North Waziristan District

North Waziristan District
ضلع شمالی وزیرستان
شمالي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ
District
Top: Shawal Valley
Bottom: street in Mir Ali
North Waziristan District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
North Waziristan District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Country Pakistan
Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
DivisionBannu
Established1910 (as an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas)
HeadquartersMiranshah
Number of Tehsils9
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • MayorN/A
 • Deputy CommissionerManzoor Ahmed Afridi
 • District Police OfficerFarhan Khan (BPS-18 PSP)
Area
 • District
4,707 km2 (1,817 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)
 • District
693,137
 • Density147.3/km2 (381.4/sq mi)
 • Urban
4,131 (0.60%)
 • Rural
689,201
Literacy
 • Literacy rate
  • Total:
    32.82%
  • Male:
    46.94%
  • Female:
    18.03%
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Main languagePashto
Websitenorthwaziristan.kp.gov.pk

North Waziristan District (Pashto: شمالي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع شمالی وزیرستان) is a district of Bannu Division in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. 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). The capital city of North Waziristan is Miranshah.

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.

British Raj (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.

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 against militant extremists launched by the Pakistan Army along the Pak-Afghan border.

Creation of district

In 2018 after approval by Pakistan's parliament, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the former North Waziristan Agency (which had been a part of FATA) then became a district.

Administration

North Waziristan District is currently subdivided into nine tehsils.

Tehsil Area

(km²)

 Pop.

(2023)

 Density

(ppl/km²)

(2023)

 Literacy rate

(2023)

 Union Councils
Datta Khel Tehsil 1,807 92,196 100.53 30.63%
Dossali Tehsil 250 50,524 100.29 33.02%
Gharyum Tehsil 320 18,931 102.01 17.74%
Ghulam Khan Tehsil 191 31,015 99.33 8.44%
Mir Ali Tehsil 605 229,647 107.7 38.31%
Miran Shah Tehsil 402 123,317 102.02 36.53%
Razmak Tehsil 191 49,367 134.63 26.62%
Shewa Tehsil 393 44,126 112.28 38.36%
Spinwam Tehsil 548 54,209 99.82 23.47%

Provincial Assembly

Member of Provincial AssemblyParty affiliationConstituencyYear
Muhammad Iqbal KhanPakistan Tehreek-e-InsafPK-111 North Waziristan-I2018
Mir Kalam WazirIndependentPK-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:

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. 2,170 (0.31%) people in the district were from religious minorities, mainly Christians. Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 99.66% of the population.

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 Pakistan, and students from across the country come to study here.

See also

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. ↑ "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
  4. ↑ District Administration North Waziristan - Khyber Pakhtunkwha Open Data Portal
  5. ↑ North Waziristan District Profile
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  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. ↑ "President signs Fata-KP merger bill into law". The Nation. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Wasim, Amir (24 May 2018). "National Assembly green-lights Fata-KP merger by passing 'historic' bill". Dawn. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Sirmed, Marvi (29 May 2018). "For FATA residents, the good news may be short-lived – Daily Times". Daily Times. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "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.
  15. ↑ "District North Waziristan". Local Government, Elections and Rural Development Department. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
  18. ↑ "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
  19. ↑ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  20. ↑ "Detailed results (Census 2023)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  21. ↑ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  22. ↑ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  23. ↑ Nawazkahn, M. "PAKISTAN MINERAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION-FATA-DC PESHAWAR". Geological Report of Shinkai Copper Mineralization North Waziristan Agency. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  24. ↑ Yusufzai, Rahimullah. "24 FC soldiers die in N Waziristan suicide bombing". The Indonesian Embassy, Islamabad Pakistan. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2010.