# North Waziristan District

North Waziristan District (Pashto: شمالي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع شمالی وزیرستان) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering 4,707 square kilometres (1,817 sq mi). 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 (Tochi) 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 (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.
In 2018, it became a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan with merger of the entire FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Parliament's approval.

## Administration

North Waziristan District is currently subdivided into nine tehsils.
* Datta Khel Tehsil
* Dossali Tehsil
* Gharyum Tehsil
* Ghulam Khan Tehsil
* Mir Ali Tehsil
* Miran Shah Tehsil
* Razmak Tehsil
* Shawal Tehsil
* Shewa Tehsil
* Spinwam Tehsil

### Provincial Assembly

| Member of Provincial Assembly | Party Affiliation | Constituency | Year |
| Muhammad Iqbal Khan | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-111 North Waziristan-I | 2018 |
| Mir Kalam Wazir | Independent | PK-112 North Waziristan-II | 2018 |

## 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 (36.68% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 4,131 (0.60%) live in urban areas. 2,170 (0.31%) 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.

## Pakistan's new Waziristan strategy

On 4 June 2007, the National Security Council of Pakistan met to decide the fate of Waziristan and take up a number of political and administrative decisions to control "Talibanization" of the area. The meeting was chaired by president Pervez Musharraf and it was attended by the Chief Ministers and Governors of all four provinces. They discussed the deteriorating law and order situation and the threat posed to state security.
The government decided to take a number of actions to stop the "Talibanization" and crush the armed militancy in the Tribal regions and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The NSC of Pakistan has decided the following actions will be taken to achieve the goals:
* Deployment of unmanned reconnaissance planes
* Strengthening law-enforcement agencies with advanced equipment
* Deployment of more troops to the region
* Operations against militants on fast-track basis
* Focused operations against militant commanders
* Action against madrassahs preaching militancy
* Appointment of regional coordinators
* Fresh recruitments of police officers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The ministry of interior has played a large part in the information gathering for the operations against militants and their institutions. The Ministry of Interior has prepared a list of militant commanders operating in the region and they have also prepared a list of seminaries for monitoring.
The government is also trying to strengthen the law enforcement in the area by providing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police with weapons, bulletproof jackets and night-vision devices. The paramilitary Frontier Corps will be provided with artillery and APC's. The state agencies are also working on studying ways to block FM frequencies of illegal FM radio channels.