North Waziristan District

Third-tier administrative unit of Pakistan

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District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

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

Coordinates: 32°58′54″N 70°08′00″E﻿ / ﻿32.98161274532541°N 70.13333546791706°E﻿ / 32.98161274532541; 70.13333546791706
Country|  Pakistan
Province|  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Division| Bannu
Established| 1910 (as an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas)
Headquarters| Miranshah
Number of Tehsils| 9
Government

[1]

• Type| District Administration
• Mayor| N/A
• Deputy Commissioner| Manzoor Ahmed Afridi
• District Police Officer| Farhan Khan (BPS-18 PSP)
Area

• District

| 4,707 km2 (1,817 sq mi)
Population

(2023)[2]

• District

| 693,137
• Density| 150/km2 (380/sq mi)
• Urban

| 4,131 (0.60%)
• Rural

| 689,201
Literacy

[3]

• Literacy rate|

* Total:
32.82%
* Male:
46.94%
* Female:
18.03%

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.[4][5][6] 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).[7] The capital city of North Waziristan is Miranshah.

## Overview and history

[edit]

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.[8]

### British (1894–1947)

[edit]

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.[9]

### War on Terror

[edit]

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.[10][11]

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

[edit]

North Waziristan District is currently subdivided into nine tehsils.[12][13][14]

Tehsil  | Area

(km²)[15]

| Pop.

(2023)

| Density

(ppl/km²)

(2023)

| Literacy rate

(2023)[16]

| 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

[edit]

Member of Provincial Assembly | Party Affiliation | Constituency | Year

|
|
|

Muhammad Iqbal Khan | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-111 North Waziristan-I | 2018
Mir Kalam Wazir | Independent | PK-112 North Waziristan-II

## Demographics

[edit]

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±% 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:[17][18]

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.[19] Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 99.66% of the population.[20]

## Mining

[edit]

The following minerals have been found in the area:

* Copper associated with volcanics at Boya[21]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Arsala Khan, Pakistani politician
* Mohammed Wasim, Pakistani cricketer
* Mohsin Dawar, Pakistani politician
* Faqir of Ipi, Pashtun Freedom Fighter
* Gilaman Wazir, Pashto poet
* Mir Kalam, Pakistani politician

## Places of interest

[edit]

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.[22]

## Pakistan's new Waziristan strategy

[edit]

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.[23]

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:

* Deployment of unmanned reconnaissance planes
* Strengthening law-enforcement agencies with advanced equipment
* Deployment of more troops to the region
* Operations against militants on fast-track basis
* Focused operations against militant commanders
* Action against madrassahs preaching militancy
* Appointment of regional coordinators
* Fresh recruitments of police officers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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.[24]

## See also

[edit]

* Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
* MiranShah
* District Bannu
* South Waziristan District
* Bannu Division

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "District North Waziristan". Department of Local Government, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
2. ^ a b "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. ^ "President signs Fata-KP merger bill into law". The Nation. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
5. ^ Wasim, Amir (24 May 2018). "National Assembly green-lights Fata-KP merger by passing 'historic' bill". Dawn. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
6. ^ Sirmed, Marvi (29 May 2018). "For FATA residents, the good news may be short-lived – Daily Times". Daily Times. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
7. ^ "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
8. ^ "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.
9. ^ "Tribe: Ahmadzai Wazir" (PDF). Naval Postgraduate School. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
10. ^ Sherazi, Zahir Shah (8 July 2014). "North Waziristan IDPs figure reaches 800,000". Dawn. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
11. ^ "Air raids flatten 5 militant hideouts". The Express Tribune. 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
12. ^ "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.
13. ^ "District North Waziristan". Local Government, Elections and Rural Development Department. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
14. ^ "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
15. ^ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
16. ^ "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
17. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
18. ^ "Detailed results (Census 2023)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
19. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
20. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
21. ^ Nawazkahn, M. "PAKISTAN MINERAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION-FATA-DC PESHAWAR". Geological Report of Shinkai Copper Mineralization North Waziristan Agency. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
22. ^ Yusufzai, Rahimullah. "24 FC soldiers die in N Waziristan suicide bombing". The Indonesian Embassy, Islamabad Pakistan. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
23. ^ Perlez, Jane (30 June 2007). "Taliban Spreading, Pakistani President Is Warned". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
24. ^ 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.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Waziristan District.

* Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Waziristan" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 435–436. This includes an Empire-centric view of the politics and demographics.
* Waziristan and Mughal empire[usurped]
* Nehru in Waziristan[usurped]
* Sketch map of Waziristan[usurped]
* Mehsuds and Wazirs, the King-makers in a game of thrones[usurped]
* Lawrence of Arabia in Waziristan[usurped]

* v
* t
* e

Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Provincial capital: Peshawar

Bannu|

* Bannu
* Lakki Marwat
* North Waziristan

Dera Ismail Khan|

* Dera Ismail Khan
* Tank
* Lower South Waziristan
* Upper South Waziristan

Hazara|

* Abbottabad
* Allai
* Battagram
* Haripur
* Kolai-Palas
* Upper Kohistan
* Lower Kohistan
* Mansehra
* Torghar

Kohat|

* Hangu
* Karak
* Kohat
* Kurram
* Orakzai

Malakand|

* Bajaur
* Buner
* Central Dir
* Lower Chitral
* Lower Dir
* Malakand
* Shangla
* Swat
* Upper Dir
* Upper Chitral

Mardan|

* Mardan
* Swabi

Peshawar|

* Charsadda
* Nowshera
* Peshawar
* Khyber
* Mohmand

Former|

* Chitral
* South Waziristan

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

*[Pop.]: Population
*[±% p.a.]: Per annum growth rate
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template