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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
صوبہ خیبر پختونخوا
Afghania
Province of Pakistan
Road to Naran Valley.
Road to Naran Valley.
Flag of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Flag
Official seal of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Seal
Location of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan
Location of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan
Map of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Map of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Coordinates: 34°20′35″N 72°10′48″E / 34.34306°N 72.18000°E / 34.34306; 72.18000
Country Pakistan
Established1 July 1972
Government
 • LegislatureUnicameral (?* seats)
Area
 • Total74,521 km2 (28,773 sq mi)
Population
 (2012)
 • Total20,215,000
Time zoneUTC+05:00 (PST)
Official languagesPashto · Panjabi · Urdu
Websitekhyberpakhtunkhwa.gov.pk

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a province in northwest Pakistan. The capital is Peshawar[1] and it has a population of over 40 million people[2] and an area of 28,773 mi² or (74,521 km²). The province was created in 1901 during British rule when it was separated from Punjab province of the British India Empire.[3] A referendum was held in the North West Frontier Province on 2 July 1947. The majority of voters wanted to join with Pakistan, with only a very small number voting to join with India. The province became a part of Pakistan, because of this referendum.[4]

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is divided into 29 districts.[5]

Etymology and Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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Bagh Dushkhel Skyline
Relief map of the Pakistani Afghania, which was actually GANDHARA, ANCIENT INDIA.
Flag of KPK, province of Pakistan

For over a 150 years from its founding as a province of British India on the 9th of November in 1901, it was known as the North-West Frontier Province. Afghania is another name long considered as a replacement for North-West Frontier Province.[6][7] It was proposed first by the founding leaders of the Muslim League in 1933[7] and was at least partly chosen to represent the first "A" in "Pakistan. In 2010 it was renamed.

Pakhtunkhwa (and the other transliteration variants) is derived from Pakhtun and Khwa, the former refers to the ethnic group and the latter literally means "Heart". "Khyber" side of the land of the Pashtuns,[8]" literally means “Land of Passes”, declared to be the National pass of Pakistan which connects Pak with Afghan-i-stan respectively.[9] Khyber Pakhtunkhwa means the "Khyber side of the land of the Pashtuns,[8]" where the word Pakhtunkhwa means "Land of the Pashtuns",[10] while according to some scholars, it refers to "Pashtun culture and society".[11] Other names used or proposed for the province include Gandhara, Afghania, Pashtunistan, Pathanistan, Sarhad, Abaseen, Khyber,[12][13] or a combination of names, such as Hazara-Pakhtunkhwa.[14][15]

River Swat in Swat Valley, near Fizaghat, KPK.

Efforts to change the province name

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For most of the history of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), there were efforts to change its name. The name Afghania was proposed first by the founding leaders of the Muslim League in 1933 and was at least partly chosen to represent the first "ā" in "Pakistan". The need for a change was explained by the man who named Pakistan in his "Now or Never" pamphlet, Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan Khan, as:

"'North-West Frontier Province' is semantically non-descript and socially wrongful. It is non-descript because it merely indicates their geographical situation as a province of old 'British India' [which no longer exists]. It is wrongful because it suppresses the social entity of these people. In fact, it suppresses that entity so completely that when composing the name 'PAKISTAN' for our homelands, I had to call the North-West Frontier Province the Afghan Province."[16]

Suggestions for new names came and went. Although some of the names were ethnically neutral, most proposals emphasized the province's Pashtun ethnic identity. The renaming issue was an emotional one which often crossed party lines and not all supporters of a renaming agreed on the name Pakhtunkhwa.

North-West Frontier Province

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For over a 150 years after its founding as a province of British Raj on the 9th of November, 1901, it was known as the North-West Frontier Province (abbreviated as NWFP) until 2010 due to its relative location being in the northwest of the nation.[17] Unofficially, it was known as Sarhād (Urdu: سرحد‎), derived from the province's Urdu name given to it by the Mughals, which means "Frontier".

Other Pakistani names

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In 1901 it was created as a province of British India and was known as the North-West Frontier Province, it kept this name for over a hundred years, but over time many people wanted the name to change. One of the names people wanted to use was Afghania ,[20][7] that name was first suggested by the founding leaders of the Muslim League in 1933.[7]


The word Pakistan itself is made up of the following names.[21]
Letter(s) Name Modern name
P Punjab Punjab
A Afghania Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
K Kashmir Kashmir
S Sind Sindh
Tan Baluchistan Balochistan

However when Pakistan became independent in 1947 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa kept the old name, it was still known as North-West Frontier Province and not Afghania. Finally in 2010 the government renamed "North-West Frontier Province" to "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa".

Just like Punjab is named after the Punjabi people Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is named after the Pakhtun people, lately there has been a demand to change the name "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" to just "Pakhtunkhwa" by a Pakhtun party [22] but some non-Pakhtun people in the province would not be happy with the name change.[23]

On the way to Shahi Bagh Lake, Swat valley

Geography

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is mainly located on the Iranian plateau and forms the point where the slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains on the Eurasian plate become the Indus-watered hills approaching South-central Asia. Because these two plates are pushing against each other it has led to earthquakes taking place.[24] The famous Khyber Pass links the province to Afghanistan, the town of Landi Kotal (which is at the western end of the Khyber Pass) is 5km from the Afghan border. While the Kohala Bridge at the other end of the province in Abbottabad District is a major crossing point over the Jhelum River in the east.

The province has an area of 28,773 mi² or (74,521 km²) — similar in size to New England in North America.[25] Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Abbottabad, Dera Ismail Khan and Hangu are the main cities.

The land varies from dry rocky areas in the south to forests and green plains in the north. The climate can be extreme with intensely hot summers to freezing cold winters. Despite these extremes in weather, agriculture remains important and viable in the area.

The hilly terrain of Kalam, Upper Dir, Swat, Naran and Kaghan is renowned for its beauty and attracts a great many tourists from neighboring regions and from around the world. Swat is popular among tourists as the "Switzerland of South Asia" as there are many landscape similarities between it and the mountainous terrain of Switzerland.

Geographically the province could be divided into two zones:

Geographic Zones of the Province
Zone Climate (Winter) Climate (Summer) Rainfall Geographic Extent
Northern Zone Cold and snowy Pleasant (except Peshawar basin: hot) Heavy (Peshawar basin: moderate) From Hindu Kush mountains to borders of Peshawar basin
Southern Zone Relatively cold Hot Scanty From Peshawar to Derajat basin

The northern zone is cold and snowy in winters with heavy rainfall and pleasant summers with the exception of Peshawar basin, which is hot in summer and cold in winter. It has moderate rainfall. The southern zone is arid with hot summers and relatively cold winters and scanty rainfall. The northern zone extends from the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the borders of Peshawar basin while the southern zone extends from Peshawar to the Derajat basin.

The major rivers that cross through the province are the Kabul, Swat, Chitral, Kunar, Siran, Panjgora, Bara, Kurram, Dor, Haroo, Gomal and Zhob.

People of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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According to the 1998 census, the population of the province was approximately 20 million,[26] of whom 52% are males and 48% are females, the density of population is 187 people per km².

Languages

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In KPK about 70% of the people are Pashtuns and they speak Pashto as a first language. Other widely spoken languages are Kalami, Chitrali, Kohistani, and Yidgha. Panjabi is understood by majority of the people.

Government

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Provincial symbols of KPK (unofficial)
Provincial flag Flag of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Provincial seal Emblem of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Provincial animal Kabul markhor
Provincial bird White-crested Kalij pheasant
Provincial fish Brown trout
Provincial tree Afghan pine tree
Provincial flower Lady's tulip
Provincial fruit Plum
Provincial dish Pilau rice
Provincial dance Attan dance
Provincial instrument Rubab
Provincial sport Pashtun Archery

The President of Pakistan appoints a Governor as head of the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There is a directly-elected Provincial Assembly, which has 124 elected members (including 22 seats reserved for women and 3 seats for non-Muslims). The Provincial Assembly elects a Chief Minister to act as the chief executive of the province, assisted by a cabinet of ministers.

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References

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  1. ↑ Capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar)
  2. ↑ TABLE 1 : HOUSEHOLDS, POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE
  3. ↑ The North-West Frontier
  4. ↑ The Governor General and Provincial Politics: Jinnah’s NWFP Politics (1947-1948)
  5. ↑ KP Districts
  6. ↑ Zeeshan Haider. "Islamists want Pakistan province renamed 'Afghania'." Reuters. 1 August 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "No end in sight to ANP-PML-N row over NWFP renaming." One Pakistan. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  8. 1 2 U.S. Department of State (2011). Background Notes: South Asia, May, 2011. InfoStrategist.com. ISBN 978-1592431298.
  9. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Pakhtunkhwa was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  10. ↑ Marwat, Fazal-ur-Rahim Khan (1997). The evolution and growth of communism in Afghanistan, 1917–79: an appraisal. Royal Book Co. p. XXXV.
  11. ↑ Barnes, Robert Harrison; Gray, Andrew; Kingsbury, Benedict (1995). Indigenous peoples of Asia. Association for Asian Studies. p. 171. ISBN 0924304146.
  12. ↑ "It's KP, not KPK". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2023-04-23. Initially, a number of names were proposed for the province. These ranged from its ancient names, Gandhara and Afghania, to the controversial Pakhtunistan and Pashtunistan and the absurd Pathanistan, and from Abaseen denoting the River Indus passing through it to the meaningless Sarhad.
  13. 1 2 3 "Spat over renaming NWFP". The Hindu. 2010-03-22. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-04-23. Besides Pukhtoonkhwa, five other names are under consideration. The ANP has suggested Pukhtoonistan and Afghania. And, the PML(N) Gandhara, Khyber and Abbasin (Pushto for the river Indus). Senior ANP leader Zahid Khan was hopeful of a compromise on the issue and suggested that the leaderships of the two parties may settle for a hyphenated name that pleases all.
  14. ↑ Cite error: The named reference :0 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  15. ↑ "Renaming of NWFP: PML-N suggests 'Hazara Pakhtunkhwa'". DAWN.COM. 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  16. ↑ Choudhary Rahmat Ali, 1947, Pakistan: the fatherland of the Pak nation, Cambridge, OCLC: 12241695
  17. ↑ Morrison, Cameron (1909). A New Geography of the Indian Empire and Ceylon. T.Nelson and Sons. p. 176.
  18. 1 2 Khan, Riaz; Toosi, Nahal; Writers, Associated Press (2010-03-31). "Pakistan moves closer to renaming volatile region". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  19. 1 2 Khan, Riaz; Toosi, Nahal (1 April 2010). "Pakistan moves closer to renaming volatile region". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 April 2010.[dead link]
  20. ↑ Zeeshan Haider. "Islamists want Pakistan province renamed 'Afghania'." Reuters. 1 August 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  21. ↑ "UC Santa Barbara" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-02-14. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
  22. ↑ ANP demands to change Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's name to ‘Pakhtunkhwa’
  23. ↑ People of Hazara to resist attempts to rename KP
  24. ↑ "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (province, Pakistan) :: Geography - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  25. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-10-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ↑ "District wise area and population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa". Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2012-10-08.
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