How many provinces of Pakistan
There are 5 provinces of Pakistan.
- Provinces of Pakistan names
- Baluchistan
- Punjab
- Sindh
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Gilgit-Baltistan
1. Baluchistan
It is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, forming the southwestern region of the country. Its provincial capital and largest city is Quetta. Baluchistan is situated in the southwest of Pakistan and covers an area of 347,190 square kilometers. Baluchistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area, constituting 44% of Pakistan’s total land mass. The province is bordered by Afghanistan to the north and north-west, Iran to the south-west, Punjab and Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federally administered Tribal Areas to the north-east.
The main ethnic groups in the province are the Bloch people and the Pashtun’s, who constitute 52% and 36% of the population respectively.
Baluchistan’s population density is low due to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of water. According to survey report of 2017 the population of Baluchistan is 12,344,408. In 1981 the population was 4,332,376 and in 1998 (6,565,885).
2. Punjab
It is Pakistan’s second largest province by area, after Baluchistan, and its most populous province. It occupies 25.8% of the total landmass of Pakistan. Nearly 53% of Pakistan’s population lives in the Punjab. The population of Punjab in 1981 was 47,292,441, in 1998 (73,621,290) and according to census 2017 the population of Punjab is 110,012,442. On the east, it has border with India.
Punjab province is bordered by Sindh to the south, the province of Baluchistan to the southwest, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, and the Islamabad Capital Territory and Azad Kashmir in the north. The capital and largest city is Lahore which was the historical capital of the wider Punjab region. Other important cities include Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Multan, Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Gujarat, Sheikhupura, Jhelum and Sahiwal.
3. Sindh
It is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, in the southeast of the country. It occupies an area of 140,915 square kilometers. Sindh is the third largest province of Pakistan by area and second largest province by population after Punjab. According to census-2017 the population of Sindh is 47,886,051. In 1981 the population was 10,028,666 and in 1998 (29,991,161).
Sindh is bordered by Baluchistan province to the west, and Punjab province to the north. It also borders the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east, and Arabian Sea to the south. Sindh has Pakistan’s second-largest economy with Karachi being its capital that hosts the headquarters of several multinational banks. It is bounded by the Thar Desert to the east, the Kirthar Mountains to the west and the Arabian Sea in the south.
4. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
It is one of the four administrative provinces of Pakistan, located in the northwestern region of the country along the international border with Afghanistan. It covers an area of 47,521 km2 . According to census report of 2017 the population of KPK is 30,523,371. The population of KPK in 1981 was 11,061,328 and in 1998 it was17, 743,645
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial capital and largest city is Peshawar, with Mardan being the second-largest. It shares borders with the Afghanistan to the west; Gilgit–Baltistan to the northeast; Azad Kashmir, Islamabad and Punjab to the east and southeast. FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Areas) with a population of 5,001,676 (2017) is now a part of KPK, which was officially merged with the Khyber – Pakhtunkhwa on 31 May, 2018 by the 25th Amendment of the constitution of Pakistan.
Administrative Units
Pakistan administrative units consist of:
i. Azad Jammu & Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir abbreviated as AJK is a nominally self-governing administered by Pakistan. It is part of the greater Kashmir region, which is the subject of a long-running conflict between Pakistan and India. The territory lies west of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was previously part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir which was separated by the Line of Control as a result of the first Kashmir war fought between India and Pakistan. Azad Kashmir is one-sixth of the size of Gilgit-Baltistan. Azad Kashmir has a total area of 13,297 square kilometers and a total population of 4,045,366 according to 2017 census.
ii. Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistanis formally known as the Northern Areas. It is the northernmost administrative territory in Pakistan. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China, to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir to the southeast. The territory of present-day GilgitBaltistan became a separate administrative unit in 1970 under the name “Northern Areas”. Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of over 72,971 km² with a population of 1,900,000 (2017). Read more
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