Divisions of Pakistan

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The Divisions of Pakistan were previously the third tier of government in Pakistan until they were abolished in 2000. The four provinces of Pakistan had been subdivided into administrative "Divisions", which were further subdivided into districts and tehsils. The divisions did not include the Islamabad Capital Territory or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which are counted at the same level as provinces.

Contents

[edit] 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 - East and West Pakistan. Three of the Governor's provinces of Pakistan were subdivided into ten administrative divisions. The province of East Bengal had four divisions - Chittagong, Dacca (Dhaka), Khulna and Rajshahi. The province of West Punjab had four divisions - Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha. The North-West Frontier Province 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 Pakistan 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 province of Sind became Hyderabad Division, with some parts joining the princely state of Khairpur to form Khairpur Division. The former princely state of Bahawalpur became the Bahawalpur Division. The Federal Capital Territory was absorbed into West Pakistan in 1961 and merged with the princely state of Las Bela to form the new Karachi-Bela Division. In 1969, the princely states of Chitral, Dir and Swat were incorporated into West Pakistan as the new division of Malakand with Saidu as its capital.

[edit] New Provinces

When West Pakistan was dissolved, the divisions were regrouped into four new provinces. Gradually over the late 1970's, 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 Sarghodha; Sibi division was formed from parts of Kalat and Quetta divisions; Las Bela district was transferred from Karachi division to Kalat division; Makran division split from Kalat division. The name of Khairpur division was changed to Sukkur.

During the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, the Advisory Council of Islamic Ideology (headed by Justice Tanzihur Rahman) was tasked with finding ways to Islamicise 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 early 1990's, Nasirabad 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 was split from Sukkur division; Mirpur Khas division was split from Hyderabad division. The capital of Kalat division was moved from Kalat to Khuzdar.

[edit] 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. Since then, there has been 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 has meant devolution of many functions to districts and tehsils, which were 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 North-West Frontier Province and eight in Punjab. Abolition did not affect the two divisions of Azad Kashmir, which form the second tier of government. At independence in 1971, Bangladesh inherited four divisions, which have now become six. The Dacca division was renamed to Dhaka in 1983 whilst in 1993, Barisal division was split from Khulna division and in 1998 Sylhet division was split from Chittagong division.

[edit] The former Divisions

[edit] Western Pakistan

The following tables show the divisions by province as they stood at abolition in 2000.

Divisions of Balochistan Province
Division Area (km²) Capital
Kalat 140,612 Khuzdar
Makran 52,067 Turbat
Nasirabad 16,946 Nasirabad
Quetta 64,310 Quetta
Sibi 27,055 Sibi
Zhob 46,200 Loralai
Divisions of North-West Frontier Province
Division Area (km²) Capital
Bannu 4,391 Bannu
Dera Ismail Khan 9,005 Dera Ismail Khan
Hazara 17,194 Abbottabad
Kohat 7,012 Kohat
Malakand 29,872 Saidu
Mardan 3,046 Mardan
Peshawar 4,001 Peshawar


Divisions of Punjab Province
Division Area (km²) Capital
Bahawalpur 45,588 Bahawalpur
Dera Ghazi Khan 38,778 Dera Ghazi Khan
Faisalabad 17,917 Faisalabad
Gujranwala 17,206 Gujranwala
Lahore 16,104 Lahore
Multan 21,137 Multan
Rawalpindi 22,255 Rawalpindi
Sargodha 26,360 Sargodha
Divisions of Sindh Province
Division Area (km²) Capital
Hyderabad 48,670 Hyderabad
Karachi 3,528 Karachi
Larkana 15,543 Larkana
Mirpur Khas 38,421 Mirpur Khas
Sukkur 34,752 Sukkur





[edit] Eastern Pakistan

This table shows the divisions of East Pakistan as they stood at the time of Bangladeshi independence in 1971.

Divisions of East Bengal/East Pakistan
Division Area (km²) Capital
Chittagong 45,414 Chittagong
Dacca 30,772 Dacca
Khulna 33,575 Khulna
Rajshahi 34,235 Rajshahi


[edit] See also

[edit] External links