North Waziristan District

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.

Provincial Assembly

Demographics

|1951 |128,235 |1961 |159,470 |1972 |250,663 |1981 |238,910 |1998 |361,246 |2017 |540,546 |2023 |693,332

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:

• Copper associated with volcanics at Boya

Notable people

• 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

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.

References

References

1. "District North Waziristan".
2. "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023, KPK".
3. [https://opendata.kp.gov.pk/organization/about/district-administration-north-waziristan District Administration North Waziristan - Khyber Pakhtunkwha Open Data Portal]
4. [https://nwcci.com.pk/AboutNW North Waziristan District Profile]
5. "DISTRICT AND TEHSIL LEVEL POPULATION SUMMARY WITH REGION BREAKUP – North Waziristan".
6. "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan {{!}} ReliefWeb".
7. "Tribe: Ahmadzai Wazir". Naval Postgraduate School.
8. Sherazi, Zahir Shah. (2014-07-08). "North Waziristan IDPs figure reaches 800,000".
9. (14 July 2014). "Air raids flatten 5 militant hideouts". [[The Express Tribune]].
10. (2018-06-01). "President signs Fata-KP merger bill into law". The Nation.
11. Wasim, Amir. (2018-05-24). "National Assembly green-lights Fata-KP merger by passing 'historic' bill".
12. Sirmed, Marvi. (29 May 2018). "For FATA residents, the good news may be short-lived – Daily Times".
13. (2018-01-03). "DISTRICT AND TEHSIL LEVEL POPULATION SUMMARY WITH REGION BREAKUP [PDF]". pbscensus.gov.pk.
14. "District North Waziristan".
15. "Assessment Report: North Waziristan Agency IDP's - Pakistan {{!}} ReliefWeb".
16. "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, KPK".
17. "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023, KPK".
18. "Population by administrative units 1951-1998". [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]].
19. "Detailed results (Census 2023)". [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]].
20. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1". [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]].
21. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9".
22. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11".
23. Nawazkahn, M. "PAKISTAN MINERAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION-FATA-DC PESHAWAR". Geological Report of Shinkai Copper Mineralization North Waziristan Agency.
24. Yusufzai, Rahimullah. "24 FC soldiers die in N Waziristan suicide bombing". The Indonesian Embassy, Islamabad Pakistan.