Administrative units of Pakistan

Administrative units of Pakistan پاکستان کی انتظامی اکائیاں (Urdu)
Also known as: Muhafazah
Category	Federated state
Location	Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Number	4 provinces 1 Federal Capital Territory 1 Autonomous Territory 1 Disputed Territory 1 Federally administered tribal Area
Populations	1,151,868 (Islamabad Capital Territory) – 101,000,000 (Punjab)
Areas	906.0 km2 (349.81 sq mi) (Islamabad Capital Territory) - 347,200 km2 (134,050 sq mi) (Balochistan)
Government	Provincial government, Federally Administred Tribal government
Subdivisions	District, Agency

The administrative units of Pakistan consist of four provinces, one federal capital territory, two autonomous and disputed territories, and a group of federally administered tribal areas. There are three lower tiers of government, including 34 divisions, 149 districts (zillahs), 588 sub-districts (tehsils), and several thousand union councils.

History

Main article: Former administrative units of Pakistan

The administrative units as of 2010 derived from the administrative units inherited from British India. From independence in 1947 to 1971, Pakistan had two "wings" separated by 1600 kilometres of Indian territory. The eastern wing comprised the single province of East Bengal, which included the Sylhet District from the former British Raj province of Assam. The western wing was formed from three full provinces (North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), West Punjab, and Sindh), one Chief Commissioner's Province (Baluchistan), thirteen princely states, and parts of Kashmir.

In 1948 the area around Karachi was separated from Sind province to form the Federal Capital Territory. In 1950, NWFP was expanded to include the small states of Amb and Phulra and the name of West Punjab was changed to Punjab. The four princely states of southwest Pakistan formed the Baluchistan States Union in 1952.

The One Unit policy was enforced by Iskander Mirza in 1955, whereby all the provinces and princely states of the western wing were merged to form the new single province of West Pakistan, with Lahore as the provincial capital. Simultaneously, East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan, with Dhaka as the provincial capital. In 1960 the federal capital moved from Karachi to Rawalpindi and, later, to Islamabad (when construction finished in 1966). In 1961 the Federal Capital Territory was merged into West Pakistan.

The One Unit policy aimed to reduce expenditure and to eliminate provincial prejudices, but the military coup of 1958 signaled difficulties when the first military President, Ayub Khan, abolished the office of Chief Minister of West Pakistan in favour of Governor's rule. The second military President, Yahya Khan, dissolved West Pakistan in 1970 and established four new provinces. East Pakistan became independent in December 1971 as the new country of Bangladesh. In 1974 the two last princely states (Hunza and Nagar) were abolished and their territory merged with the Gilgit Agency to form the Northern Areas (now known as Gilgit–Baltistan). The Federally Administered Tribal Areas were formed from parts of Hazara, districts of Peshawar, and Dera Ismail Khan in 1975. The status of the Islamabad area was changed to a capital territory in 1981. As of 2015 Gilgit-Baltistan is now a de facto province. North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) was renamed "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" in 2010.

In August 2000, the "divisions" were abolished as part of a plan to restructure local government, followed by elections in 2001. Many of the functions previously handled by the provinces have been transferred to the districts and to tehsils. In 2008 the new civilian government restored the former tier of divisions and appointed commissioners for each one.

Structure of administrative units

Pakistan's administrative units are as follows:

Abbreviation	Administrative unit	Capital	Population (2012)	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)	Map
AJK	Azad Jammu & Kashmir (آزاد جموں و کشمیر)	Muzaffarabad	2,972,501	13,297	223.55	120px
BN	Balochistan (بلوچستان)	Quetta	13,162,222	347,190	37.91	120px
FATA	Federally Administered Tribal Areas (وفاقی قبائلی علاقہ جات)	Peshawar	3,930,419	27,220	144.39	120px
GB	Gilgit-Baltistan (autonomous territory) (گلگت بلتستان)	Gilgit	1,441,523	72,971	19.75	120px
ICT	Islamabad Capital Territory (federal capital territory) (وفاقی دارالحکومت)	Islamabad	1,151,868	906	1,271.38	120px
KP	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (province) (خیبرپختونخوا)	Peshawar	26,896,829	74,521	360.93	120px
PB	Punjab (province) (پنجاب)	Lahore	91,379,615	205,344	445.01	120px
SD	Sindh (province) (سندھ)	Karachi	55,245,497	140,914	392.05	120px
	Pakistan (پاکستان)	Islamabad	197,361,691	882,363	223.79

The provinces are subdivided into 34 divisions, which are subdivided into 149 districts called zillahs (Urdu: ضلع‎). Zillahs are further subdivided into 588 sub-districts called tehsils (تحصیل) (roughly equivalent to counties). The term tehsil is used everywhere except in Sindh province, where the term taluka (تعلقہ) predominates. Tehsils may contain villages or municipalities. Pakistan has over five thousand local governments. Since 2001, these have been led by democratically elected local councils, each headed by a nazim (ناظم) ("supervisor" or "mayor"). Women have been allotted a minimum of 33% of the seats on these councils. Some districts, incorporating large metropolitan areas, are called "City Districts". A City District may contain subdivisions called Towns and Union Councils.

The diagram below outlines the six tiers of government in Pakistan, together with an example.

See also

• Divisions of Pakistan
• Local government in Pakistan
  • Districts of Pakistan
  • Tehsils of Pakistan
  • Union councils of Pakistan
• Pakistani subnational abbreviations
• ISO 3166-2:PK

External links

• Government of Balochistan
• Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Government of the Punjab
• Government of the Sindh
• Government of the Islamabad Capital Territory
• Government of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
• Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
• Government of Gilgit-Baltistan