In common with the other provinces of Pakistan, Balochistan has a parliamentary system of government. The ceremonial head of the province is the Governor, who is appointed by the President of Pakistan on the advice of the provincial Chief Minister. The chief executive of the province is the Chief Minister who is normally the leader of the largest party or alliance in the provincial assembly. The unicameral Provincial Assembly of Balochistan comprises 65 seats of which 4% are reserved for non-Muslims and 16% for women only. The judicial branch of government is carried out by the Balochistan High Court, based in Quetta, and headed by a Chief Justice. For administrative purposes, the province is subdivided into 30 districts:
The Baloch people once referred to their land as "Moka" or "Maka", a word which later became "Makran". "Moka" might have been an adaptation of "Mahi-khoran", Persian for "fish eaters", an appellation used by the Persians of the west for the people of coastal Balochistan. Arrian, in his "Anabasis Alexandri", referred to the people of the region as the "ichythophagi", a Greek translation of "Mahi-khoran".
Balochistan is referred to in Pashto as "Gwadar" or "Godar" (also "Godar-khwa", i.e., "the land by water"). The Greeks, who derived the names of Iranian lands from the Bactrian language, Hellenised it to Gedrosia.
In an eleventh-century Sanskrit compilation of Jataka tales (Avadānakalpalatā) by Kshemendra of Kashmir, the land is called "Baloksh" (बलोक्ष). From Baloksh, the name evolved and was Persianised to Balochistan. The area is named after the numerous Baloch (or Baluch, Balouch, Balooch, Balush, Balosh, Baloosh, Baloush) tribes, an Iranian people, who moved into the area from the west around 1000 A.D. All natives are considered Balochi even if they do not speak Balochi; Pashto, Persian, and Brahui languages are also spoken in the region. The southern part of Balochistan is known as Makran. There are also relatively smaller communities of Iranian Baloch, Hazaras, Sindhis and other settlers, including Punjabis, Uzbeks, and Turkmens. The name Balochistan means "the land of the Baloch" in many regional languages.
Balochistan is situated in the south-west of Pakistan and covers an area of . It is Pakistan's largest province by area constituting 44% of Pakistan's total land mass. The province is bordered by Afghanistan to the north and north-west, Iran to the south-west, Punjab and Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to the north-east. To the south lies the Arabian Sea. Balochistan is located on the south-eastern part of the Iranian plateau. It borders the geopolitical regions of the Greater Middle East and Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South-central Asia. Balochistan lies at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz and provides the shortest route from seaports to Central Asia. Its geographical location has placed the otherwise desolate region in the scopes of competing global interests like Afghanistan for all of recorded history.
The capital city Quetta is located in a densely populated portion of the Sulaiman Mountains in the north-east of the province. It is situated in a river valley near the Bolan Pass which has been used as the route of choice from the coast to Central Asia, entering through Afghanistan's Kandahar region. The British and other historic empires have crossed the region to invade Afghanistan by this route.
Balochistan is rich in exhaustible and renewable resources; it is the second major supplier of natural gas in Pakistan. The province's renewable and human resource potential has not been systematically measured nor exploited due to pressures from within and without Pakistan. Local inhabitants have chosen to live in towns and have relied on sustainable water sources for thousands of years.
Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign was a series of battles fought between Austria-Hungary and Italy in the mountains of northern Italy between 1915 and 1918.
Italy did not fight for the Triple Alliance, despite promises to Germany and Austria-Hungary, in 1914, when World War I started. In 1915, Italy joined the Triple Entente to take part of Austria-Hungary. Italian irredentism wanted the province of Trento ("Trentino"), the port of Trieste and the province of Bolzano-Bozen ("Alto Adige/Südtirol"), Istria, and Dalmatia.
Italy had hoped to begin the war with a surprise attack to act quickly and capture several Austrian-held cities. However, the war in Italy soon turned to trench warfare, which was similar to that of the Western Front.
Choudhary Rahmat Ali
Chaudhry Rahmat Ali or Rehmat Ali Khan (November 16, 1897 - February 12, 1951) was an Indian Muslim who was one of the first people to ask for the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is famous for coining the name, or term "Pakistan" on January 28, 1933.
In Pakistan he has considerable importance. His articles are taught in the course books of Pakistani schools.
Abbottabad
Abbottabad is a city in Pakistan. It is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is the capital of Abbottabad District. Well over a million people live in Abbottabad, which is also known as the "city of the pines". One of the most important places for army training in Pakistan, the Pakistan Military Academy, is in Kakul, near Abbottabad.
Abbottabad is in the Orash valley, between the two parallel mountain ranges of Mount Sarban and Mount Shimla. In addition to being the district capital, it is also the capital of the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is linked by road to Haripur and Rawalpindi to the South, Mansehra to the North-West and Murree to the East.
The city of Abbottabad is named after Major James Abbott – a British soldier and administrator who founded the city during British rule in 1853. British rule in this area lasted from 1849 until Pakistan became independent in 1947. During this time, Abbottabad was an important army garrison or base for the British Indian Army.
The people of Abbottabad are mostly from the Syed (shahs), Karlal, Dhund Abbasi, Gurjar, Awan, Tanoli and Jadoon tribes. It is a peaceful area with high literacy and low crime rates. The main language, or dialect, spoken here is Hindko. In the rural suburbs of the town people practice some agriculture, whereas the town itself offers many commercial and business opportunities of different types.
Although the original old town of Abbottabad has expanded a lot, much of its original 1850s town, civil lines and cantonment still survive from the time of the British Raj. Some of its old sights are of special historical interest to tourists, including St Luke's Church, Abbottabad and the Old Christian Cemetery Abbottabad. The fine Lady Garden Park is also a popular place.
In May 2011, commandos from the US Navy attacked a large house in Kakul area close to Abbottabad and killed five people The Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been living in the house, and was one of the people who were killed there.
Abbottabad District
Abbottabad District is a district in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The district has an area of 1,969 km, with the city of Abbottabad being the capital. Neighbouring districts are Mansehra to the north, Muzaffarabad to the east, Haripur to the west, and Rawalpindi to the south.
The district is named after Major James Abbott, the first deputy commissioner of Hazara (1849–1853).
According to the 1981 census data for Abbottabad tehsil, 95% of the population have Hindko as their first language, while Punjabi and Urdu account for 1.7% and 0.9% respectively.
The Ayubia National Park was established in 1984, this park covers an area of over 3,312 ha.
The Qalanderabad game reserve was established in 1980 with an area of 8,940ha.
Abbottabad district is divided into two tehsils, Abbottabad and Havelian as well as one urban administration area - Nawanshehr.