Parachinar (; ) is a city and the capital of the

Kurram District Kurram District () is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The name Kurram comes from the river ''Kwarma'' () in Pashto, which itself derives from the Sanskrit word ''Krumu'' (). Until 2018, it funct ...

in the province of

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 ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Parachinar is situated on the west 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 ...

, that juts into the

Paktia Paktia (Pashto – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,0 ...

, Logar and

Nangarhar Nangarhār (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also called Nangrahar or Ningrahar, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country and bordering Logar, Kabul, Laghman and Kunar provinces as well as having an internatio ...

provinces of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. With a distance of from the capital of Afghanistan

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Parachinar is the closest point in Pakistan to

History

The British soldier and historian C. M. Enriquez described the early history of Parachinar in his book ''The Pathan Borderland''. He writes that Malak (leader) Pare was a reputable Malak of the Pare Khel Tribe, a sub tribe of tribe called Turi (

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

), planted Poplarbr>trees some 200 years ago
Before much settlement, the area was mostly

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

. In terms of distribution, the ancient Poplar tree and the surrounding land belonged to the Parakhel tribe. This ownership is still authentic in official records or deeds of property. Parakhel tribesmen used to cultivate wheat in this desert area. During the wheat harvest, tents were pitched here, and in the shade of this poplar tree,

jirga A jirga (, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who ...

s and consultations were held.

Durand Line Agreement

In 1893, during the rule of

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan (Pashto: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) also known by his epithet, The Iron Amir, was Amir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for perpetrating the Hazara genocide, but also uniting the ...

(

Barakzai dynasty The Barakzai dynasty (, "Sons of Barak"), also known as the Muhammadzai dynasty ("the ruling sub-clan of the Barakzai"), ruled what is now Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978, when the monarchy ended de jure under Musahiban Mohammad Zahir Shah and ...

) of Afghanistan, a Royal Commission for demarcating a boundary between

and the territory of British governed India negotiated terms, agreeing to the

Durand line The Durand Line (; ; ), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China. The D ...

. From the British side, the camp was attended by Sir

Mortimer Durand Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, (14 February 1850 – 8 June 1924) was a British diplomat and member of the Indian Civil Service. He is best-known as the namesake for the Durand Line, which serves as the international border between Afghanistan an ...

and

Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Nawab Khan Bahadur Sahibzada Sir Abdul Qayyum Khan KCIE (12 December 1863 – 4 December 1937), hailing from Topi, Swabi District, British India (modern day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan) was an educationist and politician. Qayyum Khan h ...

, assistant political agent,

Khyber Agency Khyber District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in ...

. The Afghanistan interest was represented by

Sahibzada Abdul Latif Sayyad Abdul Latif (1853 – July 14, 1903) more commonly known as Sahibzada Abdul Latif among the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, was the Royal Advisor to Abdur Rahman Khan and Habibullah Khan, the father and son kings of Afghanistan in the lat ...

and the Governor of

Khost Khōst () is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram Agency, Kurram i ...

Sardar Shireendil Khan, represented King

Amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

2007 Kurram Agency conflict

Intermittently, conflicts arise stemming from personal issues(mostly religious ones) within this region. In instances where one sect initiates an attack on another, it often leads to retaliatory actions by the aggrieved party. Violent clashes in the region occurred in the following week until a ceasefire was reached on 12 April 2007.

Terrorist incidents

Parachinar has been the target of several terrorist attacks from 2007 to 2014 in which over 3000 people have died, making it the second-most targeted Pakistani city by militants after

Climate

Parachinar has a moderate

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). Although the city's southeasterly aspect relative to the valley in which it is situated allows it to receive on occasions significant

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

al rainfall, the most frequent source of rain is western depressions and related thunderstorms. During the winter, snowfall is common, and frosts occur on most mornings. Snow closes the Peiwar Pass, located on the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

just over 20 km west of Parachinar, for up to five months per year.

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Parachinar had a population of 5,583.

Education

FATA University FATA University (; ) is a public sector university situated in Akhorwal, Tribal Sub-Division Darra Adam Khel, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The university is run by the Higher Education Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Histor ...

plans to open a sub-campus at Parachinar.

Transportation

The Thall-Parachinar road is the main road connecting Parachinar to the rest of the country. Parachinar has an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

but currently it is non-functional. In the past there was a flight service between Peshawar and Parachinar.

References

{{War on Terror Populated places in Kurram District