Divisions of Pakistan

The four provinces, capital territory and two autonomous territories of Pakistan are subdivided into administrative "divisions", which are further subdivided into districts, tehsils and finally union councils. These divisions were abolished in 2000, but restored in 2008. The divisions do not include the Islamabad Capital Territory or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which were counted at the same level as provinces, but in 2018 the Federally Administered Tribal Areas were subsumed into Khyber-Paktunkhwa Province and allocated to neighbouring divisions therein.

History

Administrative divisions had formed an integral tier of government from colonial times. The Governor's provinces of British India were subdivided into divisions, which were themselves subdivided into districts. At independence in 1947, the new nation of Pakistan comprised two wings – eastern and western, separated by India. Three of the provinces of Pakistan were subdivided into ten administrative divisions. The single province in the eastern wing, East Bengal, had four divisions – Chittagong, Dacca, Khulna and Rajshahi. The province of West Punjab had four divisions – Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha. The North-West Frontier Province (as it was then called) had two divisions – Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar. Most of the divisions were named after the divisional capitals, with some exceptions.

From 1955 to 1970, the One Unit policy meant that there were only two provinces – East and West Pakistan. East Pakistan had the same divisions as East Bengal had previously, but West Pakistan gradually gained seven new divisions to add to the original six. The Baluchistan States Union became Kalat Division, while the former Baluchistan Chief Commissioner's Province became Quetta Division. Most of the former Sind Province became Hyderabad Division, with some parts joining the princely state of Khairpur to form Khairpur Division. The former princely state of Bahawalpur became Bahawalpur Division, therefore joining West Punjab. The Federal Capital Territory was absorbed into West Pakistan in 1961 and merged with the princely state of Las Bela to form the Karachi-Bela Division. In 1969, the princely states of Chitral, Dir and Swat were incorporated into West Pakistan as the division of Malakand with Saidu as the divisional headquarters.

New Divisions

When West Pakistan was dissolved, the divisions were regrouped into four new provinces. Gradually over the late 1970s, new divisions were formed; Hazara and Kohat divisions were split from Peshawar Division; Gujranwala Division was formed from parts of Lahore and Rawalpindi divisions; Dera Ghazi Khan Division was split from Multan Division; Faisalabad Division was split from Sargodha Division; Sibi Division was formed from parts of Kalat and Quetta divisions; Lasbela District was transferred from Karachi Division to Kalat Division; Makran Division split from Kalat Division. The name of Khairpur Division was changed to Sukkur Division. Shaeed Benazirabad is also a new division in Sindh.

During the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, the Advisory Council of Islamic Ideology (headed by Justice Tanzilur Rahman) was tasked with finding ways to Islamic the country. One of its recommendations was that the existing four provinces should be dissolved and the twenty administrative divisions should become new provinces in a federal structure with greater devolution of power, but this proposal was never implemented.

In the recent past (i.e. in last three decades), Naseerabad Division was split from Sibi Division; Zhob Division was split from Quetta Division; Bannu Division was split from Dera Ismail Khan Division; Mardan Division was split from Peshawar Division; Larkana Division and Shaheed Benazirabad Division [1] were split from Sukkur Division; Mirpur Khas Division and Banbhore Division [2] were split from Hyderabad Division. Sahiwal Division was formed from parts of Lahore and Multan Divisions while Sheikhupura Division was formed from Lahore and Faisalabad Divisions. The capital of Kalat Division was moved from Kalat to Khuzdar. Rakhshan Division is recently added to Balochistan comprising parts of Quetta and Kalat Divisions with capital at Kharan.

Abolition

In August 2000, local government reforms abolished the "Division" as an administrative tier and introduced a system of local government councils, with the first elections held in 2001. Following that there was radical restructuring of the local government system to implement "the principle of subsidiarity, whereby all functions that can be effectively performed at the local level are transferred to that level". This meant devolution of many functions, to districts and tehsils, which were previously handled at the provincial and divisional levels. At abolition, there were twenty-six divisions in Pakistan proper – five in Sindh, six in Balochistan, seven in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and eight in Punjab. Abolition did not affect the three divisions of Azad Kashmir, which form the second tier of government.

Restoration

In 2008, after the public elections, the new government decided to restore the divisions of all provinces.[3]

In Sindh after the lapse of the Local Governments Bodies term in 2010 the Divisional Commissioners system was to be restored.[4][5] [6]

In July 2011, following excessive violence in the city of Karachi and after the political split between the ruling PPP and the majority party in Sindh, the MQM and after the resignation of the MQM Governor of Sindh, PPP and the Govt. of Sindh decided to restore the commissioner system in the province. As a consequence, the five divisions of Sindh have been restored namely, Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana with their respective districts. As mentioned earlier, two new divisions added in Sindh i.e Bhanbore and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions.[7]

Karachi district has been de-merged into its 5 original constituent districts namely Karachi East, Karachi West, Karachi Central, Karachi South and Malir. Recently Korangi has been upgraded to the status of sixth district of Karachi. These six districts form the Karachi Division now.[8]

Current divisions

The following tables show the current divisions by province with their respective populations as of the 2017 Census of Pakistan.[9]

Divisions of Balochistan Province
Division	Area (km^2)	Population 1998 Census	Population 2017 Census	Capital
Kalat	140,612	1,443,727	2,509,230	Khuzdar
Makran	52,067	832,753	1,489,015	Turbat
Naseerabad	16,946	988,109	1,591,144	Dera Murad Jamali
Quetta	64,310	1,713,952	4,174,562	Quetta
Sibi	27,055	630,901	1,038,010	Sibi
Zhob	46,200	956,443	1,542,447	Loralai
Rakhshan	89,013	409,473	737,162	Kharan
Divisions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province
Division	Area (km^2)	Population 1998 Census	Population 2017 Census	Capital
Bannu	4,391	1,165,692	2,044,074	Bannu
Dera Ismail Khan	9,005	1,091,211	2,019,017	Dera Ismail Khan
Hazara	17,194	3,505,581	5,325,121	Abbottabad
Kohat	7,012	1,307,969	2,218,971	Kohat
Malakand	29,872	4,262,700	7,514,694	Saidu Sharif
Mardan	3,046	2,486,904	3,997,677	Mardan
Peshawar	4,001	3,923,588	7,403,817	Peshawar
Divisions of Punjab Province
Division	Area (km^2)	Population 1998 Census	Population 2017 Census	Capital
Bahawalpur	45,588	7,635,591	11,464,031	Bahawalpur
Dera Ghazi Khan	38,778	6,503,590	11,014,398	Dera Ghazi Khan
Faisalabad	17,917	9,885,685	14,177,081	Faisalabad
Gujranwala	17,206	11,431,058	16,123,984	Gujranwala
Lahore	11,727	8,694,620	19,581,281	Lahore
Multan	17,935	8,447,557	12,265,161	Multan
Rawalpindi	22,255	6,659,528	10,007,821	Rawalpindi
Sahiwal	10,302	5,362,866	7,380,386	Sahiwal
Sargodha	26,360	5,679,766	8,181,499	Sargodha
Divisions of Sindh Province
Division	Area (km^2)	Population 1998 Census	Population 2017 Census	Capital
Banbhore	28,171	2,585,417	3,566,300[10]	Thatta
Hyderabad	33,527	4,610,071	7,026,335	Hyderabad
Karachi	3,528	9,856,318	16,051,521	Karachi
Sukkur	24,505	3,447,935	5,538,555	Sukkur
Larkana				Larkana
Mirpur Khas	28,171	2,585,417	4,228,683	Mirpur Khas
Shaheed Benazirabad	18,175	3,510,036	5,282,277	Nawabshah

Administered territories

Divisions of Azad Kashmir
Division	Area (km^2)	Population 1998 Census	Population 2017 Census	Capital
Mirpur	4,388	1,198,249	1,651,018	Mirpur
Muzaffarabad	6,117	745,733	1,072,150	Muzaffarabad
Poonch	2,792	1,028,541	1,322,198	Rawalakot
Divisions of Gilgit-Baltistan
Division	Area (km^2)	Population 1998 Census	Population 2017 Census	Capital
Gilgit	-			Gilgit
Baltistan	-			Skardu
Diamer	-			Chilas

Divisions by population

Division	Pop-2017	Pop-1998	Pop-1981	Area (in km.^2)	Capital	Province
Azad Kashmir	4,045,366	2,972,523	1,980,000	13,297	Muzaffarabad	Azad Kashmir
Bahawalpur	11,464,031	7,635,591	4,068,636	45,588	Bahawalpur	Punjab
Bannu	2,044,074	1,165,692	710,786	4,391	Bannu	KPK
Dera Ghazi Khan	11,014,398	6,503,590	3,746,837	38,778	Dera Ghazi Khan	Punjab
Dera Ismail Khan	2,019,017	1,091,211	635,494	9,005	Dera Ismail Khan	KPK
Faisalabad	14,177,081	9,885,685	6,667,425	17,917	Faisalabad	Punjab
F.A.T.A.	5,001,676	3,176,331	2,198,547	27,220	Islamabad	F.A.T.A.
Gujranwala	16,123,984	11,431,058	7,642,118	17,206	Gujranwala	Punjab
Hazara	5,325,121	3,505,581	2,701,257	17,194	Abbottabad	KPK
Hyderabad	10,592,635	6,829,537	4,678,290	2000	Hyderabad	Sindh
Islamabad	2,006,572	805,235	340,286	906	Islamabad	Islamabad
Kalat	2,509,230	1,457,722	1,044,174	140,612	Khuzdar	Balochistan
Karachi	16,051,521	9,856,318	5,437,984	3,528	Karachi	Sindh
Kohat	2,218,971	1,307,969	758,772	7,012	Kohat	KPK
Lahore	19,398,081	12,015,649	7,183,097	11,727	Lahore	Punjab
Larkana	6,192,380	4,210,650	2,746,201	15,543	Larkana	Sindh
Makran	1,489,015	832,753	652,602	52,067	Turbat	Balochistan
Malakand	7,514,694	4,262,700	2,466,767	29,872	Saidu	KPK
Mardan	3,997,677	2,486,904	1,506,500	3046	Mardan	KPK
Mirpur Khas	4,228,683	2,585,417	1,501,882	28,171	Mirpur Khas	Sindh
Multan	12,265,161	8,447,557	5,408,561	17,935	Multan	Punjab
Nasirabad	591,144	1,076,708	699,669	16,946	Dera Murad Jamali	Balochistan
Gilgit-Baltistan		910,000	562,000	72,520	Gilgit	Gilgit-Baltistan
Peshawar	7,403,817	3,923,588	2,281,752	4,001	Peshawar	KPK
Quetta	4,174,562	1,699,957	880,618	64,310	Quetta	Balochistan
Rawalpindi	10,007,821	6,659,528	4,432,729	22,255	Rawalpindi	Punjab
Sargodha	8,181,499	5,679,766	3,930,628	26,360	Sargodha	Punjab
Sahiwal	5,362,866	4,271,247		10,302	Sahiwal	Punjab
Shaheed Benazirabad	5,282,277	3,510,036	2,560,448	18,175	Shaheed Benazirabad	Sindh
Sibi	1,038,010	630,901	305,768	27,055	Sibi	Balochistan
Sukkur	5,538,555	3,447,935	2,103,861	34,752	Sukkur	Sindh
Zhob	1,542,447	956,443	749,545	46,200	Loralai	Balochistan

[12]

See also

• Administrative units of Pakistan
• Former administrative units of Pakistan
• Local government in Pakistan
• Division (country subdivision)
• Divisions of Punjab

References

1. Correspondent, The Newspaper's (25 May 2014). "Shaheed Benazirabad made division".
2. "Bhanbhore made sixth division of Sindh". www.thenews.com.pk.
3. "Commissionerate system restored". Archived from the original on 2010-01-09. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
4. "Commissioner system to be restored soon: Sindh CM".
5. "Commissioner system to be restored soon: Durrani". Archived from the original on 2012-07-31.
6. "Sindh: Commissioner system may be revived today".
7. "Commissioners, DCs posted in Sindh". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
8. "Sindh back to 5 divisions after 11 years".
9. "DISTRICT WISE CENSUS RESULTS CENSUS 2017" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-29.
10. http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/block-wise-provisional-summary-results-6th-population-housing-census-2017-january-03-2018
11. "Info" (PDF). www.pbs.gov.pk.
12. "Pakistan Divisions". www.statoids.com.

External links

• Decentralisation Programme
• National Reconstruction Bureau
• Devolution Trust of Pakistan