pop (2000e) 18 085 000; area 74 521 km²/28 765 sq mi. Federal province in Pakistan; bounded W and S by Afghanistan and N by India; crossed by the R Indus; linked to Afghanistan by the Khyber Pass, and thus of strategic importance; inhabited mainly by the Pathans, renowned for their warlike character; capital, Peshawar; livestock, grains, tobacco, fruit.
| North-West Frontier Province | |
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Capital • Coordinates |
Peshawar • 34.00° N 71.32° E |
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Population (2003) • Density |
19,343,242 • 259.6/km² |
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Area |
74,521 km² |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| Main language(s) |
Pashto Hindko Khowar Persian |
| Status | Province |
| • Districts | • 24 |
| • Towns | • |
| • Union Councils |
• 1st July 1970 • Ali Jan Orakzai • Akram Khan Durrani • Provincial Assembly (124) |
| Website | Gov't of NWFP |
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) (Urdu: شمال مغربی سرحدی صوبہ) is the smallest in size of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Pashtuns and various other groups. Some Pashtuns refer to the province as Pakhtunkhwa which means 'Land of the Pashtuns' in Pashto, while the province is sometimes referred to as 'Sarhad' in Urdu.
Geography
Most of NWFP is located on the Indian sub-continent, although the FATA areas of NWFP overlap on to central Asia.The famous Khyber Pass links the province to Afghanistan, while the Kohala bridge in Circle Bakote is a major crossing point over the Jhelum river in the east. The province has an area of 74,521 km² and its districts include Hazara Division, home to the town of Havelian, the western starting point of the Karakoram Highway. The province's main districts include Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat, Bannu, Peshawar, and Hazara Division.The region varies in topography from dry rocky areas in the south to forests and green plains in the north.
The chai-khanas of Peshawar's Old City allow visitors to witness the multicultural inhabitants in a relaxed setting.
The Takht-i-Bahi is perhaps the most impressive Buddhist ruin in the province and dates back to the 1st century BCE.
It covers an area of 74,521 km². The major rivers that criss cross the province are Kabul River, Swat River, Chitral River, Panjgora River, Bara River, Karam River, Gomal River and Zob River.
Its snow-capped peaks and lush green valleys of unusual beauty attract tourists and mountaineers from far and wide while its art and architecture no less known than the historic Khyber Pass.
Climate
The climate of North-West Frontier province varies immensely for a region of its size, most of the many climate types found in Pakistan.
Chitral District
The north, comprising Chitral District, has a typically continental steppe climate similar to Afghanistan and Tajikistan, with average annual precipitation ranging from 100mm per year in the far north to 23 inches in Drosh in the south.
Dir, Swat and Hazara
Further south, in the districts of Dir, Swat and Hazara, the climate becomes more typical of the Indian subcontinent, although a considerable proportion of the annual precipitation still comes from frontal cloudbands during the winter months.
The combination of a short but powerful (owing to orography) summer monsoon with frequent winter cloudbands gives a bimodal rainfall regime in central parts of NWFP.
In all areas October and November are the driest months with rainfalls generally under 30 mm per month except in the most exposed areas.
Temperatures in this region are somewhat warmer than in Chitral, and even at 1,200 metres in Abbottabad the heat and humidity can be oppressive during the monsoon season.
Southern North-West Frontier Province
This region, south of the Himalaya/Hindukush foothills, has the typically hot and dry climate of much of Pakistan. In winter, however, this region is both warmer and generally drier than the rest of NWFP, with temperatures being around 62 °F in Peshawar and over 68 °F in the extreme south of the province.
Southern NWFP experiences little (and very erratic) monsoonal rain, with Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan both averaging around 4.5 inches of rain in July and August and almost nothing in June or September. On certain mountain slopes such as around Kohat, winter rainfall may predominate, though this is unpredictable
Demographics and Society
The NWFP has an estimated population of roughly 21 million that does not include more than 3 million Afghan refugees and their descendants in the province.
The major language spoken in the NWFP is Pashto and most of its residents are Pashtuns, especially in the lowlands and the southern areas of the NWFP.
The mountainous extreme north regions of the province is also home to diverse ethnic groups and languages, such as Khowar, Hindko, Kohistani, Shina, Torwali, Kashmiri, Kalasha and Kalami.
In addition, Afghan refugees, although predominantly Pashtun (including the Ghilzai and Durrani tribes), include hundreds of thousands of Persian-speaking Tajiks and Hazaras as well other smaller groups found throughout the province.
Nearly all of the inhabitants of the NWFP are Muslim with a Sunni majority and significant minority of Shias and Ismailis.
History
Ancient History
Since ancient times the NWFP region has been invaded by numerous groups including the Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Kushans, Huns, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Mughals, Sikhs, and the British.
The Vale of Peshawar was home to the Kingdom of Gandhara starting around the 6th century BC and later ancient Peshawar became a capital of the Kushan Empire.
The region was, in ancient times, a major centre of Buddhism as attested by recent archaeological and hermeneutic evidence.
"The region of Gandhara has long been known as a major centre of Buddhist art and culture around the beginning of the Christian era. Richard Salomon, University of Washington, Seattle at Stanford University (2005)
Arrival of Islam
Buddhism remained prominent in the region until the Muslim Arabs and Turks conquered the area before the 2nd millennium AD.
The NWFP was an important borderland that was often contested by the Mughals and Safavids of Persia. During the reign of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, the NWFP required formidable military forces to control and the emergence of Pakhtun nationalism through the voice of local warrior poet Khushal Khan Khattak united some of the tribes against the various empires around the region.
British Era
A series of conflicts known as the Anglo-Afghan wars during the imperialist Great Game between the United Kingdom and Russia led to the eventual dismemberment of Afghanistan.
The British who had captured most of rest of South Asia without significant problems, faced a lot of difficulties here.
The province was formed on November 9, 1901 as a Chief Commissioner province.
The formal inauguration of the province took place five and half months later on April 26, 1902 on the occasion of the historical "Darbar" in Shahi Bagh in Peshawar held by Lord Curzon. The province of NWFP then comprised only five districts.
The NWFP was raised to a Governor full-fledged province in 1935. It was agreed upon in the conference that the NWFP would be raised to a governor province with its own Legislative Council. The first provincial elections were held in 1937 and independent candidate and noted landlord Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan was elected as the provinces first Chief Minister.
After Independence
During the early 20th century the so-called Red Shirts led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan agitated through non-violence for the rights of Pakhtun areas.
President Yahya Khan, in 1969 abolished the one unit scheme and added Swat, Dir, Chitral and Kohistan to the new borders.
The issue kept Pakistan and Afghanistan at odds for decades until the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
The NWFP remained heavily influenced by events in Afghanistan and the civil war led to the rise of the Taliban, which had emerged in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan as a formidable political force that nearly took-over all of Afghanistan.
Government
The Provincial Assembly of North-West Frontier Province is unicameral and consists of 124 seats of which 2% are reserved for non-Muslims and 17% for women only.
Districts
There are 24 districts in NWFP.
| Abbottabad Bannu Batagram Buner Charsadda Chitral Dera Ismail Khan Hangu Haripur Karak Kohat Kohistan | Lakki Marwat Dir Lower Malakand Mansehra Mardan Nowshera Peshawar Shangla Swabi Swat Tank Dir Upper |
Important Cities
| Abbottabad Bannu Batagram Daggar Charsadda Chitral Dera Ismail Khan Jamrud Hangu Haripur Havelian Kohat Kohistan | Kulachi Latamber Lower Dir Landi Kotal Malakand Mansehra Mardan Nowshera Peshawar Shangla Swabi Swat Tank Upper Dir |
Economy
NWFP is on the way to economic recovery, largely due to stable political and law-and-order conditions. Some manufacturing and high tech investments in Peshawar has helped improve job prospects for many locals, while trade in the province involves nearly every product known to man, as the bazaars in the province are renowned throughout Pakistan.
Numerous workshops throughout the province support the manufacture of small arms and weapons of various types.
Afghanistan remains a large supplier of illicit drugs (such as hashish and heroin) to NWFP, and other smuggled goods
The province accounts for atleast 78% of the marble production in Pakistan.
Education
The trend towards higher education is rapidly increasing in the province and the NWFP is home to Pakistan's foremost engineering university (Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute), which is located in Topi, a town in Swabi district. Technology Military College of Engineering NWFP Agricultural University University of Engineering and Technology (NWFP) National Institute of Transportation Pakistan Air Force Academy Pakistan Military Academy University of Hazara University of Malakand University of Peshawar university of science and technology bannu university of science and technology kohat
Folk Music
Pashto folk music is popular in NWFP and has a rich tradition going back hundreds of years.
Khowar folk music is popular in Chitral and northern Swat.
A form of band music composed of clarinets (surnai) and drums is popular in Chitral.
Social Issues
The NWFP continues to have an image problem. Even within Pakistan it is regarded as a "radical state" due to the rise of Islamist parties to power in the province and purported support for the remnants of the Taliban who are believed by some to be hiding in the province.
Pashtuns within the NWFP have sought to rename the province Pakhtunkhwa, which translates to "Land of the Pakhtuns" in Pashto.
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