The former administrative units of Pakistan are states, provinces, and territories which mainly existed between 1947 and 1975 when the current provinces and territories were established. The former units have no administrative function today, but some remain as historical and cultural legacies. In some cases, the current provinces and territories correspond to the former units – for example the province of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

includes almost all the territory of the former province of West Punjab.

At independence

(i) Provinces of Pakistan

(ii) Federal Capital Territory of Pakistan

(iii) Princely States of Pakistan

Between August 1947 and March 1948, the rulers of the following princely states (which had existed alongside but outside

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

) acceded their states to Pakistan, giving up control of their external affairs, while all retaining internal self-government, at least to begin with. This was lost by stages, until by 1974 all of the states had been fully integrated into Pakistan.

After independence

The origins of most of the former administrative units lay in the set-up inherited from

. From 1947 to 1971, newly independent Pakistan comprised two "wings" – 1600 kilometres apart and separated by

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The eastern wing comprised the single province of

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

, which included the

Sylhet District Sylhet District (), located in north-east Bangladesh, is one of the four districts in Sylhet Division, which contains Sylhet, the regional capital. History Sylhet District was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Benga ...

from the former British Indian province of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

as well as the Buddhist-majority

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts (), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, refers to the three hilly districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar (Burma) in the east: Kh ...

awarded by the Radcliffe Commission. The politically dominant western wing united three Governor's provinces (

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

(NWFP), West Punjab and Sind), and one Chief Commissioner's Province (

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

), also included were thirteen princely states and parts of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. In 1948, the area around

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

was separated from Sind province to form the Federal Capital Territory. In 1950 the

was expanded to include the small states of Amb and

Phulra Phulra or the State of Phulra () was a Muslim princely state in the days of British Raj and ruled by the Tanoli tribe, located in the region of the North West Frontier to the east of the nearby parent princely state of Amb (Tanawal). T ...

and the name of West Punjab province was changed to Punjab. The Baluchistan States Union was formed in 1952 by the four princely states of southwest Pakistan. Thus, between 1947 and 1955, Pakistan comprised five provinces and one territory. The western wing eventually included thirteen princely states, one union of states, Gwadar enclave, Gilgit agency and parts of Kashmir: *

Gilgit Agency The Gilgit Agency () was an agency within the British Indian Empire. It encompassed Hunza, Nagar and the governorships of Yasin, Koh Ghizer, Ishkoman, Punial and the tribal areas of Gor, Darel, Tangir, the district of Chilas and the Gilgit teh ...

(former agency of Kashmir – after independence on 1 November 1947, using flag of Muslim League) *

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

(after Kashmir War 1947~48 - using newly AJK Flag ) * Baluchistan States Union (combining Kalat, Kharan, Las Bela and Makran in 1953 – using flag of Kalat) * Gwadar Enclave (purchased from Sultanate of Oman in 1958)

One Unit of Pakistan 1955

Simmering tensions between the eastern and western wings of Pakistan led to the

One Unit The One Unit Scheme (; ) was the reorganisation of the provinces of Pakistan by the central Pakistani government. It was led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955. The government claimed tha ...

policy announced by Prime Minister

Muhammad Ali Bogra Syed Mohammad Ali Chowdhury Bogra (19 October 1909 – 23 January 1963) was an East Pakistani politician, statesman, and a diplomat who served as third prime minister of Pakistan from 1953 to 1955. He was appointed in this capacity in 1953 u ...

. The states and provinces of the western wing merged in 1955 to become divisions of the new province of

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

with the provincial capital at

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. At the same time, East Bengal became the new province of East Pakistan with the provincial capital at Dacca. West Pakistan annexed the former Omani enclave of

Gwadar Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a populati ...

(on the Balochistan coast) in 1958 as part of Kalat division. In 1960 the federal government moved from Karachi to

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

(the provisional capital pending the completion of Islamabad), whilst the federal legislature moved to Dacca. The Federal Capital Territory was merged with West Pakistan in 1961 to form the new division of Karachi. In 1963 the

Trans-Karakoram Tract The Trans-Karakoram Tract (), also known as the Shaksgam Tract (), is an area of approximately north of the Karakoram watershed, including the Shaksgam valley. The tract is administered by China as part of its Taxkorgan and Yecheng counties ...

was transferred by treaty from Gilgit Agency to China under the provision that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute. Thus from 1955 to 1970, Pakistan comprised two provinces:

New provinces of Pakistan 1970

The One Unit policy was regarded as a rational administrative reform to reduce expenditure and eliminate provincial prejudices. However the military coup of 1958 signalled troubled times for the two-province system as the office of Chief Minister of West Pakistan was abolished by President Ayub Khan to be replaced by Governor's rule. Eventually, in 1970, the province of West Pakistan was dissolved by President

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

and four new provinces were created along with some changes in Pakistani Kashmir. These provinces combined most of the former provinces and states as follows:

Changes after 1970

The province of East Pakistan became independent on 16 December 1971, as the new country of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The states of Hunza and Nagar were abolished and their territories merged into the Northern Areas in 1974. The

Federally Administered Tribal Areas The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the ...

were formed from parts of the North West Frontier Province districts of

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

and

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; Urdu and , ), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 10th largest city of Pakistan and third or fourth largest in the province of Khy ...

in 1975. The status of the Islamabad area was changed to a capital territory in 1981. The names of two provinces were slightly modified in 1990 – Baluchistan became Balochistan and Sind became Sindh. In 2009, the Northern Areas changed its name to Gilgit–Baltistan. In 2010, the North West Frontier Province changed its name to

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

. 8 Years later in May 2018, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas merged with

.{{fact, date=November 2024

External links

Government of Pakistan
* Political history of Pakistan