About Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Urdu: خیبر پختونخوا ; Pashto: خیبر پښتونخوا) known also as KPK is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the northwestern region of the country. It was formerly known as North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), commonly called Sarhad in Urdu, which means "frontier." Its provincial capital and largest city is Peshawar, followed by Mardan. It shares borders with the Federally Administered Tribal Areasto the west; Gilgit–Baltistan to the northeast; Azad Kashmir, Islamabad and Punjab to the east and southeast. Balochistan lies to the southeast. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also shares an international border with theAfghanistan, connected through the Khyber Pass.
It is also the site of the ancient kingdom of Gandhara, its capital Pushkalavati, (modern day Charsadda) was historic India's capital for handicrafts, and the most prominent center of learning in the Peshawar Valley, Takht-i-Bahi. It has since been ruled by Greeks,Persians, Mauryans, Kushans, Arabs, Shahis, Ghaznavids, Mughals, Sikhs, and lastly it served as the North West border province of India under the British Raj.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the third largest province of Pakistan by the size of both population and economy. It comprises 10.5% of Pakistan's economy, and is home to 13% of Pakistan's total population.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is home to a world of valour and traditions, of rugged men and mountains, of tribesmen shaped in a heroic, hospitable mould. As a geographic and commercial gateway to the Subcontinent, since times immemorial, it has witnessed a culmination of people from various cultures, ethnicity and religions. It has seen a flow and influx of men and goods which led it to become a birth place of ideas. It served as a cradle for Buddhism, and saw its finest expression during the Gandhara civilization. And from here it spread northwards to pollinate Central Asia, north-east to China, Korea and the Far East. In this terrain many civilizations have mixed and mingled, risen and were razed. Its inhabitants have excelled in countless fields.
Perhaps this area has seen more invasions during the course of history than any other region in the world. More recently It was a contentious extension of the Kingdom of Lahore under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Then for almost five decades it remained a part of the Punjab Province during the Raj. In 1902 it was finally accorded separate status. The valiant people of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa whole heartedly supported the Two nation theory of the founding fathers of Pakistan.
Today Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, spread over 74,521 sq km, has a population of over 22 million. It's population is diverse, dominated predominantly by Pathans, Hazara and Seraiki speaking. It comprises of three major administrative parts. One part, composed of settled areas, consists of the districts of Abbottabad, Bannu, Battagram, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu, Haripur, Kohistan, Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Mansehra, Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi, Peshawar and Tank. The second known as PATA (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas) has a population of 831 ,000 and consists of Malakand Agency and the districts of Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Chitral, Swat, Buner, Shangla, and the pocket of Kala Dhaka / "Black Mountains", Kohistan(previously part of Swat State) and the State of Amb, now submerged in the Tarbela Dam reservoir
The third part, FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), is spread over 27,220 sq. km and has a population of 3,764,000. It comprises of seven Tribal Agencies and six Frontier Regions. The Tribal Agencies are Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan and South Waziristan. The Frontier Regions include F.R. Bannu, Central Kurram, F.R. Dera Ismail Khan, F.R. Kohat, F.R. Lakki, F.R. Peshawar and F.R. Tank. These are directly controlled by the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.