the southwest formed the Union of Balochistan States.

In 1955 the One Unity Policy was launched by Muhammad Ali Bogra, where all the provinces and princely states of the western section were merged and formed West Pakistan, with Lahore as the provincial capital. Simultaneously, the name of East Bengal (including Sylhet and Hill Tracts) was renamed East Pakistan, with Dhaka as the provincial capital. The One Unit policy was aimed at reducing spending and removing provincial bias, but the 1958 military coup signaled difficulties when the first military president, Ayub Khan, abolished the office of West Pakistan's Chief Minister in favor of the governor's government.

On September 7, 1958, after four years of negotiations, including six months of intense negotiations, Pakistan purchased the Guadar enclave from the Omani government for Rs 5.5 trillion/US$3 million (approximately US$22,410,311.42 in 2017). Guadar formally became part of Pakistan on December 8, 1958, after 174 years of Oman rule.

Map of the new provinces in 1970.

In 1960 the federal capital was moved from Karachi to Rawalpindi and in 1961, the Federal Capital Territory was merged with West Pakistan. In 1966, the capital was moved back to Islamabad. In 1962, Dhaka became the legislative capital of the country due to the high population of East Pakistan.

In 1963 Pakistan signed a treaty with China to transfer part of the Gilgit Agency to China (section of the Shaksgam-Karakoram valley) with the provision that the agreement was subject to the final settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

In 1970 the second military president, Yahya Khan, abolished West Pakistan and established four new provinces: Sindh, Balochistan, North West Frontier and Punjab.

In 1971 East Pakistan broke away to form Bangladesh.

In 1974 the remaining princely states of Hunza and Nagar were abolished and their territories merged into the Gilgit Agency, to form the Northern Areas.

Provinces and territories of Pakistan in 2010.

In 1975 parts of Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan districts were separated to form Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

In 1981 the region surrounding Islamabad was seceded from Punjab and renamed the Islamabad Capital Territory.

In August 2000 the divisions were abolished as part of a plan to restructure local government, followed by the 2001 elections. Many of the functions previously carried out by the provinces had been transferred to the districts and tehsils. In 2008, the government restored the old divisions and appointed commissioners.

In 2009 the Northern Areas were renamed Gilgit-Baltistan and became the fifth province.

In 2010 the province of the Northwest Frontier was renamed Jaiber Pastunjuá.

In 2018 the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Khyber Pashtunkhova Assembly passed the Tribal Areas Merger Bill, with the passage of the Twenty-fifth Amendment Act of 2018. On May 31, the last step in the merger of the Tribal Areas with Khaiber Pashtunjuá was completed after its form by President Mamnoon Hussain. Thus, the FATA state was abolished as a separate entity and merged into Khyber Pakthunkhwa province.

List of current entities

Name	Name in Urdu	Capital	Emblema	Flag	Map	Population (2017)	Area (km2)	Density (per km2)
Azad Kashmir	مقمیر	Muzaffarabad				4 045 366	13 297	223.55
Baluchistan	بلودستان	Quetta				12 344 408	347 190	37.91
Gilgit-Baltistan	bundantà ̈s exploitationت بلتستان	Gilgit				2 441 523	64 817	19.75
Federal Capital	اسلام عباد دارالومت	Islamabad				2 006 572	906	1 271.38
Jaiber Pastunjuá	خیبر Studentتونموا	Peshawar				35 525 047	101 741	349.17
Punyab	Русский	Lahore				110 012 442	205 344	445.01
Sind	سند	Karachi				47 886 051	140 914	392.05
Pakistan	Русский	Islamabad				214 261 409	874 209	223.79

Local Governments by entity

Districts of Pakistan in 2010.

Distribution of Local Governments by entity in Pakistan in 2014:

The Constitution of Pakistan states:

1. The Republic and its territories

(1) Pakistan shall be a Federal Republic to be known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hereinafter referred to as Pakistan.
(2) The territories of Pakistan shall comprise:-

(a) the Provinces of Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier, the Punjab and Sind;

(b) the Islamabad Capital Territory, hereinafter referred to as the Federal Capital;

(c) Federally Administered Tribal Areas; and

(d) such States and territories as are or may be included in Pakistan, whether by accession or otherwise.

(3) Parliament may by law admit into the Federation new States or areas on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit.