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Currently, the internationally recognized territory of Pakistan is subdivided into four provinces and two territories. In addition, the portion of Kashmir that is administered by the Pakistani government is divided into two separate administrative units.

Contents

Local Governments

History

Territorial issues

Provinces and territories

See also

External links

'Provincial government websites'

'Federal government websites relating to local governments'

Local Governments

The provinces are divided into a total of 105 ''zillas'' (districts.) A ''zilla'' is further subdivided into ''tehsils'' (roughly equivalent to counties.) Tehsils may contain villages or municipalities. There are over five thousand local governments in Pakistan. Since 2001, these have been led by democratically elected local councils, each headed by a ''Nazim'' (the word means "supervisor" in Urdu, but is sometimes translated as "mayor.") Women have been allotted a minimum of 33% seats in these councils; there is no upper limit to the number of women in these councils.
Some districts, incorporating large metropolitan areas, are called ''City District''. A City District may contain subdivisions called Towns and Union Councils.

History

In the 1960s, Pakistan was simply divided into two "units" of East Pakistan and West Pakistan. After East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh, West Pakistan reverted to a system with four provinces. The provinces consisted of subunits called "divisions", which were further subdivided into districts, tehsils, and villages or municipalities.
In August 2000, Pervez Musharraf's local government reforms abolished the "division" as an administrative tier. A system of local government councils was established, with the first elections being held in 2001. Since the 2001 Local Government Ordinances, Pakistan has embarked on a radical restructuring of the local government system. The government is implementing a devolution plan which, in its words, "follows the principle of subsidiarity, whereby all functions that can be effectively performed at the local level are transferred to that level. This has meant the decentralization to the districts and tehsils of many functions previously handled by the provincial governments."

Territorial issues

The Kashmir dispute remains one of the largest and mostly highly militarized zones in the modern world, with portions under de-facto administration of the Peoples' Republic of China ''(Aksai Chin)'' of the Ladakh plateau; part of the wider Jammu and Kashmir state of N Pakistan; (Indian Occupied Kashmir Valley or Vale of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh regions) and Northern Pakistan itself. But recent discussions and confidence-building measures among the groups and major parties are beginning to defuse tensions; New Delhi does not recognize Pakistan's ceding lands to China in the 1963 Agreement; disputes with Islamabad over the Indus river water sharing and the terminus of the Sir Creek Estuary at the mouth of the Indus Delta which is part of Rann of Kutch (Kachchh) as well as the issues of the Radcliffe line of the Punjab region of Ferozepur district on the banks of the Sutlej and Pathankot tehsil within Gurdaspur area on the banks of the Ravi, that prevents maritime boundary delimitation; Pakistani maps continue to show Junagadh '(Junagarh)' and Manavadar territories in the Kathiawar peninsula as part of the country, whilst Indian maps show vice versa concerning the Kashmir boundaries of Pakistan, despite largely successful UN efforts at volantary repatriation, thousands of Afghan refugees continue to reside in Pakistan's tribal areas to control and secure the international border with Afghanistan to stem organized terrorist and other illegal cross-border activities; regular meetings with Afghan coalition allies aim to resolve periodic claims of boundary enroachments.

Provinces and territories

'Provinces':
# Balochistan
# North-West Frontier Province
# Punjab
# Sindh
'Territories':

5. Islamabad Capital Territory
   
6. Federally Administered Tribal Areas
   

'Pakistani-administered portions of Kashmir region':

7. Azad Kashmir
   
8. Federally Administered Northern Areas, Pakistan
   

See also

★ Districts of Pakistan

★ Historical regions of Pakistan

External links

'Provincial government websites'

★ Punjab: http://www.punjab.gov.pk

★ Sindh: http://www.sindh.gov.pk/

★ NWFP: http://www.nwfp.gov.pk

★ Balochistan http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/

'Federal government websites relating to local governments'

★ Decentralization Support Program: http://www.decentralization.org.pk/

★ National Reconstruction Bureau: http://www.nrb.gov.pk/