The province of Sindh and the people inhabiting the region are named after the river known as the Sindhu River before Independence and now called the Indus River. In Sanskrit, "síndhu" means "river, stream", and refers to the Indus river in particular. The Greeks who conquered Sindh in 325 BC under the command of Alexander the Great rendered it as "Indós", hence the modern "Indus". The ancient Iranians referred to everything east of the river Indus as "hind" from the word "Sindh." When the British arrived in the 17th century, they followed that regional example and applied the Greek name for Sindh to the entire South Asian region, calling it "India".
Sindh () is one of the provinces of Pakistan. Sindh was home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization which is 5,500 years old. 'Hind' is the corruption of the word for 'Sind'. On the 26th of June in 1947 "Sindh" joined Pakistan by a majority vote of members of the 1947 provincial legislature.
Sindh is located on the western corner of South-central Asia, bordering the Iranian plateau in the west. Geographically it is the third largest province of Pakistan, stretching about 579 km from north to south and 442 km (extreme) or 281 km (average) from east to west, with an area of of Pakistani territory. Sindh is bounded by the Thar Desert to the east, the Kirthar Mountains to the west, and the Arabian Sea in the south. In the centre is a fertile plain around the Indus River.
The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is unicameral and consists of 168 seats, of which 5% are reserved for non-Muslims and 17% for women. The provincial capital of Sindh is Karachi.
The government is presided over by the Chief Minister of Sindh.
Most of the Sindhi people in the province are involved in Pakistan's politics. Sindh is a stronghold of the centre-left Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is the largest political party in the province.
Pakistan has had two very famous Sindhi leaders as Prime Ministers—Mr Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Ms Benazir Bhutto. Ms Bhutto's husband, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, was elected President of Pakistan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa () is a province in northwest Pakistan. The capital is Peshawar and it has a population of 14 million people and an area of 28,773 mi² or (74,521 km²). The province was created in 1901 during British rule when it was separated from a Punjab province of the British India Empire. A referendum was held in the North West Frontier Province on 2 July 1947. The majority of voters wanted to join with Pakistan, with only a very small number voting to join with India. The province became a part of Pakistan, because of this referendum.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is divided into 26 districts. There are 21 Settled Area Districts and 5 Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) Districts. The administration of the PATA districts is the responsibility the President of Pakistan and the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
For over a hundred years from its founding as a province of British India in 1901, it was known as the North-West Frontier Province. Afghania is another name long considered as a replacement for North-West Frontier Province. It was proposed first by the founding leaders of the Muslim League in 1933 and was at least partly chosen to represent the first "a" in "Pakistan. In 2010 it was renamed.
"Pakhtunkhwa" (and the other transliteration variants) is derived from "Pakhtun" and "khwa", the former refers to the ethnic group and the latter literally means "heart".
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sits primarily on the Iranian plateau and comprises the junction where the slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains on the Eurasian plate give way to the Indus-watered hills approaching South-central Asia. This situation has led to seismic activity in the past. The famous Khyber Pass links the province to Afghanistan, while the Kohalla Bridge in Circle Bakote Abbottabad is a major crossing point over the Jhelum River in the east.
The province has an area of 28,773 mi² or (74,521 km²) — comparable in size to New England in North America.
Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Abbottabad, Dera Ismail Khan and Hangu are the main cities. It borders on Afghanistan.
The region varies in topography from dry rocky areas in the south to forests and green plains in the north. The climate can be extreme with intensely hot summers to freezing cold winters. Despite these extremes in weather, agriculture remains important and viable in the area.
The hilly terrain of Kalam, Upper Dir, Swat, Naran and Kaghan is renowned for its beauty and attracts a great many tourists from neighboring regions and from around the world. Swat is popular among tourists as the "Switzerland of South Asia" as there are many landscape similarities between it and the mountainous terrain of Switzerland.
Geographically the province could be divided into two zones: the northern one extending from the ranges of the Hindu Kush to the borders of Peshawar basin and the southern one extending from Peshawar to the Derajat basin.
The northern zone is cold and snowy in winters with heavy rainfall and pleasant summers with the exception of Peshawar basin, which is hot in summer and cold in winter. It has moderate rainfall. The southern zone is arid with hot summers and relatively cold winters and scanty rainfall.
The major rivers that criss-cross the province are the Kabul, Swat, Chitral, Kunar, Siran, Panjgora, Bara, Kurram, Dor, Haroo, Gomal and Zhob.
Its snow-capped peaks and lush green valleys of unusual beauty have enormous potential for tourism.
According to the 1998 census, the population of the province was approximately 17 million, of whom 52% are males and 48% are females. The density of population is 187 per km² and the intercensal change of population is of about 30%.
In KPK about 67% of the people are pashtuns and they speak pashto language as regional language.
Other widely spoken languages are Erina, kalami, khowar, kohistani,
yidgha. Urdu is understood by majority of the people.
The President of Pakistan appoints a Governor as head of the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There is a directly-elected Provincial Assembly, which has 124 elected members (including 22 seats reserved for women and 3 seats for non-Muslims). The Provincial Assembly elects a Chief Minister to act as the chief executive of the province, assisted by a cabinet of ministers.
Balochistan (Pakistan)
Balochistan () is a province in Pakistan. The capital of Balochistan is Quetta. Balochistan has a population of about 10 million people and an area of 134,051 mi or (347,190 km). It covers 45% of Pakistani territory; in terms of area the province of Balochistan is greater in area than Republic of the Congo but smaller than Germany.
Baluchistan (Chief commissioners province) - seceded from British India and became part of Pakistan in 1947. On the 30th of June in 1947 the "Khan of Kalat" joined Pakistan; tribal gathering and municipality of Quetta also declared for Pakistan. Baluchistan States Union - The BSU was formed after the formal Accession of four individual princely states into the new Dominion of Pakistan on the 31st of March in 1948, apart from the enclave of Gwadar that was in cessation from Oman to Pakistan on the 8th of September in 1958. Both CCP & BSU became the New Province of Balochistan on the 1st of July in 1970, after the dissolution of the former "West Pakistan" and is an “Integral Part of Pakistan”.