North Waziristan District

North Waziristan District is a district of Bannu Division in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering. The capital city of North Waziristan is Miranshah.

Overview and history

North Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between the Kurram River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. Miranshah is district headquarter of North Waziristan. The city of Bannu lies immediately to the east, while the largest town on the Afghan side of the border is Khost.
North Waziristan is divided into the three subdivisions of Mirali, Miran Shah, and Razmak. The three subdivisions are further divided into nine tehsils: Datta Khel Tehsil, Dossali Tehsil, Gharyum Tehsil, Ghulam Khan Tehsil, Mir Ali Tehsil, Miran Shah Tehsil, Razmak Tehsil, Shewa Tehsil, Spinwam Tehsil.

British Raj (1894–1947)

The British entered Waziristan in 1894. After the British military operations in 1894–95, Waziristan was divided into two "agencies", North Waziristan and South Waziristan. The two parts have quite distinct characteristics, though both tribes are subgroups of the Wazir tribe, after which the region is named.

War on Terror

In 2014, about 98,640 people were reported to be internally displaced from North Waziristan as a result of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, a military offensive against militant extremists launched by the Pakistan Army along the Pak-Afghan border.

Creation of district

In 2018 after approval by Pakistan's parliament, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the former North Waziristan Agency then became a district.

Administration

North Waziristan District is currently subdivided into nine tehsils.

Tehsil	Area	Pop.	Density	Literacy rate	Union Councils
Datta Khel Tehsil	1,807	92,196	100.53	30.63%
Dossali Tehsil	250	50,524	100.29	33.02%
Gharyum Tehsil	320	18,931	102.01	17.74%
Ghulam Khan Tehsil	191	31,015	99.33	8.44%
Mir Ali Tehsil	605	229,647	107.7	38.31%
Miran Shah Tehsil	402	123,317	102.02	36.53%
Razmak Tehsil	191	49,367	134.63	26.62%
Shewa Tehsil	393	44,126	112.28	38.36%
Spinwam Tehsil	548	54,209	99.82	23.47%

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, North Waziristan district has 99,595 households and a population of 693,332. The district has a sex ratio of 104.71 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 32.82%: 46.94% for males and 18.03% for females. 254,259 are under 10 years of age. 4,131 live in urban areas. 2,170 people in the district were from religious minorities, mainly Christians. Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 99.66% of the population.

Mining

The following minerals have been found in the area:

Copper associated with volcanics at Boya

Notable people

Arsala Khan, Pakistani politician
Mohammed Wasim, Pakistani cricketer
Mohsin Dawar, Pakistani politician
Faqir of Ipi, Pashtun Freedom Fighter
Gilaman Wazir, Pashto poet
Mir Kalam, Pakistani politician

Places of interest

Miran Shah is the headquarters of North Waziristan District, It is connected with Bannu and other important places in the district by metalled roads. This town houses the offices of all government departments in the agency and also serves as a market centre for people of the area.
Razmak and Shawaal Valleys are both summer resorts for the local Waziristanis and beautiful tourist spots for tourists, thousands of tourists visit here annually.
Razmak Cadet College is one of the most famous and historical educational institutions of the country, and students from all corners of the country come to study here.