View source for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

{{short description|Province of Pakistan}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                     = Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
| native_name              = {{hlist|{{Nastaliq|خیبر پختونخوا}}|{{Nastaliq|خېبر پښتونخوا}}}}
| type                     = [[Administrative units of Pakistan|Province]]
| image_skyline            = {{multiple image
| border                 = infobox
| total_width            = 280
| image_style            = border:1;
| perrow                 = 1/2/2
| image1                 =River Swat, KPK.jpg
| image2                 = Bab-e-Khyber.jpg
| image3                = MKmosque.jpg
| image4                 = Kalam, Swat (Pakistan).jpg
| image5                 = Bahrain Valley, Swat, KPK.JPG
| image6                = Saif ul malook lake-01.jpg
| image7                 = Beautiful Kaghan Valley Pakistan.jpg
}}
| image_caption            = <div style="background:#fee8ab;"> '''Left-to-right from top:'''<br/>[[Swat River]], [[Bab-e-Khyber]], [[Mahabat Khan Mosque]], [[Kalam Valley]], [[Bahrain, Pakistan|Bahrain (Swat)]], [[Lake Saiful Muluk]], [[Kaghan Valley]]</div>
| image_flag               = [[File:Flag of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.svg|125px|Flag of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan]]
| image_map                = Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan (claims hatched).svg
| map_caption              = Location of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within Pakistan
| image_seal               = Coat of arms of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.svg
| flag_alt                 = 
| coordinates              = {{coord|34.00|71.32|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = {{flag|Pakistan}}
| subdivision_type1        = 
| subdivision_name1        = 
| parts_style              = para
| established_title        = Before was
| established_date         = [[West Pakistan]]
| established_title1 = Formation
| established_date1 = [[Legal Framework Order, 1970|1 July 1970]] {{small|(as [[North-West Frontier Province]])}}
| established_title2       = Renamed
| established_date2        = [[Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|19 April 2010]]
| established_title3       = [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas|FATA]] Merger
| established_date3        = [[Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|31 May 2018]]
| seat_type                = Capital<br>{{nobold|and largest city}}
| seat                     = [[Peshawar]]
| blank_name_sec1          = [[Languages of Pakistan|Main language(s)]]
| blank_info_sec1          = {{bulleted list|[[Urdu]] (national, official)|[[Pashto]] (provincial)|{{unbulleted list|''Other languages'': [[Hindko]], [[Khowar language|Khowar]], [[Indus Kohistani|Kohistani]], [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]]}}}}
| blank1_name_sec1         = Notable sports teams
| blank1_info_sec1         = {{Collapsible list
| title = ''{{nobold|List:}}''
| [[Peshawar Zalmi]]
| [[Peshawar Panthers]]
| [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cricket team]]
}}
| blank2_name_sec1         = [[List of administrative units of Pakistan by Human Development Index|HDI]] (2019)
| blank2_info_sec1         = 0.527 {{increase}}<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/PAK/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&colour_scales=global|title=Sub-national HDI - Subnational HDI - Global Data Lab|website=Globaldatalab.org|access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref><br />{{color|#FF0000|low}}
| blank4_name_sec1         = [[Education in Pakistan|Literacy rate]] (2020)
| blank4_info_sec1         = 55.1%
| blank5_name_sec1         = [[National Assembly of Pakistan|Seats in National Assembly]]
| blank5_info_sec1         = 65
| blank_name_sec2          = [[Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Seats in Provincial Assembly]]
| blank_info_sec2          = 145
| blank1_name_sec2         = [[Divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Divisions]]
| blank1_info_sec2         = 7
| blank2_name_sec2         = [[List of districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Districts]]
| blank2_info_sec2         = 38
| blank3_name_sec2         = [[List of tehsils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Tehsils]]
| blank3_info_sec2         = 105
| blank4_name_sec2         = [[Union councils of Pakistan|Union councils]]
| blank4_info_sec2         = 986
| government_footnotes     = 
| government_type          = [[Federated state|Self-governing province]] subject to the [[Government of Pakistan|federal government]]
| governing_body           = [[Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
| leader_party             = 
| leader_title             = [[Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Governor]]
| leader_name              = [[Haji Ghulam Ali]]
| leader_title1            = [[Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Chief Minister]]
| leader_name1             = Muhammad Azam Khan
| leader_title2            = [[Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Chief Secretary]]
| leader_name2             = Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry
| leader_title3            = [[List of legislatures in South Asia#Pakistan|Legislature]]
| leader_name3             = [[Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Provincial Assembly]]
| leader_title4            = [[High courts of Pakistan|High Court]]
| leader_name4             = [[Peshawar High Court]]
| unit_pref                = Metric
| area_footnotes           = 
| area_total_km2           = 101741
| area_rank                = 4th (Pakistan)
| area_note                = 
| elevation_footnotes      = 
| elevation_m              = 
| population_footnotes     = <ref name="2017census">{{cite web|title=Table 1: Area, Population by Sex, Sex ratio, Population density, Urban Proportion, Household Size and Annual Growth Rate|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/National.pdf|publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|access-date=30 August 2017|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927171509/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/National.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| population_total         = 35,501,964{{efn|Including the population of the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]], which were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.}}
| population_as_of         = [[2017 Census of Pakistan|2017]]
| population_rank          = 3rd (Pakistan)
| population_density_km2   = auto
| population_demonym       = 
| population_note          = 
| timezone1                = [[Pakistan Standard Time|PKT]]
| utc_offset1              = +05:00
| demographics_type1       = GDP (nominal) {{nobold|(2021–2022, est.)}}
| demographics1_title1     = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Total]]
| demographics1_info1      = ₨9 trillion<br/>(US$38 billion)
| demographics1_title2     = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Per capita]]
| demographics1_info2      = ₨254,636.06<br/>(US$1,071)
| postal_code_type         = 
| postal_code              = 
| area_code_type           = 
| area_code                = 9291
| website                  = {{URL|kp.gov.pk}}
| footnotes                = 
| iso_code                 = [[ISO 3166-2:PK|PK-KP]]
| official_name            = 
| demographics_type2       = GDP (PPP) {{nobold|(2021–2022, est.)}}
| demographics2_title1     = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Total]]
| demographics2_info1      = ₨34.95 trillion<br/>(US$147 billion)
| demographics2_title2     = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Per capita]]
| demographics2_info2      = ₨992,886.38<br/>(US$4,143)
}}
'''Khyber Pakhtunkhwa''' ({{IPAc-en|,|k|aɪ|b|ər|_|p|ə|k|'|t|uː|ŋ|k|w|ə}}; {{lang-ps|{{nq|خېبر پښتونخوا}}}}<!--{{IPA-ps|pəxtunˈxwɑ|}} Pronunciation for word "Khyber" are missing, commenting out until added-->; [[Hindko]], {{Lang-ur|{{nq|خیبر پختونخوا}}}}, {{IPA-ur|ˈxɛːbəɾ paxˈtuːnxwɑː|pron|LL-Q1617 (urd)-نعم البدل-خیبر پختونخوا.wav}}), commonly abbreviated as '''KP''' or '''KPK''', is a [[Administrative units of Pakistan|province]] of [[Pakistan]]. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the smallest province of Pakistan by land area and the third-largest province by population. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] to the south, [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] to the south-east, the territory of [[Gilgit-Baltistan]] to the north and north-east, [[Islamabad Capital Territory]] to the east and [[Azad Kashmir]] to the north-east. It shares an [[Durand Line|international border]] with [[Afghanistan]] to the west. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a varied landscape ranging from rugged mountain ranges, valleys, plains surrounded by hills, undulating submontane areas and dense agricultural farms.

While it is the third-largest Pakistani province in terms of both its population and [[Economy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|its economy]], it is geographically the smallest.<ref name="T&F">{{cite book|last1=Claus|first1=Peter J.|last2=Diamond|first2=Sarah|last3=Ann Mills|first3=Margaret|title=South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka|date=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780415939195|page=447}}</ref> The province is home to 17.9 percent of [[Demographics of Pakistan|Pakistan's total population]], with the majority of its inhabitants being [[Pashtuns]].

Once a [[Gandharan Buddhism|stronghold of Buddhism]], Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the site of the ancient region of [[Gandhara]], including the ruins of the Gandharan capital of [[Pushkalavati]] (located near modern-day [[Charsadda]]). The region's history is characterized by [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|frequent invasions by various empires]], largely due to its geographical proximity to the historically important [[Khyber Pass]].<ref>Rafi U. Samad, [https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA33 ''The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul, and Indus Valleys'']. Algora Publishing, 2011. {{ISBN|0875868592}}</ref>

Although it is colloquially known by a [[Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|variety of other names]], the name "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" was brought into effect for the [[North-West Frontier Province]] in April 2010, following the passing of the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|18th Constitutional Amendment]]. On 2 March 2017, the [[Government of Pakistan|Pakistani government]] considered a proposal for a merger of the adjoining [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]] (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as a repealing of the [[Frontier Crimes Regulation]], which Pakistan had inherited following the [[partition of India|partition of British India]] in 1947.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1343825/federal-cabinet-approves-fata-reforms/|title=Federal cabinet approves FATA's merger with K-P, repeal of FCR – The Express Tribune|date=2 March 2017|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=2 March 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> However, some political parties opposed the merger, and instead called for the FATA to be reorganized as a separate province.<ref name="nytimes">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/world/asia/pakistan-pashtun-long-march.html|title=In Pakistan, Long-Suffering Pashtuns Find Their Voice|date=6 February 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=7 February 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> However, on 24 May 2018, the [[National Assembly of Pakistan]] voted in favour of the [[Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|25th Constitutional Amendment]], which would merge the FATA as well as the [[Provincially Administered Tribal Areas]] with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/320943-na-approves-merger-of-fata-pata-with-kp|title = NA approves merger of Fata, Pata with KP}}</ref> The [[Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] subsequently approved the bill on 28 May 2018;<ref name=":0a">{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1410351|title=KP Assembly approves landmark bill merging Fata with province|last=Hayat|first=Arif|date=27 May 2018|work=DAWN.COM|access-date=28 May 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> it was signed into law on 31 May by erstwhile Pakistani president [[Mamnoon Hussain]], which officially completed the administrative merger process.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://nation.com.pk/01-Jun-2018/president-signs-fata-kp-merger-bill-into-law|title=President signs Fata-KP merger bill into law|date=1 June 2018|work=The Nation|access-date=15 June 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308201211/https://nation.com.pk/01-Jun-2018/president-signs-fata-kp-merger-bill-into-law|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/197519-fata-official-merged-with-kp-as-president-mamnoon-signs|title=Pre=President signs amendment bill, merging FATA with KP|work=Geo News|access-date=15 June 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{main|Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
''Khyber Pakhtunkhwa''  means the "[[Khyber Pass|Khyber]] side of the land of the [[Pashtuns]],<ref name="USDS">{{cite book|author=U.S. Department of State|title=Background Notes: South Asia, May, 2011|date=2011|publisher=InfoStrategist.com|isbn=978-1592431298|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1m-AIPgzDAC|author-link=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>" where the word ''Pakhtunkhwa'' means "[[Pashtunistan|Land of the Pashtuns]]",<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marwat|first1=Fazal-ur-Rahim Khan|title=The evolution and growth of communism in Afghanistan, 1917–79: an appraisal|date=1997|publisher=Royal Book Co.|page=XXXV}}</ref> while according to some scholars, it refers to "Pashtun culture and society".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=Robert Harrison|last2=Gray|first2=Andrew|last3=Kingsbury|first3=Benedict|title=Indigenous peoples of Asia|date=1995|publisher=Association for Asian Studies|isbn=0924304146|page=171}}</ref>

When the British established it as a province, they called it "North West Frontier Province" (abbreviated as NWFP) until 2010 due to its relative location being in the northwest of their [[Indian Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morrison|first1=Cameron|title=A New Geography of the Indian Empire and Ceylon|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56267|date=1909|publisher=T.Nelson and Sons|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56267/page/n180 176]}}</ref> After the creation of Pakistan, Pakistan continued with this name but a Pashtun political party, [[Awami National Party]] based in the province demanded that the province name be changed to "Pakhtunkhwa".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ayers|first1=Alyssa|title=Speaking Like a State: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan|date=23 July 2009|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|page=61|isbn=978-0521519311}}</ref> Their logic behind that demand was that [[Punjabi people]], [[Sindhi people]] and [[Baloch people]] have their provinces named after their ethnicities but that is not the case for [[Pashtun people]].<ref name="Pakhtunkhwa">{{cite web|url=http://pakhtunkhwa.com/html/body_nwfp_in_search_of_a_name.html|title=NWFP in search of a name|work=pakhtunkhwa.com|access-date=24 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131042427/http://pakhtunkhwa.com/html/body_nwfp_in_search_of_a_name.html|archive-date=31 January 2016}}</ref>

[[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]], the largest opposition party at the time was ready to change the province's name by supporting the ruling [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] and ANP, in a constitutional amendment but wanted to name the province something other than which does not carry only the Pashtun identity in it as they argued that there were other minor communities living in the province especially the [[Hazarewals]] of the [[Hazara, Pakistan|Hazara region]] who spoke [[Hindko]] thus the word ''Khyber'' was introduced with the name because it is the name of a major [[Khyber Pass|pass]] which connects Pakistan to Afghanistan.<ref name="Pakhtunkhwa"/>

==History==
{{Main|History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

=== Early history ===
During the times of [[Indus Valley civilisation]] (3300 BCE – 1700 BCE) the Khyber Pass through [[Hindu Kush]] provided a route to other neighbouring empires and was used by merchants on trade excursions.<ref>{{Harv|Princeton Roadmap to Regents|p=80}}</ref> From 1500 BCE, [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian peoples]] started to enter in the region from [[Central Asia]] after having passed the Khyber Pass.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mohiuddin |first=Yasmeen |title=Pakistan: A Global Studies Handbook |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2007 |isbn=9781851098019 |page=36}}</ref><ref name="humshehri.org"/>

The region of [[Gandhara]], which was primarily based in the area of modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa features prominently in the [[Rigveda]] ({{circa|1500|1200 BCE}}),<ref name="sacred-texts.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv01126.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda Book 1: HYMN CXXVI. Bhāvayavya.|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref><ref name="Macdonell1997">{{cite book |author=Arthur Anthony Macdonell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wM-dNOa7fMC&pg=PA130 |title=A History of Sanskrit Literature |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1997 |isbn=978-81-208-0095-3 |pages=130–}}</ref> as well as the Zoroastrian [[Avesta]], which mentions it as ''Vaēkərəta'', the sixth most beautiful place on earth created by [[Ahura Mazda]]. It was one of the 16 [[Mahajanapadas]] of [[Vedic era]].<ref name="auto12">{{Cite book |last1=Kulke |first1=Professor of Asian History Hermann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPVq3ykHyH4C&pg=PA53 |title=A History of India |last2=Kulke |first2=Hermann |last3=Rothermund |first3=Dietmar |date=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-32919-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{Cite book |last=Warikoo |first=K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsdvkRtAtusC&pg=PA73 |title=Bamiyan: Challenge to World Heritage |date=2004 |publisher=Third Eye |isbn=978-81-86505-66-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto22">{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Mogens Herman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&pg=PA377 |title=A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation |date=2000 |publisher=Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab |isbn=978-87-7876-177-4 |language=en}}</ref> It was the centre of [[Historical Vedic Religion|Vedic]] and later forms of [[Hinduism]]. Gandhara was frequently mentioned in Vedic epics, including [[Rig Veda]], [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]]. It was the home of [[Gandhari (Mahabharata)|Gandhari]], the princess of [[Gandhara Kingdom]].<ref>* Schmidt, Karl J. (1995). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdzCQAAQBAJ ''An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History''], p.120: "In addition to being a center of religion for Buddhists, as well as Hindus, Taxila was a thriving center for art, culture, and learning."
* Srinivasan, Doris Meth (2008). "Hindu Deities in Gandharan art," in [https://books.google.com/books?id=lHBEAQAAIAAJ ''Gandhara, The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Legends, Monasteries, and Paradise''], pp.130–143: "Gandhara was not cut off from the heartland of early Hinduism in the Gangetic Valley. The two regions shared cultural and political connections and trade relations and this facilitated the adoption and exchange of religious ideas. [...] It is during the Kushan Era that flowering of religious imagery occurred. [...] Gandhara often introduced its own idiosyncratic expression upon the Buddhist and Hindu imagery it had initially come in contact with."
* Blurton, T. Richard (1993). [https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ-lzU_nj_MC ''Hindu Art''], Harvard University Press: "The earliest figures of Shiva which show him in purely human form come from the area of ancient Gandhara" (p.84) and "Coins from Gandhara of the first century BC show Lakshmi [...] four-armed, on a lotus." (p.176)</ref>

===Alexander's conquests===
In the spring of 327 BC [[Alexander the Great]] crossed the Hindu Kush and advanced to [[Nicaea (Punjab)|Nicaea]], where Omphis, king of [[Taxila Tehsil|Taxila]] and other chiefs joined him. Alexander then dispatched part of his force through the valley of the Kabul River, while he himself advanced into Bajaur and Swat with his light troops.<ref name="IG148">{{Harv|Imperial Gazetteer|p=148}}</ref> [[Craterus]] was ordered to fortify and repopulate [[Arigaion]], probably in Bajaur, which its inhabitants had burnt and deserted. Having defeated the Aspasians, from whom he took 40,000 prisoners and 230,000 oxen, Alexander crossed the [[Gouraios]] ([[Panjkora]]) and entered the territory of the [[Assakenoi]] and laid siege to Massaga, which he took by storm. Ora and Bazira (possibly Bazar) soon fell. The people of Bazira fled to the rock Aornos, but Alexander made Embolima (possibly [[Amb State|Amb]]) his base, and attacked the rock from there, which was captured after a desperate resistance. Meanwhile, [[Peukelaotis]] (in [[Hashtnagar]], {{convert|17|mi|km}} north-west of [[Peshawar]]) had submitted, and Nicanor, a Macedonian, was appointed satrap of the country west of the Indus.<ref name= IG149>{{Harv|Imperial Gazetteer|p=149}}</ref>

===Mauryan rule===
[[File:Shiva and Parvati BM OA1939.01-19.17.jpg|thumb|left|An ancient statue of [[Shiva]] and [[Parvati]] found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.]]Mauryan rule began with [[Chandragupta Maurya]] displacing the [[Nanda Empire]], establishing the Mauryan Empire. A while after, Alexander's general Seleucus had attempted to once again invade the subcontinent from the Khyber pass hoping to take lands that Alexander had conquered, but never fully absorbed into this empire. Seleucus was defeated and the lands of Aria, Arachosia, Gandhara, and Gedrosia were ceded to the Mauryans in exchange for a matrimonial alliance and 500 elephants. With the defeat of the Greeks, the land was once more under Hindu rule.<ref>{{Harv|Faber and Faber|pp=52–53}}</ref> Chandragupta's son [[Bindusara]] further expanded the empire. However, it was Chandragupta's grandson [[Ashoka]], who converted to [[Buddhism]] and made it the official state religion in [[Gandhara]] and also [[Pakhli]], the modern Hazara, as evidenced by rock-inscriptions at [[Shahbazgarhi]] and [[Mansehra]].<ref name= IG149/>

After Ashoka's death the [[Mauryan]] empire fell to pieces, just as in the west the [[Seleucid]] power was waning.

=== Indo-Greeks ===
[[File:Buddha-Vajrapani-Herakles.JPG|thumb|Greco-Buddhist representation of the Buddha, seated to the left of a depiction of [[Vajrapani]] in the guise of the Hellenic god [[Heracles]].<ref>"The Buddha accompanied by Vajrapani, who has the characteristics of the Greek Heracles" Description of the same image on the cover page in {{cite book |last1=Stoneman |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx4OEAAAQBAJ&pg=PR4 |title=The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks |date=8 June 2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-21747-5 |page=4 |language=en}} Also "Herakles found an independent life in India in the guise of Vajrapani, the bearded, club-wielding companion of the Buddha" in {{cite book |last1=Stoneman |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx4OEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |title=The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks |date=8 June 2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-21747-5 |pages=88–89 |language=en}}</ref>]]
The Indo-Greek king [[Menander I]] (reigned 155–130 BCE) drove the Greco-Bactrians out of [[Gandhara]] and beyond the [[Hindu Kush]], becoming king shortly after his victory.

His empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king, [[Strato II]], disappeared around 10 CE. Around 125 BCE, the Greco-Bactrian king [[Heliocles]], son of Eucratides, fled from the [[Yuezhi]] invasion of Bactria and relocated to Gandhara, pushing the Indo-Greeks east of the [[Jhelum River]]. The last known Indo-Greek ruler was [[Theodamas]], from the [[Bajaur]] area of Gandhara, mentioned on a 1st-century CE signet ring, bearing the Kharoṣṭhī inscription ''"Su Theodamasa"'' (''"Su"'' was the Greek transliteration of the [[Kushan]] royal title ''"Shau"'' ("[[Shah]]" or "King")).

It is during this period that the fusion of Hellenistic and South Asian mythological, artistic and religious elements becomes most apparent, especially in the region of Gandhara.<ref>{{Diff|en:Greco-Buddhist_art|diff=|oldid=878583324|label=en:Greco-Buddhist_art,   oldid 878583324}}{{Circular reference|date=September 2021}}</ref>

Local Greek rulers still exercised a feeble and precarious power along the borderland, but the last vestige of the Greco-Indian rulers were finished by a people known to the old Chinese as the Yeuh-Chi.<ref name="IG149" />

=== Indo-Scythian Kingdom ===
[[File:Buner reliefs Scythian bacchanalian cropped.jpg|left|thumb|One of the [[Buner reliefs]] showing Scythian soldiers dancing. [[Cleveland Museum of Art]].]]
The [[Indo-Scythians]] were descended from the [[Sakas]] (Scythians) who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. They displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from Gandhara to [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]]. The first Indo-Scythian king [[Maues]] established [[Saka]] hegemony by conquering  [[Indo-Greek]] territories.<ref>The Grandeur of Gandhara, Rafi-us Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011, p.64-67 [https://books.google.com/books?id=PMEd8Cqh-YQC&pg=PA66]</ref> The power of the Saka rulers declined after the defeat to [[Chandragupta II]] of the [[Gupta Empire]] in the 4th century.<ref>Ancient India by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar p. 234</ref>

=== Indo-Parthian Kingdom ===
[[File:Takht-e-bahi.jpg|thumb|Ancient [[Buddhist]] [[monastery]] [[Takht-i-Bahi]] (a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) constructed by the Indo-Parthians.]]
The [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]] was ruled by the Gondopharid dynasty, named after its first ruler [[Gondophares]]. For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings held [[Taxila]] (in the present [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] province of [[Pakistan]]) as their residence, but during their last few years of existence the capital shifted between [[Kabul]] and [[Peshawar]]. These kings have traditionally been referred to as Indo-Parthians, as their coinage was often inspired by the [[Arsacid dynasty of Parthia|Arsacid]] dynasty, but they probably belonged to a wider groups of [[Iranian peoples|Iranic]] tribes who lived east of [[Parthia]] proper, and there is no evidence that all the kings who assumed the title ''Gondophares'', which means "Holder of Glory", were even related.

===Kushan Empire===
[[File:KanishkaCasket.JPG|left|thumb|225x225px|[[Peshawar]]'s [[Kanishka stupa]] once kept sacred [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] relics in the [[Kanishka casket]].]]
The [[Yuezhi]] nomads had driven the [[Sakas]] from the highlands of [[Central Asia]], and were themselves forced southwards by the nomadic [[Xiongnu]]. One group, known as the Kushan, took the lead, and its chief, [[Kujula Kadphises|Kadphises I]], seized vast territories extending south to the [[Kabul]] valley. His son Kadphises II conquered North-Western India, which he governed through his generals. His immediate successors were the fabled Hindu kings: Kanishka, Huvishka, and Vasushka or Vasudeva, of whom the first reigned over a territory which extended as far east as Benares, far south as Malwa, and also including [[Bactria]] and the Kabul valley.<ref name="IG149" /><ref name="IG150">{{Harv|Imperial Gazetteer|p=150}}</ref> Their dates are still a matter of dispute, but it is beyond question that they reigned early in the Christian era. To this period may be ascribed the fine statues and bas-reliefs found in [[Gandhara]]  and Udyana. Under Huvishka's successor, [[Vāsishka|Vasushka]], the dominions of the Kushan kings shrank.<ref name="IG150" />

===Turk and Hindu Shahis===
[[File:Horseman_on_Hindu_Shahi_coinage.jpg|thumb|Horseman on a coin of Spalapati, i.e. the "War-lord" of the [[Hindu Shahis]]. The headgear has been interpreted as a [[turban]].{{sfn|Rehman|1976|p=187 and Pl. V B.|loc="the horseman is shown wearing a turban-like head-gear with a small globule on the top"}}]]
The [[Turk Shahis]] ruled Gandhara until 870, when they were overthrown by the [[Hindu Shahis]]. The Hindu Shahis are believed to belong to the Uḍi/Oḍi tribe, namely the people of [[Oddiyana]] in Gandhara.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rahman |first=Abdul |date=2002 |title=New Light on the Khingal, Turk and the Hindu Sahis |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v15_37to42.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XV |pages=37–42 |quote=The Hindu Śāhis were therefore neither Bhattis, or Janjuas, nor Brahmans. They were simply Uḍis/Oḍis. It can now be seen that the term Hindu Śāhi is a misnomer and, based as it is merely upon religious discrimination, should be discarded and forgotten. The correct name is Uḍi or Oḍi Śāhi dynasty.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |date=2005 |title=The Problem of Platform Extensions at Kafirkot North |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v16_41to48.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XVI |pages=41–48 |quote=Rehman (2002: 41) makes a good case for calling the Hindu Śāhis by a more accurate name, "Uḍi Śāhis".}}</ref>

The first king Kallar had moved the capital into Udabandhapura from Kabul, in the modern village of [[Hund (village)|Hund]] for its new capital.<ref>The Shahi Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, pp 1, 45–46, 48, 80, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians; Country, Culture and Political life in early and medieval India, 2004, p 34, Daud Ali.</ref><ref>Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1954, pp 112 ff; The Shahis of Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, p 46, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians.</ref><ref>India, A History, 2001, p 203, John Keay.</ref><ref>Sehrai, Fidaullah (1979). Hund: ''The Forgotten City of Gandhara'', p. 2. Peshawar Museum Publications New Series, Peshawar.</ref> At its zenith, the kingdom stretched over the [[Kabul Valley]], [[Gandhara]] and western [[Punjab region|Punjab]] under [[Jayapala]].<ref name="Wynbrandt2009">{{Harv|Wynbrandt|2009|pp=52–54}}</ref> Jayapala saw a danger in the consolidation of the Ghaznavids and invaded their capital city of [[Ghazni]] both in the reign of [[Sebuktigin]] and in that of his son [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Mahmud]], which initiated the [[Muslim]] Ghaznavid and Hindu Shahi struggles.<ref name="Lewis2">{{Citation |title=The Cambridge history of Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ccI0u5XDR0C |page=3 |year=1977 |editor=P. M. Holt |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29137-8 |quote=... Jaypala of Waihind saw danger in the consolidation of the kingdom of Ghazna and decided to destroy it. He therefore invaded Ghazna, but was defeated ... |editor2=Ann K. S. Lambton |editor3=[[Bernard Lewis]]}}</ref> Sebuk Tigin, however, defeated him, and he was forced to pay an indemnity.<ref name="Lewis2" /> Jayapala defaulted on the payment and took to the battlefield once more.<ref name="Lewis2" /> Jayapala however, lost control of the entire region between the [[Kabul|Kabul Valley]] and [[Indus River]].<ref name="Ferishta">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ferishtashistory01firi |title=Ferishta's History of Dekkan from the first Mahummedan conquests(etc) |work=Internet Archive |publisher=Shrewsbury [Eng.] : Printed for the editor by J. and W. Eddowes |year=1794}}</ref>

However, the army was defeated in battle against the western forces, particularly against the Mahmud of Ghazni.<ref name="Ferishta" /> In the year 1001, soon after Sultan Mahmud came to power and was occupied with the [[Qarakhanid]]s north of the [[Hindu Kush]], Jaipal [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|attacked Ghazni]] once more and upon suffering yet another defeat by the powerful Ghaznavid forces, near present-day [[Peshawar]].  After the [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|Battle of Peshawar]], he died because of regretting as his subjects brought disaster and disgrace to the Shahi dynasty.<ref name="Lewis2" /><ref name="Ferishta" />

Jayapala was succeeded by his son [[Anandapala]],<ref name="Lewis2" /> who along with other succeeding generations of the Shahiya dynasty took part in various unsuccessful campaigns against the advancing Ghaznvids but were unsuccessful. The Hindu rulers eventually exiled themselves to the [[Kashmir]] [[Siwalik]] Hills.<ref name="Ferishta" />

===Ghaznavids===
In 977, [[Sebük Tigin|Sabuktagin]] founded the dynasty of the [[Ghaznavids]]. In 986 he raided the Indian frontier, and in 988 defeated Jaipal with his allies at Laghman. Soon afterwards he took control of the country as far as the Indus, placing a governor of his own at Peshawar. [[Mahmud of Ghazni]], Sabuktagin's son, having secured the throne of Ghazni, again defeated [[Jayapala]] in his first raid into India (1001), [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|Battle of Peshawar]], and in a second expedition defeated Anandpal (1006), both near Peshawar. He also (1024 and 1025) raided the [[Pashtuns]].<ref name=IG150/> Over time, Mahmud of Ghazni had pushed further into the subcontinent, as far as east as modern day [[Agra]]. During his campaigns, many Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries had been looted and destroyed, as well as many people being forcibly converted into Islam.<ref>{{Harv|Wynbrandt|2009|pp=52–55}}</ref> In 1179, [[Muhammad of Ghor]] took Peshawar, capturing [[Lahore]] from [[Khusrau Malik]] two years later.

===Delhi sultanate===
Following the invasion by the Ghurids, five unrelated heterogeneous dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluk dynasty]] (1206–1290), the [[Khalji dynasty]] (1290–1320), the [[Tughlaq dynasty]] (1320–1414), the [[Sayyid dynasty]] (1414–1451), and the [[Lodi dynasty]] (1451–1526).<ref name="sen2">{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=68–102}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the [[Pashtuns]] now appeared as a political factor. At the close of the fourteenth century they were firmly established in their present-day demographics south of Kohat, and in 1451 Bahlol Lodi's accession to the throne of Delhi gave them a dominant position in [[Northern India]]. [[Yusufzai]] tribes from the Kabul and Jalalabad valleys began migrating to the [[Valley of Peshawar]] beginning in the 15th century,<ref name="bosworth"/> and displaced the [[Swati (Pashtun tribe)|Swatis]] of the [[Bhittani]] confederation and [[Dilazak]] Pashtun tribes across the [[Indus River]] to [[Hazara Division]].<ref name="bosworth" />

===Mughal empire===
[[File:Masjid_Muhabat_Khan.jpg|thumb|Bestowed by [[Ali Mardan Khan|Mohabbat Khan bin Ali Mardan Khan]] in 1630, the white-marble façade of the [[Mohabbat Khan Mosque]] is one of [[Peshawar]]'s most iconic sights.]]
Mughal suzerainty over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region was partially established after Babar, the founder of the Mughal Empire, invaded the region in 1505 CE via the [[Khyber Pass]]. The Mughal Empire noted the importance of the region as a weak point in their empire's defenses,<ref name="Richards">{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=John F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&q=peshawar&pg=PA50 |title=The Mughal Empire |date=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521566032 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref> and determined to hold Peshawar and Kabul at all cost against any threats from the [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] ''[[Shaybanid]]s''.<ref name="Richards" />

He was forced to retreat westwards to [[Kabul]] but returned to defeat the Lodis in July 1526, when he captured Peshawar from [[Daulat Khan Lodi]],<ref name="Miers">{{cite book |last1=Henry Miers |first1=Elliot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2AGBNfe8ZQC&q=peshawar&pg=PA25 |title=The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108055871 |orig-year=1867}}</ref> though the region was never considered to be fully subjugated to the Mughals.<ref name="bosworth">{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UB4uSVt3ulUC&q=ancient+peshawar |title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004153882 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref>

Under the reign of Babar's son, [[Humayun]], a direct Mughal rule was briefly challenged with the rise of the Pashtun Emperor, [[Sher Shah Suri]], who began construction of the famous [[Grand Trunk Road]] – which links Kabul, Afghanistan with [[Chittagong]], [[Bangladesh]] over 2000 miles to the east. Later, local rulers once again pledged loyalty to the Mughal emperor.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

[[Yusufzai]] tribes rose against Mughals during the Yusufzai Revolt of 1667,<ref name="Richards" /> and engaged in pitched-battles with Mughal battalions in Peshawar and [[Attock]].<ref name="Richards" /> [[Afridi]] tribes resisted Aurangzeb rule during the Afridi Revolt of the 1670s.<ref name="Richards" /> The Afridis massacred a Mughal battalion in the [[Khyber Pass]] in 1672 and shut the pass to lucrative trade routes.<ref name="richards">{{citation |last=Richards |first=John F. |title=The Mughal Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC |volume=5 |pages=170–171 |year=1996 |series=New Cambridge history of India: The Mughals and their contemporaries |chapter=Imperial expansion under Aurangzeb 1658–1869. Testing the limits of the empire: the Northwest. |edition=illustrated, reprint |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |author-link=John F. Richards}}</ref> Following another massacre in the winter of 1673, Mughal armies led by Emperor [[Aurangzeb]] himself regained control of the entire area in 1674,<ref name="Richards" /> and enticed tribal leaders with various awards in order to end the rebellion.<ref name="Richards" />

Referred to as the "Father of Pashto Literature" and hailing from the city of [[Akora Khattak]], the warrior-poet [[Khushal Khan Khattak]] actively participated in the revolt against the Mughals and became renowned for his poems that celebrated the rebellious Pashtun warriors.<ref name="Richards" />

On 18 November 1738, Peshawar was captured from the Mughal governor Nawab Nasir Khan by the [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]] armies during the [[Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire|Persian invasion of the Mughal Empire]] under [[Nader Shah]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=S.R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4j_VLlGqVSoC&q=peshawar+mughal&pg=PA728 |title=Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material, Volume 3 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |year=1999 |isbn=9788171568192 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nadiem |first1=Ihsan H. |title=Peshawar: heritage, history, monuments |date=2007 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel |isbn=9789693519716}}</ref>

===Durrani Empire===
[[File:Bala Hisar Fort.jpg|thumb|[[Bala Hissar, Peshawar|Bala Hissar fort]] in Peshawar. The fort was used as a royal residence for the [[Durrani Empire]].]]
The area fell subsequently under the rule of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], founder of the [[Durrani Empire]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alikuzai |first1=Hamid Wahed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZJcAQAAQBAJ&q=peshawar+capture+durrani+empire&pg=PA204 |title=A Concise History of Afghanistan in 25 Volumes, Volume 14 |date=October 2013 |isbn=9781490714417 |access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref> following a grand nine-day long assembly of leaders, known as the ''[[loya jirga]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Siddique |first1=Abubakar |title=The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan |date=2014 |publisher=Hurst |isbn=9781849044998}}</ref> In 1749, the Mughal ruler was induced to cede [[Sindh Province|Sindh]], the [[Punjab region]] and the important trans [[Indus River]] to Ahmad Shah in order to save his capital from the Durrani attack.<ref>Meredith L. Runion [https://books.google.com/books?id=aZk9XzqCFGUC&dq=ahmad+shah+durrani+1749+sindh+and+punjab&pg=PA69 ''The History of Afghanistan''] pp 69 Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 {{ISBN|0313337985}}</ref> Ahmad Shah invaded the remnants of the Mughal Empire a third time, and then a fourth, consolidating control over the Kashmir and Punjab regions. In 1757, he captured Delhi and sacked Mathura,<ref>"Rivalries in India", C.C. Davies, ''The New Cambridge Modern History'', Vol. VII The Old Regime 1713–63, ed. J.O. Lindsay, (Cambridge University Press, 1988), 564.</ref> but permitted the Mughal dynasty to remain in nominal control of the city as long as the ruler acknowledged Ahmad Shah's suzerainty over Punjab, Sindh, and Kashmir. Leaving his second son [[Timur Shah Durrani|Timur Shah]] to safeguard his interests, Ahmad Shah left India to return to Afghanistan.

Their rule was interrupted by a brief invasion of the Hindu [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], who ruled over the region following the [[Battle of Peshawar (1758)|1758 Battle of Peshawar]] for eleven months till early 1759 when the Durrani rule was re-established.<ref name="Schofield, Victoria 2003 page 47">Schofield, Victoria, "Afghan Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia", London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks (2003), page 47</ref>

Under the reign of [[Timur Shah Durrani|Timur Shah]], the Mughal practice of using Kabul as a summer capital and Peshawar as a winter capital was reintroduced,<ref name="bosworth"/><ref name="Hanifi2011">{{cite book |last=Hanifi |first=Shah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh1hpPLSpcEC |title=Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier |date=11 February 2011 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-7777-3 |quote=Timur Shah transferred the Durrani capital from Qandahar during the period of 1775 and 1776. Kabul and Peshawar then shared time as the dual capital cities of Durrani, the former during the summer and the latter during the winter season. |access-date=13 December 2012}}</ref> Peshawar's [[Bala Hissar, Peshawar|Bala Hissar Fort]] served as the residence of Durrani kings during their winter stay in Peshawar.

[[Mahmud Shah Durrani]] became king, and quickly sought to seize Peshawar from his half-brother, [[Shah Shujah Durrani]].<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century |date=2003 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=9789231038761}}</ref> Shah Shujah was then himself proclaimed king in 1803, and recaptured Peshawar while Mahmud Shah was imprisoned at Bala Hissar fort until his eventual escape.<ref name="UNESCO" /> In 1809, the British sent an emissary to the court of Shah Shujah in Peshawar, marking the first diplomatic meeting between the British and Afghans.<ref name="UNESCO" /> Mahmud Shah allied himself with the ''Barakzai'' Pashtuns, and amassed an army in 1809, and captured Peshawar from his half-brother, Shah Shujah, establishing Mahmud Shah's second reign,<ref name="UNESCO" /> which lasted under 1818.

===Sikh Empire===
[[Ranjit Singh]] invaded Peshawar in 1818 and captured it from the Durrani Empire. The [[Sikh Empire]] based in Lahore did not immediately secure direct control of the Peshawar region, but rather paid nominal [[tribute]] to Jehandad Khan of Khattak, who was nominated by Ranjit Singh to be ruler of the region.

After Ranjit Singh's departure from the region, Khattak's rule was undermined and power seized by Yar Muhammad Khan. In 1823, Ranjit Singh returned to capture Peshawar, and was met by the armies of [[Azim Khan]] at [[Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]]. Following the Sikh victory at the [[Battle of Nowshera]], Ranjit Singh re-captured Peshawar. Rather than re-appointing Jehandad Khan of Khattak, Ranjit Singh selected Yar Muhammad Khan to once again rule the region.

The Sikh Empire annexed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region following advances from the armies of [[Hari Singh Nalwa]]. An 1835 attempt by [[Dost Mohammad Khan|Dost Muhammad Khan]] to re-occupy Peshawar failed when his army declined to engage in combat with the [[Dal Khalsa (Sikh Empire)|Dal Khalsa]]. Dost Muhammad Khan's son, [[Wazir Akbar Khan|Mohammad Akbar Khan]] engaged with Sikh forces the [[Battle of Jamrud]] of 1837, and failed to recapture it.

During Sikh rule, an Italian named [[Paolo Avitabile]] was appointed an administrator of Peshawar, and is remembered for having unleashed a reign of fear there. The city's famous Mahabat Khan, built in 1630 in the Jeweler's Bazaar, was badly damaged and desecrated by the Sikhs, who also rebuilt the Bala Hissar fort during their occupation of Peshawar.

=== British Raj ===
[[File:The Khyber Pass with the fortress of Alimusjid - lithograph by James Rattray - 1848 (1).jpg|thumb|left|A colonial era lithograph of the Khyber Pass, made in 1848 by James Rattray.]]
[[British East India Company]] defeated the Sikhs during the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] in 1849, and incorporated small parts of the region into the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Province of Punjab]]. While Peshawar was the site of a small revolt against British during the [[Mutiny of 1857]], local Pashtun tribes throughout the region generally remained neutral or supportive of the British as they detested the Sikhs,<ref name="humshehri.org">{{cite web |title=KP Historical Overview |url=http://humshehri.org/history/kpk-historical-overview/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311194150/http://humshehri.org/history/kpk-historical-overview/ |archive-date=11 March 2015 |access-date=22 April 2015 |work=Humshehri}}</ref> in contrast to other parts of [[British India]] which rose up in revolt against the British. However, British control of parts of the region was routinely challenged by [[Wazir (Pashtun tribe)|Wazir]] tribesmen in [[Waziristan]] and other Pashtun tribes, who resisted any foreign occupation until Pakistan was created. By the late 19th century, the official boundaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region still had not been defined as the region was still claimed by the Kingdom of Afghanistan. It was only in 1893 The British demarcated the [[Durand Line|boundary with Afghanistan]] under a treaty agreed to by the Afghan king, [[Abdur Rahman Khan]], following the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]].<ref name="LoC">{{cite web |date=August 2008 |title=Country Profile: Afghanistan |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408085103/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |archive-date=8 April 2014 |access-date=30 January 2014 |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]}}</ref> Several princely states within the boundaries of the region were allowed to maintain their autonomy under the terms of maintaining friendly ties with the British. As the British war effort during [[World War One]] demanded the reallocation of resources from British India to the European war fronts, some tribesmen from Afghanistan crossed the Durand Line in 1917 to attack British posts in an attempt to gain territory and weaken the legitimacy of the border. The validity of the Durand Line, however, was re-affirmed in 1919 by the Afghan government with the signing of the [[Treaty of Rawalpindi]],<ref>Robson, ''Crisis on the Frontier'' pp. 136–7</ref> which ended the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] – a war in which Waziri tribesmen allied themselves with the forces of Afghanistan's King [[Amanullah]] in their resistance to British rule. The Wazirs and other tribes, taking advantage of instability on the frontier, [[Waziristan campaign (1919–20)|continued to resist British occupation until 1920]] – even after Afghanistan had signed a peace treaty with the British.

British campaigns to subdue tribesmen along the Durand Line, as well as three Anglo-Afghan wars, made travel between Afghanistan and the densely populated heartlands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa increasingly difficult. The two regions were largely isolated from one another from the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878 until the start of [[World War II]] in 1939 when conflict along the Afghan frontier largely dissipated. Concurrently, the British continued their large public works projects in the region, and extended the [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]] into the region, which connected the modern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region to the plains of India to the east. Other projects, such as the [[Attock Bridge]], [[Islamia College University]], [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]], and establishment of [[cantonments]] in [[Peshawar]], [[Kohat]], [[Mardan]], and [[Nowshera Cantonment|Nowshera]] further cemented British rule in the region. In 1901, the British carved out the northwest portions of Punjab Province to create the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), which was renamed "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |date=14 May 2018 |title=NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |url=http://blog.travel-culture.com/2018/05/15/from-nwfp-to-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-an-overview/ |access-date=14 May 2018 |website=Blog.travel-culture.com}}</ref>

During this period, North-West Frontier Province was a "scene of repeated outrages on Hindus."<ref>Elst, Koenraad (2018). {{cite book |title=Why I killed the Mahatma: Uncovering Godse's defence |section=70 (b)}} New Delhi : Rupa, 2018.</ref> During the independence period there was a [[Congress party of India|Congress]]-led ministry in the province, which was led by secular [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] leaders, including Bacha Khan, who preferred joining [[India]] instead of Pakistan. The [[secular]] Pashtun leadership was also of the view that if joining India was not an option then they should espouse the cause of an independent ethnic Pashtun state rather than Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pande |first=Aparna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceg-kSmft94C&dq=congress+party+united+india+north+west+frontier+province&pg=PA66 |title=Explaining Pakistan's Foreign Policy: Escaping India |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2011 |isbn=9781136818943 |location= |page=66 |quote=At Independence there was a Congress-led ministry in the North West Frontier...The Congress-supported government of the North West Frontier led by the secular Pashtun leaders, the Khan brothers, wanted to join India and not Pakistan. If joining India was not an option, then the secular Pashtun leaders espoused the cause of [[Pashtunistan]]: an ethnic state for Pashtuns. }}</ref> In June 1947, [[Mirzali Khan]], [[Bacha Khan]], and other [[Khudai Khidmatgars]] declared the [[Bannu Resolution]], demanding that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan composing all Pashtun majority territories of British India, instead of being made to join the new state of [[Pakistan]]. However, the [[British Raj]] refused to comply with the demand of this resolution, as their departure from the region required regions under their control to choose either to join India or Pakistan, with no third option.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ali Shah |first=Sayyid Vaqar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c05uAAAAMAAJ |title=Afghanistan and the Frontier |date=1993 |publisher=Emjay Books International |editor1-last=Marwat |editor1-first=Fazal-ur-Rahim Khan |location=[[University of Michigan]] |page=256}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=H Johnson |first1=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9ZZAgAAQBAJ |title=Culture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency |last2=Zellen |first2=Barry |date=2014 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=9780804789219 |page=154 |author-link1=Thomas Howard Johnson}}</ref> By 1947 Pashtun nationalists were advocating for a united India, and no prominent voices advocated for a union with Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harrison |first=Selig S. |title=Pakistan: The State of the Union |url=http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/pakistan_the_state_of_the_union.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203710/http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/pakistan_the_state_of_the_union.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=24 January 2014 |publisher=Center for International Policy |pages=13–14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Vipul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC&q=north-west+frontier+province+referendum |title=The Pearson Indian History Manual for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination |publisher=Pearson |year=2008 |isbn=9788131717530 |page=65}}</ref>

The secular stance of Bacha Khan had driven a wedge between the [[ulama]] of the otherwise pro-[[Congress party of India|Congress]] (and pro-Indian unity) [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind|Jamiat Ulema Hind]] (JUH) and Bacha Khan's [[Khudai Khidmatgar]]s.

[[Image:Badshah Khan.jpg|200px|right|thumb|[[Bacha Khan]] with [[Mahatma Gandhi]]]]
There were other tensions in the area as well, particularly those that involved agitations by Pashtun tribesmen against the Imperial government. For example, in 1936, a British Indian court ruled against the marriage of a Hindu girl allegedly converted to Islam in Bannu, after the girl's family filed a case of abduction and forced conversion.<ref name="Yousef Aboul-Enein">{{cite book |author=Yousef Aboul-Enein |title=The Secret War for the Middle East |author2=Basil Aboul-Enein |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1612513096 |page=153}}</ref> The ruling was based on the fact that the girl was a minor and was asked to make her decision of conversion and marriage after she reaches the age of majority, till then she was asked to live with a third party.<ref name="Yousef Aboul-Enein" /> After the girl's family filed a case, the court ruled in the family's favor, angering the local Muslims who had later gone on to lead attacks against the [[Bannu Brigade]].<ref name="Yousef Aboul-Enein" />

Such controversies stirred up anti-Hindu sentiments amongst the province's Muslim population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haroon |first=Sana |year=2008 |title=The Rise of Deobandi Islam in the North-West Frontier Province and Its Implications in Colonial India and Pakistan 1914–1996 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=55 |jstor=27755911 |quote=The stance of the central JUH was pro-Congress, and accordingly the JUS supported the Congressite Khudai Khidmatgars through to the elections of 1937. However the secular stance of Ghaffar Khan, leader of the Khudai Khidmatgars, disparaging the role of religion in government and social leadership, was driving a wedge between the ulama of the JUS and the Khudai Khidmatgars, irrespective of the commitments of mutual support between the JUH and Congress leaderships. In trying to highlight the separateness and vulnerability of Muslims in a religiously diverse public space, the directives of the NWFP ulama began to veer away from simple religious injunctions to take on a communalist tone. The ulama highlighted 'threats' posed by Hindus to Muslims in the province. Accusations of improper behaviour and molestation of Muslim women were levelled against 'Hindu shopkeepers' in Nowshera. Sermons given by two JUS-connected maulvis in Nowshera declared the Hindus the 'enemies' of Islam and Muslims. Posters were distributed in the city warning Muslims not to buy or consume food prepared and sold by Hindus in the bazaars. In 1936, a Hindu girl was abducted by a Muslim in Bannu and then married to him. The government demanded the girl's return, But popular Muslim opinion, supported by a resolution passed by the Jamiyatul Ulama Bannu, demanded that she stay, stating that she had come of her free will, had converted to Islam, and was now lawfully married and had to remain with her husband. Government efforts to retrieve the girl led to accusations of the government being anti-Muslim and of encouraging apostasy, and so stirred up strong anti-Hindu sentiment across the majority Muslim NWFP.}}</ref> By 1947 the majority of the ulama in the province began supporting the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]]'s idea of Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haroon |first=Sana |year=2008 |title=The Rise of Deobandi Islam in the North-West Frontier Province and Its Implications in Colonial India and Pakistan 1914–1996 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=57–58 |jstor=27755911 |quote=By 1947 the majority of NWFP ulama supported the Muslim League idea of Pakistan. Because of the now long-standing relations between JUS ulama and the Muslim League, and the strong communalist tone in the NWFP, the move away from the pro-Congress and anti-Pakistan party line of the central JUH to interest and participation in the creation of Pakistan by the NWFP Deobandis was not a dramatic one.}}</ref>

Immediately prior to 1947 [[Partition of India]], the British held a [[1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum|referendum in the NWFP]] to allow voters to choose between joining India or Pakistan. The polling began on 6 July 1947 and the referendum results were made public on 20 July 1947. According to the official results, there were 572,798 registered voters, out of which 289,244 (99.02%) votes were cast in favor of Pakistan, while 2,874 (0.98%) were cast in favor of India. The Muslim League declared the results as valid since over half of all eligible voters backed the merger with Pakistan.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |author=Jeffrey J. Roberts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj8DIT_bva0C&q=nwfp+referendum&pg=PA108 |title=The Origins of Conflict in Afghanistan |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=9780275978785 |pages=108–109 |access-date=18 April 2015}}</ref>

The then [[List of Chief Ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Chief Minister]] [[Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan|Dr. Khan Sahib]], along with his brother [[Bacha Khan]] and the [[Khudai Khidmatgar]]s, boycotted the referendum, citing that it did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan.<ref name="Dust of Empire">{{cite book |author=Karl E. Meyer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9iwFmvKTwcC |title=The Dust of Empire: The Race For Mastery In The Asian Heartland |date=5 August 2008 |isbn=9780786724819 |access-date=25 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=25 December 2011 |title=Was Jinnah democratic? — II |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/110699/was-jinnah-democratic-ii/ |access-date=24 February 2019 |website=Daily Times}}</ref>

Their appeal for boycott had an effect, as according to an estimate, the total turnout for the referendum was 15% lower than the total turnout in the 1946 elections,<ref>{{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810052331/http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2013 |access-date=28 December 2013}}</ref> although over half of all eligible voters backed merger with Pakistan.<ref name=":2" />

Bacha Khan pledged allegiance to the new state of Pakistan in 1947, and thereafter abandoned his goals of an independent Pashtunistan and a united India in favor of supporting increased autonomy for the NWFP within Pakistan.<ref name="humshehri.org2" /> He was subsequently arrested several times for his opposition to the strong centralized rule.<ref>Abdul Ghaffar Khan(1958) Pashtun Aw Yoo Unit. Peshawar.</ref> He later claimed that "Pashtunistan was never a reality". The idea of Pashtunistan never helped Pashtuns and it only caused suffering for them. He further claimed that the "successive governments of Afghanistan only exploited the idea for their own political goals".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Everything in Afghanistan is done in the name of religion: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/neighbours/story/19800331-everything-in-afghanistan-is-done-in-the-name-of-religion-khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan-806546-2014-01-31 |url-status=live |magazine=India Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108203154/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/neighbours/story/19800331-everything-in-afghanistan-is-done-in-the-name-of-religion-khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan-806546-2014-01-31 |archive-date=8 January 2019 |access-date=13 January 2014}}</ref>

=== Post-independence ===
There had been tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan ever since Afghanistan voted against Pakistan's inclusion in the United Nations in 1948.<ref>{{Harv|Kiessling|2016|p=8}}</ref> After the creation of [[Pakistan]] in 1947, Afghanistan was the sole member of the [[United Nations]] to vote against Pakistan's accession to the UN because of Kabul's claim to the Pashtun territories on the Pakistani side of the [[Durand Line]].<ref name=pakafgh>{{cite web |title=PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN RELATIONS IN THE POST-9/11 ERA, October 2006, Frédéric Grare |url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref> Afghanistan's [[loya jirga]] of 1949 declared the Durand Line invalid. This led to border tensions with Pakistan. Afghanistan's governments have periodically refused to recognize Pakistan's inheritance of British treaties regarding the region.<ref name=pakafgh/> As had been agreed to by the Afghan governments following the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barthorp |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bRxQgAACAAJ |title=Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier, 1839–1947 |date=2002 |publisher=Cassell |isbn=978-0-304-36294-3 |pages=85–90 |language=en}}</ref> and after the treaty ending [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barthorp |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bRxQgAACAAJ |title=Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier, 1839–1947 |date=2002 |publisher=Cassell |isbn=978-0-304-36294-3 |pages=157 |language=en}}</ref> no option was available to cede the territory to the Afghans, even though Afghanistan continued to claim the entire region as it was part of the Durrani Empire prior the conquest of the region by the Sikhs in 1818.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hyman |first=Anthony |date=2002 |title=Nationalism in Afghanistan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3879829 |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=299–315 |jstor=3879829 |issn=0020-7438 |quote="Greater Afghanistan," an irredentist vision based on the extensive empire conquered by Ahmad Shah Durrani.}}</ref>

During the 1950s, Afghanistan supported the [[Pushtunistan]] Movement, a secessionist movement that failed to gain substantial support amongst the tribes of the North-West Frontier Province. Afghanistan's refusal to recognize the Durrand Line, and its subsequent support for the Pashtunistan Movement has been cited as the main cause of tensions between the two countries that have existed since Pakistan's independence.<ref>{{cite web|title='Pashtunistan' Issues Linger Behind Row|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1067048.html|website=Radio Free Europe|access-date=20 January 2018}}</ref>

After the Afghan-Soviet War, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become one of the areas of top focus for the [[War on terror|War against Terror]]. The province has been reported to struggle with the issues of crumbling schools, non-existent healthcare, and lack of any sound infrastructure while areas such as Islamabad and Rawalpindi receive priority funding.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Underhill|first1=Natasha|title=Countering Global Terrorism and Insurgency: Calculating the Risk of State Failure in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq|date=2014|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|isbn=978-1-349-48064-7|pages=195–121}}</ref>

In 2010 the name of the province changed to "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa". Protests arose among the locals of the Hazara division due to this name change, as they began to demand their own province.<ref name=":0b" /> Seven people were killed and 100 injured in protests on 11 April 2011.<ref name=":0b">{{cite news |title=Anti-Pakhtunkhwa protest claims 7 lives in Abbottabad |url=http://www.thestatesmen.net/news/anti-pakhtunkhwa-protest-claims-seven-lives-in-abbottabad |newspaper=The Statesmen |date=13 April 2011 |access-date=8 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124091840/http://www.thestatesmen.net/news/anti-pakhtunkhwa-protest-claims-seven-lives-in-abbottabad/ |archive-date=24 November 2011 }}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:River Swat Pakistan 3.jpg|thumb|Northern parts of the province feature forests and dramatic mountain scenery, as in [[Swat District]].]]
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 Asia]]. This situation has led to seismic activity in the past.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/419493/Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa/249136/Geography |title=Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (province, Pakistan) :: Geography – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> 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.

Geographically the province could be divided into two zones: the northern zone extending from the ranges of the [[Hindu Kush]] to the borders of the Peshawar basin and the southern zone 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 the Peshawar basin, which is hot in summer and cold in winter. It has moderate rainfall.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

The southern zone is arid with hot summers and relatively cold winters and scanty rainfall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dawn.com/2012/11/29/its-wintertime-in-khyber-pakhtunkhwa/ |title=It's wintertime in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa &#124; Newspaper |publisher=Dawn.Com |date=29 November 2012 |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref> The Sheikh Badin Hills, a spur of clay and [[sandstone]] hills that stretch east from the Sulaiman Mountains to the [[Indus River]], separates [[Dera Ismail Khan District]] from the ''Marwat'' plains of the [[Lakki Marwat District|Lakki Marwat]]. The highest peak in the range is the limestone Sheikh Badin Mountain, which is protected by the [[Sheikh Badin National Park]]. Near the Indus River, the terminus of the Sheikh Badin Hills is a spur of [[limestone]] hills known as the ''Kafir Kot'' hills, where the ancient Hindu complex of [[Kafir Kot]] is located.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tolbort|first1=T|title=The District of Dera Ismail Khan, Trans-Indus|date=1871|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVQOAAAAQAAJ&q=dera+ismail+khan|access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref>

The major rivers that criss-cross the province are Kabul, Swat, Chitral, Kunar, Siran, Panjkora, Bara, Kurram, Dor, Haroo, Gomal, and Zhob.

Its snow-capped peaks and lush green valleys of unusual beauty have enormous potential for tourism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paperpkads.com/news/index.php/cold-dry-weather-observed-in-upper-areas-of-country/ |title=Cold weather in upper areas & dry weather observed in almost all parts of the country &#124; PaperPK News about Pakistan |publisher=Paperpkads.com |date=29 January 2013 |access-date=24 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802050456/http://www.paperpkads.com/news/index.php/cold-dry-weather-observed-in-upper-areas-of-country/ |archive-date=2 August 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Climate===
The [[climate]] of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa varies immensely for a region of its size, encompassing most of the many climate types found in Pakistan. The province stretching southwards from the [[Baroghil Pass]] in the [[Hindu Kush]] covers almost six degrees of latitude; it is mainly a mountainous region. [[Dera Ismail Khan]] is one of the hottest places in South Asia while in the mountains to the north the weather is mild in the summer and intensely cold in the winter. The air is generally very dry; consequently, the daily and annual range of temperature is quite large.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V19_153.gif |title=North-West Frontier Province – Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 147 |publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref>

Rainfall also varies widely. Although large parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are typically dry, the province also contains the wettest parts of Pakistan in its eastern fringe especially in [[monsoon]] season from mid-June to mid-September.

[[File:Ghabral swatvalley x004.JPG|thumb|right|[[Ghabral]], [[Swat Valley]]]]

====Chitral District====
[[Chitral District]], due to its location, is completely sheltered from the [[monsoon]] that controls the weather in eastern Pakistan, owing to its relatively westerly location and the shielding effect of the [[Nanga Parbat]] massif. In many ways, Chitral District has more in common regarding climate with [[Central Asia]] than South Asia.<ref name="Trekking">Mock, John and O'Neil, Kimberley; ''Trekking in the Karakoram and Hindukush''; p. 15 {{ISBN|0-86442-360-8}}</ref> The winters are generally cold even in the valleys, and heavy [[snow]] during the winter blocks passes and isolates the region. In the valleys, however, summers can be hotter than on the windward side of the mountains due to lower cloud cover: Chitral can reach {{convert|40|C|F}} frequently during this period.<ref>Mock and O'Neil; ''Trekking in the Karakoram and Hindukush''; pp. 18–19</ref> However, the humidity is extremely low during these hot spells and, as a result, the summer climate is less torrid than in the rest of the Indian subcontinent.

Most precipitation falls as thunderstorms or snow during winter and spring, so that the climate at the lowest elevations is [[Köppen climate classification|classed as]] [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] (''Csa''), [[continental Mediterranean climate|continental Mediterranean]] (''Dsa'') or [[semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] (''BSk''). Summers are extremely dry in the north of Chitral district and receive only a little rain in the south around [[Drosh]].

At elevations above {{convert|5000|m|ft|-2}}, as much as a third of the snow which feeds the large Karakoram and Hindukush [[glacier]]s comes from the monsoon since these elevations are too high to be shielded from its moisture.<ref name="Trekking"/>

====Central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa====
{{climate chart
| [[Dir (city)|Dir]]
| −3 | 11 | 121
| −2 | 12 | 177
| 3 | 16 | 254
| 8 | 23 | 166
| 12 | 28 | 86
| 16 | 32 | 54
| 19 | 31 | 160
| 18 | 30 | 169
| 14 | 29 | 84
| 7 | 25 | 50
| 2 | 20 | 58
| −1 | 14 | 83
| float = right
| clear = none
| source = World Climate Data<ref name="World Climate Data">{{cite web| url=http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/p/PK41508.php| title=World Climate Data: Dir, Pakistan| publisher=Weatherbase| year=2010| access-date=1 September 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520134806/http://climate-charts.com/Locations/p/PK41508.php| archive-date=20 May 2011| url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

On the southern flanks of [[Nanga Parbat]] and in [[Upper Dir District|Upper]] and [[Lower Dir District]]s, rainfall is much heavier than further north because moist winds from the [[Arabian Sea]] are able to penetrate the region. When they collide with the mountain slopes, winter depressions provide heavy precipitation. The [[monsoon]], although short, is generally powerful. As a result, the southern slopes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the wettest part of Pakistan. Annual rainfall ranges from around {{convert|500|mm|in}} in the most sheltered areas to as much as {{convert|1750|mm|in}} in parts of Abbottabad and Mansehra Districts.

This region's climate is classed at lower elevations as [[humid subtropical climate|humid subtropical]] (''Cfa'' in the west; ''Cwa'' in the east); whilst at higher elevations with a southerly aspect, it becomes classed as [[humid continental climate|humid continental]] (''Dfb''). However, accurate data for altitudes above {{convert|2000|m|ft|-1}} are practically nonexistent here, in Chitral, or in the south of the province.
{{climate chart
| [[Dera Ismail Khan]]
| 4 | 20 | 10
| 7 | 22 | 18
| 13 | 27 | 35
| 19 | 34 | 22
| 23 | 39 | 17
| 27 | 42 | 14
| 27 | 39 | 61
| 26 | 37 | 58
| 24 | 37 | 18
| 17 | 33 | 5
| 11 | 28 | 2
| 5 | 22 | 10
| float = right
| clear = none
| source = World Climate Data<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/p/PK41624.php| title=World Climate Data: Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan| publisher=Weatherbase| year=2010| access-date=1 September 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101225100/http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/p/PK41624.php| archive-date=1 January 2011| url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
The seasonality of rainfall in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shows very marked gradients from east to west. At Dir, March remains the wettest month due to frequent frontal cloud bands, whereas in Hazara more than half the rainfall comes from the monsoon.<ref name="Wernsted">See Wernsted, Frederick L.; ''World Climatic Data''; published 1972 by Climatic Data Press; 522 pp. 31 cm.</ref> This creates a unique situation characterized by a bimodal rainfall regime, which extends into the southern part of the province described below.<ref name="Wernsted"/>

Since cold air from the [[Siberian High]] loses its chilling capacity upon crossing the vast Karakoram and Himalaya ranges, winters in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are somewhat milder than in Chitral. [[Snow]] remains very frequent at high altitudes but rarely lasts long on the ground in the major towns and agricultural valleys. Outside of winter, temperatures in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not so hot as in Chitral. {{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

Significantly higher humidity when the monsoon is active means that heat discomfort can be greater. However, even during the most humid periods the high altitudes typically allow for some relief from the heat overnight.<ref>[https://www.hko.gov.hk/m/article_e.htm?title=ele_00079] {{Dead link|date=December 2021|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

====Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa====
As one moves further away from the foothills of the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges, the climate changes from the humid subtropical climate of the foothills to the typically [[arid climate]] of [[Sindh]], [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] and southern [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]. As in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the seasonality of precipitation shows a very sharp gradient from west to east, but the whole region very rarely receives significant monsoon rainfall. Even at high elevations, annual rainfall is less than {{convert|400|mm|in|0}} and in some places as little as {{convert|200|mm|in|0}}.

Temperatures in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are extremely hot: Dera Ismail Khan in the southernmost district of the province is known as one of the hottest places in the world with temperatures known to have reached {{convert|50|C|F}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Birds of Dera Ismail Khan District of the Northwest Frontier Province in Pakistan|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237410649|access-date=13 February 2021|website=ResearchGate|language=en}}</ref> In the cooler months, nights can be cold and frosts remain frequent; snow is very rare, and daytime temperatures remain comfortably warm with abundant sunshine.

{{clear}}

===National parks===
There are about 29 [[List of national parks of Pakistan|National Parks in Pakistan]] and 7 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width:98%"
|-
!scope="col" | Name
!scope="col" class="unsortable"| Photo
!scope="col" | Location
!scope="col" |Date established
!scope="col" |Area (Hec)
!scope="col" |Key wildlife
|-
!scope="row" | [[Ayubia National Park]]
|[[File:Mukeshpuri.jpg|100px]]
|[[Abbottabad District]]
|{{dts|1984}}
|3,122
|[[Indian leopard]], [[Leopard cat]], [[Yellow-throated marten]], [[Asian palm civet]], [[Masked palm civet]], [[Rhesus macaque]], [[Red giant flying squirrel]], [[Koklass pheasant]] and [[Kalij pheasant]]
|-
!scope="row" | [[Chitral Gol National Park]]
|[[File:Meadows of Chitral Gol National Park; Tahsin Shah 03.jpg|100px]]
|[[Chitral District]]
|{{dts|1984}}
|7,750
|[[Markhor]], [[Urial]], [[Snow leopard]], [[Persian leopard]], [[Himalayan lynx]], [[Himalayan brown bear]], [[Chukar partridge]], [[Snow partridge]], [[Himalayan snowcock]] and [[Himalayan black bear]]
|-
!scope="row" | [[Broghil Valley National Park]]
|[[File:I took this picture of Karmbar lake on my recent visit. Im donating it only to wikipedia for public knowledge.jpg|100px]]
|[[Chitral District]]
|{{dts}}
| 134,744
|[[Siberian ibex]], [[Himalayan musk deer]], [[Himalayan brown bear]] and [[Long-tailed marmot]]
|-
!scope="row" | [[Sheikh Badin National Park]]
|
|[[Dera Ismail Khan District]]
|{{dts|1999}}
|15,540
|[[Persian leopard]], [[Indian wolf]], [[Bengal fox]], [[Urial]], [[Markhor]], [[Chukar partridge]], [[Indian boar]], [[Black francolin]] and [[Grey francolin]]
|-
!scope="row" | [[Saiful Muluk National Park]]
|[[File:Saif ul Maluk Lake 2.jpg|100px]]
|[[Mansehra District]]
|{{dts|2003}}
|12,026
|[[Himalayan black bear]], [[Yellow-throated marten]], [[Masked palm civet]], [[Himalayan goral]], [[Himalayan musk deer]], [[Siberian ibex]], [[Himalayan monal]] and [[Cheer pheasant]]
|-
!scope="row" | [[Lulusar-Dudipatsar National Park]]
|[[File:Dudiptsar Lake.jpg|100px]]
|[[Mansehra District]]
|{{dts|2003}}
|75,058
|[[Persian leopard]], [[Yellow-throated marten]], [[Himalayan black bear]], [[Siberian ibex]], [[Himalayan goral]], [[Himalayan monal]] and [[Western tragopan]]
|}

==Demographics==
{{historical population
|1881|1,575,943
|1891|1,857,519
|1901|2,125,496
|1911|3,819,027
|1921|5,076,476
|1931|4,684,364
|1941|5,415,666
|1951|5,888,550
|1961|7,578,186
|1972|10,879,781
|1981|13,259,875
|1998|20,919,976
|2017|35,501,964
| source = <ref name="2017census"/><ref name="NWFP1941">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/site/south-asia-open-archives/saoa/censusofindia1941-28216851/|title=CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME X NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE|access-date=15 October 2021}}</ref>{{rp|8}}<ref name="NWFP1911">{{cite web|url=http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/ideologie/data/CensusIndia/CensusIndia1911/1911%20-%20North%20West%20Frontier%20Province%20-%20Vol%20I%20and%20II.pdf|title=CENSUS OF INDIA, 1911 VOLUME XII NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE|access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref>{{rp|298}}
}}
The current province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had a population of 35.5 million at the time of the [[2017 Census of Pakistan]]. Over 83% of the population lived in rural areas.<ref name="2017census"/>

The largest ethnic group are the [[Pashtuns]], who historically have been living in the areas for centuries.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://kp.gov.pk/page/races_and_tribes| title = Races and Tribes – Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|website=Kp.gov.pk}}</ref> Around 1.5 million [[Afghans in Pakistan|Afghan refugees]] also remain in the province,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/481856844.html |title=Pakistani TV delves into lives of Afghan refugees |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |date=30 April 2008 |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> the majority of whom are Pashtuns followed by [[Tājik people|Tajiks]], [[Hazara people|Hazaras]], [[Gurjar|Gujjar]] and other smaller groups. Despite having lived in the province for over two decades, they are registered as [[demography of Afghanistan|citizens of Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e487016 |title=UNHCR country operations profile – Pakistan |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|access-date=12 December 2012}}</ref>

The Pashtuns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa observe tribal code of conduct called [[Pashtunwali]] which has four high value components called ''nang'' (honor), ''badal'' (revenge), ''melmastiya'' (hospitality) and ''nanawata'' (rights to refuge).<ref name="T&F"/>

===Language===
{{Pie chart
|thumb = left
|caption = Languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2017)<ref name="langs"/>
|label1 = [[Pashto]] |value1 = 76.86 |color1 = olive
|label2 = [[Hindko]] |value2 = 11.48 |color2 = lightblue
|label3 = [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]] |value3 = 3.72 |color3 = steelblue
|label4 = Others combined |value4 = 7.94 |color4 = grey
}}
[[Urdu]], being the national and official language, serves as a [[lingua franca]] for inter-ethnic communications, and sometimes [[Pashto]] and Urdu are the second and third languages among communities that speak other ethnic languages.<ref name="T&F"/>

The most widely spoken language is [[Pashto]], native to 78.89% of the population and spoken throughout the province.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1410447|access-date=1 September 2020|title=CCI defers approval of census results until elections}} The figure is for the combined territory of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA.</ref> Other languages with significant numbers of speakers include [[Hindko]] (11.48%) and [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]] (3.72%).<ref name="langs">{{cite web|date=2017|title=Census Final Results – Mother Tongue|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/census_2017_tables/pakistan/Table11n.pdf|website=pbs.gov.pk|publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|access-date=11 February 2022|archive-date=9 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409115251/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/census_2017_tables/pakistan/Table11n.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Hindko is spoken in the southern part of Hazara division in the northeast, and Hindko was once the predominant language of Peshawar before Pashtun settlement in the city. Saraiki-speakers are found in Dera Ismail Khan district in the far south of the province. Languages that the census recorded as 'Other' were 5.99% of the population, overwhelmingly [[Dardic languages]] spoken in the mountainous northeast of the province including [[Chitral]], [[Kohistan District, Pakistan|Kohistan]] and the upper parts of [[Mansehra|Manshera]], Dir and Swat valleys. The most prominent of these are [[Khowar language|Khowar]], spoken in Chitral, and [[Indus Kohistani|Kohistani]], spoken in the Kohistan region. In 2011 the provincial government approved in principle the introduction of Pashto, Saraiki, Hindko, Khowar and Kohistani as compulsory subjects for schools in the areas where they are spoken.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bashir |first=Elena L. |author-link=Elena Bashir|date=2016 |chapter=Language endangerment and documentation. Pakistan and Afghanistan|editor1-last=Hock|editor1-first=Hans Henrich|editor1-link=Hans Henrich Hock|editor2-last=Bashir|editor2-first=Elena|editor2-link=Elena Bashir|title=The languages and linguistics of South Asia: a comprehensive guide |series=World of Linguistics |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-042715-8<!-- |pages=638–45--> |page=639}}</ref>

===Religion===
{{See also|Islam in Pakistan|Hinduism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
The overwhelming majority of the residents of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa follows and professes the [[Sunni Islam]] while the small number of [[Shia Islam|Shias]] of Islam are found among the [[Ismaili Islam|Isma'ilis]] in the [[Chitral]] district.<ref name="A Brief History of Pakistan">{{cite book|last1=Wynbrandt|first1=James|title=A Brief History of Pakistan|date=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|pages=52–54}}</ref> The tribe of [[Kalash people|Kalasha]] in southern [[Chitral]] still retain an ancient form of [[Polytheism]] mixed with [[Animism]], a faith once dominant in the mountainous upper northeast of the district.<ref name="A Brief History of Pakistan" /> There are very small numbers of residents who are the adherents of [[Catholic Church in Pakistan|Roman Catholicism]] [[Christian denomination|denomination]] of [[Christianity]], [[Hinduism in Pakistan|Hinduism]] and [[Sikhism]], mainly living in Peshawar and other urban centres.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bhagwanvalmiki.com/pakistan.htm |title=Pakistan Valmiki Sabha |publisher=Bhagwanvalmiki.com |access-date=12 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040517232241/http://www.bhagwanvalmiki.com/pakistan.htm |archive-date=17 May 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.oneindia.in/2010/02/24/sikhrefugees-demand-indiancitizenship.html |title=Sikh refugees demand Indian citizenship |publisher=Oneindia News |date=24 February 2010 |access-date=12 December 2012 |archive-date=9 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709055130/http://news.oneindia.in/2010/02/24/sikhrefugees-demand-indiancitizenship.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Religion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1881–2017){{efn|name="population"|Pre-partition populations for religious data is for [[North-West Frontier Province]] only and excludes the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]] (both administrative divisions later merged to form Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018), as religious data was not collected in the latter region at the time.<br>1951, 1998, and 2017 populations for religious data combine the [[North-West Frontier Province]] and [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]], both administrative divisions which later merged to form Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Religion in Pakistan|Religious]]<br>group
! colspan="2" |1881<ref name="NWFP1911"/>{{rp|95}}
! colspan="2" |1891<ref name="NWFP1911"/>{{rp|95}}
! colspan="2" |1901<ref name="NWFP1911"/>{{rp|95}}
! colspan="2" |1911<ref name="NWFP1911"/>{{rp|307–308}}
! colspan="2" |1941<ref name="NWFP1941"/>{{rp|22}}
! colspan="2" |1951<ref name="KPK1951">{{cite web|url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/7452/1/1422_1951_POP.pdf|title=CENSUS OF PAKISTAN, 1951 POPULATION ACCORDING TO RELIGION TABLE 6|access-date=24 January 2023}}</ref>{{rp|12–21}}
! colspan="2" |1998<ref name="KPK1998">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/yearbooks//yearbook2014/16-16.pdf|title=Population Distribution by Religion, 1998 Census|access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |2017<ref name="KPK2017">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2017/tables/pakistan/Table09n.pdf|title=TABLE 9 - POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN|access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>
|-
![[Population|{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}]]
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
|-
| [[Islam]] [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px]]
| 1,451,444
|{{Percentage | 1451444 | 1575943 | 2 }}
| 1,714,490
|{{Percentage | 1714490 | 1857519 | 2 }}
| 1,882,294
|{{Percentage | 1882294 | 2041534 | 2 }}
| 2,039,994
|{{Percentage | 2039994 | 2196933 | 2 }}
| 2,788,797
|{{Percentage | 2788797 | 3038067 | 2 }}
| 5,858,080
|{{Percentage | 5858080 | 5864550 | 2 }}
| 20,808,480
|{{Percentage | 20808480 | 20919976 | 2 }}
| 35,428,857
|{{Percentage | 35428857 | 35501964 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Hinduism]] [[File:Om.svg|15px]]
| 111,892
|{{Percentage | 111892 | 1575943 | 2 }}
| 118,881
|{{Percentage | 118881 | 1857519 | 2 }}
| 128,617
|{{Percentage | 128617 | 2041534 | 2 }}
| 119,942
|{{Percentage | 119942 | 2196933 | 2 }}
| 180,321 
|{{Percentage | 180321 | 3038067 | 2 }}
| 2,432
|{{Percentage | 2432 | 5864550 | 2 }}
| 5,368
|{{Percentage | 5368 | 20919976 | 2 }}
| 5,392
|{{Percentage | 6373 | 35501964 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Sikhism]] [[File:Khanda.svg|15px]]
| 7,880
|{{Percentage | 7880 | 1575943 | 2 }}
| 18,575
|{{Percentage | 18575 | 1857519 | 2 }}
| 26,540
|{{Percentage | 26540 | 2041534 | 2 }}
| 30,345
|{{Percentage | 30345 | 2196933 | 2 }}
| 57,939
|{{Percentage | 57939 | 3038067 | 2 }}
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
|-
| [[Christianity]] [[File:Christian cross.svg|15px]]
| 4,728
|{{Percentage | 4728 | 1575943 | 2 }}
| 5,573
|{{Percentage | 5573 | 1857519 | 2 }}
| 6,125
|{{Percentage | 6125 | 2041534 | 2 }}
| 6,585
|{{Percentage | 6585 | 2196933 | 2 }}
| 10,889
|{{Percentage | 10889 | 3038067 | 2 }}
| 3,823
|{{Percentage | 3823 | 5864550 | 2 }}
| 38,974
|{{Percentage | 38974 | 20919976 | 2 }}
| 50,018
|{{Percentage | 50018 | 35501964 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Ahmadiyya]] [[File:Liwa-e-Ahmadiyya_1-2.svg|15px]]
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| 48,703
|{{Percentage | 48703 | 20919976 | 2 }}
| 7,204
|{{Percentage | 7204 | 35501964 | 2 }}
|-
| Others
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| 67{{efn|name=1911OthersTotal|Included 49 [[Parsis]] ([[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]]), 14 [[Judaism|Jews]], and 4 [[Jainism|Jains]].}}
|{{Percentage | 67 | 2196933 | 3 }}
| 121{{efn|Included 71 [[Judaism|Jews]], 25 [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], 24 [[Parsis]] ([[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]]), and 1 [[Jainism|Jain]].}}
|{{Percentage | 127 | 3038067 | 3 }}
| 215
|{{Percentage | 215 | 5864550 | 3 }}
| 16,808
|{{Percentage | 16808 | 20919976 | 2 }}
| 9,512
|{{Percentage | 9512 | 35501964 | 2 }}
|-
! Total Responses{{efn|name="population"}}
! 1,575,943
! {{Percentage | 1575943 | 1575943 | 2 }}
! 1,857,519
! {{Percentage | 1857519 | 1857519 | 2 }}
! 2,041,534
! {{Percentage | 2041534 | 2125496 | 2 }}
! 2,196,933
! {{Percentage | 2196933 | 3819027 | 2 }}
! 3,038,067
! {{Percentage | 3038067 | 5415666 | 2 }}
! 5,864,550
! {{Percentage | 5864550 | 5864550 | 2 }}
! 20,919,976
! {{Percentage | 20919976 | 20919976 | 2 }}
! 35,501,964
! {{Percentage | 35501964 | 35501964 | 2 }}
|-
! Total Population{{efn|name="population"}}
! 1,575,943
! {{Percentage | 1575943 | 1575943 | 2 }}
! 1,857,519
! {{Percentage | 1857519 | 1857519 | 2 }}
! 2,125,496
! {{Percentage | 2125496 | 2125496 | 2 }}
! 3,819,027
! {{Percentage | 3819027 | 3819027 | 2 }}
! 5,415,666
! {{Percentage | 5415666 | 5415666 | 2 }}
! 5,864,550
! {{Percentage | 5864550 | 5864550 | 2 }}
! 20,919,976
! {{Percentage | 20919976 | 20919976 | 2 }}
! 35,501,964
! {{Percentage | 35501964 | 35501964 | 2 }}
|}

===Villages===
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a location to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦---> 
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦--->
*[[Kalāla]]

== Government and politics ==
{{Main|Politics of Pakistan}}
[[File:Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.png|alt=The districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Colors correspond to divisions.|thumb|The districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with their names. Colors correspond to divisions.]]

;Political leanings and the Legislative branch
{{Main|Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
The [[Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Provincial Assembly]] is a [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] legislature, which consists of 145 members elected to serve for a constitutionally bounded term of five years. Historically, the province perceived to be a stronghold of the [[Awami National Party]] (ANP); a [[pro-Russian]], by [[Procommunism|procommunist]], [[Socialism in Pakistan|left-wing]] and nationalist party.<ref name="Rug Pandits, Yasir">{{cite web|last1=Sheikh|first1=Yasir|title=Areas of political influence in Pakistan: right-wing vs left-wing|url=http://rugpundits.com/2012/11/05/areas-of-political-influence-in-pakistan-right-wing-vs-left-wing/|website=rugpundits.com|publisher=Rug Pandits, Yasir|access-date=29 May 2015|location=Karachi, Sindh|date=5 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530024013/http://rugpundits.com/2012/11/05/areas-of-political-influence-in-pakistan-right-wing-vs-left-wing/|archive-date=30 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Rug Pandits, Yasir Sheikh">{{cite web|last1=Sheikh|first1=Yasir|title=Political spectrum of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) – Part I: ANP, PPP & MMA|url=http://rugpundits.com/2013/02/09/political-spectrum-of-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-kp-part-i-anp-ppp-mma/.|website=rugpundits.com|publisher=Rug Pandits, Yasir Sheikh|access-date=29 May 2015|location=Islamabad|date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530053654/http://rugpundits.com/2013/02/09/political-spectrum-of-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-kp-part-i-anp-ppp-mma/|archive-date=30 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since the 1970s, the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] (PPP) also enjoyed considerable support in the province due to its [[Socialism in Pakistan|socialist agenda]].<ref name="Rug Pandits, Yasir"/> Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thought to be another leftist region of the country after [[Sindh]].<ref name="Rug Pandits, Yasir Sheikh"/>

After the nationwide [[2002 Pakistani general election|general elections]] held in 2002, a [[plurality voting]] [[Swing (politics)|swing]] in the province elected one of Pakistan's only religiously based provincial governments led by the [[Conservative Islam|ultra-conservative]] [[Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal]] (MMA) during the administration of President [[Pervez Musharraf]]. The [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|American involvement]] in neighboring [[Afghanistan]] contributed towards the electoral victory of the Islamic coalition led by [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan]] (JeI) whose social policies made the province a ground-swell of [[Anti-American sentiment in Pakistan|anti-Americanism]].<ref name="Time"/> The electoral victory of MMA was also in context of [[guided democracy]] in the Musharraff administration that barred the mainstream political parties, the leftist [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] and the [[centre-right]] [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]] (PML(N)), whose chairmen and presidents having been barred from participation in the elections.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ali|first1=Kamran Asdar|title=Pakistani Islamists Gamble on the General|url=http://www.merip.org/mer/mer231/pakistani-islamists-gamble-general|access-date=6 April 2017|publisher=Middle East Research and Information Project|date=Summer 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407233410/http://www.merip.org/mer/mer231/pakistani-islamists-gamble-general|archive-date=7 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Policy enforcement of a range of social restrictions, though the implementation of strict [[Shariah]] was introduced by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government the law was never fully enacted due to objections of the [[Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] backed by the [[President Pervez Musharaff|Musharraff administration]].<ref name="Time"/> Restrictions on public musical performances were introduced, as well as a ban prohibiting music to be played in public places as part of the "Prohibition of Dancing and Music Bill, 2005" – which led to the creation of a thriving underground music scene in Peshawar.<ref>{{cite news|title=Peshawar underground: It's difficult to be a rock star in the land the epitomises conservatism, yet something shocking is happening. There is a rock scene waiting to burst out of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Rahim Shah was just the beginning, Sajid and Zeeshan were proof that originality can spring out of unlikely places and there are others who are making their riffs and ragas heard... slowly, but surely. |url=http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jun2007-weekly/nos-24-06-2007/instep/mainissue.htm |access-date=13 December 2012 |newspaper=The News on Sunday Instep |date=24 June 2007 |first=Maria |last=Tirmizi |author2=Rizwan-ul-Haq |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825024510/http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jun2007-weekly/nos-24-06-2007/instep/mainissue.htm |archive-date=25 August 2012}}</ref> The Islamist government also attempted to enforce compulsory ''[[hijab]]'' on women,<ref name="Clarke">{{cite book|last1=Clarke|first1=Michael E.|last2=Misra|first2=Ashutosh|title=Pakistan's Stability Paradox: Domestic, Regional and International Dimensions|date=1 March 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136639340|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpSpAgAAQBAJ&q=virtue+vice+pakistan+2002&pg=PA21|access-date=6 April 2017}}</ref> and wished to enforce gender segregation in the province's educational institutions.<ref name="Clarke"/> The coalition further tried to prohibit male doctors from performing ultrasounds on women,<ref name="Clarke"/> and tried to close the province's cinemas.<ref name="Clarke"/> In 2005, the coalition successfully passed the "Prohibition of Use of Women in Photograph Bill, 2005," leading to the removal of all public advertisements that featured women.<ref>{{cite news|title=PESHAWAR: Advertisers forced to deface billboards|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/190452/peshawar-advertisers-forced-to-deface-billboards|access-date=6 April 2017|agency=Dawn|date=3 May 2006}}</ref>

At the height of [[Taliban insurgency in Pakistan]], the religious coalition lost its grip in the [[2008 Pakistani general election|general elections held in 2008]], and the religious coalition was swept out of power by the leftist [[Awami National Party]] which also witnessed the resignation of President Musharraf in 2008.<ref name="Time">{{cite news|last1=Robinson|first1=Simon|title=Religion's Defeat in Pakistan's Election|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1718614,00.html|access-date=6 April 2017|agency=Time|date= 29 February 2008}}</ref> The ANP government eventually led the initiatives to repeal the major Islamist's social programs, with the backing of the [[Government of Pakistan|federal government]] led by [[Pakistan Peoples Party|PPP]] in [[Islamabad]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Musicians in Pakistan's northwest long for better times|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-music-idUSISL3885020080316|access-date=7 April 2017|work=Reuters|date=15 March 2008}}</ref> Public disapproval of [[Awami National Party|ANP]]'s leftist program integrated in [[Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|civil administration]] with the sounded allegations of corruption as well as popular opposition against [[Religious Conservatism|religious program]] promoted by the [[Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal|MMA]] swiftly shifted the province's leniency away from the left in 2012.<ref name="Rug Pandits, Yasir"/> In 2013, the provincial politics shifted towards [[populism]] and [[nationalism]] when the PTI, led by [[Imran Khan]], was able to form the [[minority government]] in coalition with the [[Jamaat-e-Islami|JeI]]; the province now serves as the stronghold of the PTI and is perceived as one of the more right wing areas of the country.<ref name="rugpundits, Yasir">{{cite web|last1=Sheikh|first1=Yasir|title=Rightwing Tsunami: PTI's rise in Pakistani politics|url=http://rugpundits.com/2012/12/24/tsunami-ptis-rise-in-pakistani-politics/|website=rugpundits.com|publisher=rugpundits, Yasir|access-date=29 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530023914/http://rugpundits.com/2012/12/24/tsunami-ptis-rise-in-pakistani-politics/|archive-date=30 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> After the [[2018 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial election|2018 election]], PTI increased their seat share and formed a majority government.

In non-Pashtun areas, such as [[Abbottabad District|Abbottabad]], and [[Hazara Division]], the [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)|PML(N)]], the [[centre-right]] party, enjoys considerable public support over economical and public policy issues and has a substantial vote bank.<ref name="rugpundits, Yasir"/>

;Executive Branch
{{Main|Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

The [[Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|executive branch]] of the Kyber Pakhtunkhwa is led by the [[Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Chief Minister]] elected by popular vote in the [[Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Provincial assembly]]<ref>[http://pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part4.ch3.html Article 130(4)] in Chapter 3: The Provincial Governments, in Part IV: Provinces, of the [[Constitution of Pakistan]]</ref> while the Governor, a ceremonial figure representing the [[Government of Pakistan|federal government]] in Islamabad, is appointed from the necessary advice of the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] by the [[President of Pakistan]].<ref>[http://pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part4.ch1.html Article 101(1)] in Chapter 1: The Governors, in Part IV: Provinces, of the [[Constitution of Pakistan]]</ref>

The provincial cabinet is then appointed by the Chief Minister who takes the [[Oath of office]] from the Governor.<ref>[http://pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part4.ch3.html Article 132(2)] in Chapter 3: The Provincial Governments, in Part IV: Provinces, of the [[Constitution of Pakistan]]</ref> In matters of civil administration, the [[Chief Secretary (Pakistan)|Chief Secretary]] assists the Chief Minister on executing its right to ensure the writ of the government and the constitution.<ref name="A Brief History of Pakistan" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa functions|url=http://kp.gov.pk/page/government|website=kp.gov.pk|access-date=3 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510092950/http://kp.gov.pk/page/government|archive-date=10 May 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

;Judicial Branch
{{Main|Peshawar High Court}}

The [[Peshawar High Court]] is the province's [[High Court|highest court]] of law whose judges are appointed by the approval of the [[Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan|Supreme Judicial Council]] in [[Islamabad]], interpreting the laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.

===Administrative divisions and districts===

{{Main|Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is divided into seven Divisions – Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara, Kohat, Malakand, Mardan, and Peshawar. Each division is split up into anywhere between two and nine districts, and there are 36 districts in the entire province. Below you can find a list showing each district ordered by alphabetical order. A full list showing different characteristics of each district, such as their population, area, and a map showing their location can be found at the main article.
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Abbottabad District]]
* [[Allai District]]
* [[Bajaur District]]
* [[Bannu District]]
* [[Battagram District]]
* [[Buner District]]
* [[Charsadda District, Pakistan|Charsadda District]]
* [[Central Dir District]]
* [[Dera Ismail Khan District]]
* [[Hangu District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Hangu District]]
* [[Haripur District]]
* [[Karak District]]
* [[Khyber District]]
* [[Kohat District]]
* [[Kolai-Palas District]]
* [[Kurram District]]
* [[Lakki Marwat District]]
* [[Lower Chitral District]]
* [[Lower Dir District]]
* [[Lower Kohistan District]]
* [[Lower South Waziristan District]]
* [[Malakand District]]
* [[Mansehra District]]
* [[Mardan District]]
* [[Mohmand District]]
* [[North Waziristan District]]
* [[Nowshera District]]
* [[Orakzai District]]
* [[Peshawar District]]
* [[Shangla District]]
* [[Swabi District]]
* [[Swat District]]
* [[Tank District]]
* [[Tor Ghar District]]
* [[Upper South Waziristan District]]
* [[Upper Chitral District]]
* [[Upper Dir District]]
* [[Upper Kohistan District]]
{{div col end}}

==Major cities==
{{Main|List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population}}
Peshawar is the capital and largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The city is the most populous and comprises more than one-eighth of the province's population.
{{Most populous cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

==Economy==
{{main|Economy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
[[File:Forestry by Province.jpg|thumb|Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's dominance: forestry]]
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the [[List of Pakistani provinces by GDP|third largest]] provincial economy in Pakistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's share of Pakistan's GDP has historically comprised 10.5%, although the province accounts for 11.9% of Pakistan's total population. The part of the economy that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dominates is forestry, where its share has historically ranged from a low of 34.9% to a high of 81%, giving an average of 61.56%.<ref>[http://www.spdc.org.pk/pubs/nps/nps5.pdf] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Currently, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounts for 10% of Pakistan's GDP,<ref>{{cite web|last=Roman |first=David |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124237648756523343?mod=googlenews_wsj |title=Pakistan's Taliban Fight Threatens Key Economic Zone - WSJ.com |publisher=Online.wsj.com |date=15 May 2009 |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> 20% of Pakistan's mining output<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a4Jvjhis1L70 |archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100313071909/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a4Jvjhis1L70 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 March 2010 |title=Pakistan May Need Extra Bailouts as War Hits Economy (Update2) |publisher=Bloomberg.com |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> and, since 1972, it has seen its economy grow in size by 3.6 times.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/293051-1241610364594/6097548-1257441952102/balochistaneconomicreportvol2.pdf |title=Pakistan Balochistan Economic Report From Periphery to Core|access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref>

Agriculture remains important and the main cash crops include wheat, maize, tobacco (in Swabi), rice, sugar beets, as well as fruits are grown in the province.

Some manufacturing and high-tech investments in Peshawar have helped improve job prospects for many locals, while trade in the province involves nearly every product. The bazaars in the province are renowned throughout Pakistan. Unemployment has been reduced due to the establishment of industrial zones.

Workshops throughout the province support the manufacture of small arms and weapons. The province accounts for at least 78% of the [[marble]] production in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2006/05/23/000012009_20060523095241/Rendered/PDF/354991PK0rev0pdf.pdf |title=World Bank Pakistan Growth and Export Competitiveness|access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref>

==Infrastructure==
The Sharmai Hydropower Project is a proposed power generation project located in the Upper Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the [[Panjkora River]] with an installed capacity of 150MW.<ref>{{cite web | last=Malik | first=Arshad Aziz | title=KP govt to face Rs 48.5&nbsp;bn annual loss due to flawed energy policy | website=thenews.com.pk | date=19 July 2016 | url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/136011-KP-govt-to-face-Rs-485-bn-annual-loss-due-to-flawed-energy-policy | access-date=28 January 2017}}</ref>

==Social issues==
The [[Awami National Party]] sought to rename the province "Pakhtunkhwa", which translates to "Land of Pakhtuns" in the [[Pashto language]].<ref>{{cite web|title=NWFP to KPK|url=http://www.insightonconflict.org/2010/05/clashes-over-renaming-nwfp/|website=Insightonconflict.org}}</ref> This was opposed by some non pashtuns in the province and political parties such as the [[Pakistan Muslim League-N]] (PML-N) and [[Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal]] (MMA), due to the PML-N deriving its support in the province from primarily non-Pashtun [[Hazara people|Hazara]] regions.

In 2010 the announcement that the province would have a new name led to a wave of protests in the Hazara region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99951&Itemid=2 |title=Protest in Hazara continues over renaming of NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |publisher=App.com.pk |access-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111209001219/http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99951&Itemid=2 |archive-date=9 December 2011}}</ref> On 15 April 2010 [[Senate of Pakistan|Pakistan's senate]] officially named the province "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" with 80 senators in favour and 12 opposed.<ref name="rename">{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/07-senate-begins-voting-on-18th-amendment-ha-02 |title=NWFP officially renamed as Pakhtun HAZARA |date=15 April 2010 |newspaper=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn.com]] |access-date=15 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418050112/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/07-senate-begins-voting-on-18th-amendment-ha-02 |archive-date=18 April 2010}}</ref> The MMA, who until the elections of 2008 had a majority in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, had proposed "Afghania" as a compromise name.<ref>{{cite web|title=MMA govt proposes new name for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP) |publisher=Dawn |url=http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/01/top11.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113205924/http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/01/top11.htm |archive-date=13 November 2007}}</ref>

After the [[2008 Pakistani general election|2008 general election]], the Awami National Party formed a coalition provincial government with the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]].<ref>Abbas, Hassan. "Peace in FATA: ANP Can Be Counted On." Statesman (Pakistan) (4 February 2007).</ref> The Awami National Party has its strongholds in the Pashtun areas of Pakistan, particularly in the Peshawar valley, while [[Karachi]] in [[Sindh]] has one of the largest Pashtun populations in the world—around 7 million by some estimates.<ref>[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] [[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]: [https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2009/07/karachis_invisi.html Pakistan: Karachi's Invisible Enemy City potent refuge for Taliban fighters]. 17 July 2009.</ref> In the 2008 election, the ANP won two Sindh assembly seats in Karachi. The Awami National Party has been instrumental in fighting the Taliban. In [[2013 Pakistani general election|the 2013 general election]] Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won a majority in the [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly|provincial assembly]] and has now formed their government in coalition with [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0505/p06s01-wosc.htm |title=Pakistan's 'Gandhi' party takes on Taliban, Al Qaeda |website=CSMonitor.com |date=5 May 2008 |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref>

===Non-government organisations===
The following is a list of some of the major NGOs working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ngos.org.pk/cities/kpk-ngos.htm|title=List of NGOs in KPK- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP)|website=Ngos.org.pk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911143620/http://www.ngos.org.pk/cities/kpk-ngos.htm|archive-date=11 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/847933/light-in-dark-times-the-abc-of-empowering-women/|title=Light in dark times: The ABC of empowering women|website=Tribune.com.pk|date=4 March 2015|language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Al-Khidmat Foundation]]
* [[Aurat Foundation]]
* [[Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre]]
* [[Sarhad Rural Support Programme]]
* [[Human Rights Commission of Pakistan]]
* [[Frontier Education Foundation]]

==Folk music and culture==
Pashto folk music is popular in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has a rich tradition going back hundreds of years. The main instruments are the [[rubab (instrument)|rubab]], [[mangey]] and [[Harmonium (hand-pumped)|harmonium]]. Khowar folk music is popular in Chitral and northern Swat. The tunes of Khowar music are very different from those of Pashto, and the main instrument is the Chitrali sitar. A form of band music composed of clarinets (Surnai) and drums is popular in Chitral. It is played at polo matches and dances. The same form of band music is played in the neighbouring [[Northern Areas]].<ref>South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent. (Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 5). Routledge; Har/Com edition (November 1999). {{ISBN|978-0-8240-4946-1}}</ref>

== Education ==
[[File:Math Department Peshawar University Panorama.jpg|thumb|[[University of Peshawar]]]]
[[File:Islamia college.jpg 04.jpg|thumb|[[Islamia College University]]]]
[[File:University of Chitral.jpg|thumb|[[University of Chitral]]]]
[[File:Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (viewed from clock tower).jpg|thumb|[[Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology]]]]

{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Year||Literacy rate
|-
|1972||15.5%
|-
|1981||16.7%
|-
|1998||35.41%
|-
|2017||51.66%
|-
|2020||55.1%
|}
Sources:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001459/145959e.pdf |title=Pakistan: where and who are the world's illiterates?; Background paper for the Education for all global monitoring report 2006: literacy for life; 2005 |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref><ref name="literacy">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/census_2017_tables/pakistan/Table13n.pdf|title=2017 census Final Results – TABLE- 13 POPULATION (10 YEARS AND ABOVE) BY LITERACY, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN|website=pbs.gov.pk|publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|access-date=11 February 2022|archive-date=18 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118104420/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/census_2017_tables/pakistan/Table13n.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="startuppakistan.com.pk">{{cite web | url=https://startuppakistan.com.pk/kpk-achieves-highest-literacy-growth-rate-among-all-provinces/ | title=KPK Achieves Highest Literacy Growth Rate Among All Provinces | date=9 June 2022 }}</ref><ref name="propakistani.pk">{{cite news | url=https://propakistani.pk/2022/06/09/kp-achieves-highest-literacy-rate-among-all-provinces/ | title=KP Achieves Highest Literacy Rate Growth Among All Provinces | newspaper=Propakistani | date=9 June 2022 }}</ref>

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has traditionally had a very low literacy rate, although this is changing in recent times. As of the 2017 census, the literacy rate for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including FATA) is 51.66%. In rural areas, the literacy rate is 48.44% of the population while in urban areas it is 66.86%. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a huge gap in literacy rate between sexes – for men it is 66.67% while the female literacy rate is 34.58%, just over half the male literacy rate. This gap is particularly prominent in the overwhelmingly-Pashto rural areas, where traditional gender norms have generally limited education of women. As of 2021, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has the highest literacy growth rate in the whole country ([[Pakistan]]) <ref name="startuppakistan.com.pk"/><ref name="propakistani.pk"/>

This is a chart of the education market of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa estimated<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_education/pop_education_rural_urban.html |title=Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan |access-date=13 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720044627/http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_education/pop_education_rural_urban.html |archive-date=20 July 2009}}</ref> by the government in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_by_province/pop_by_province.html |title=Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan |publisher=Statpak.gov.pk |access-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819013654/http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_by_province/pop_by_province.html |archive-date=19 August 2010}}</ref>

{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Qualification||Urban||Rural||Total||Enrolment ratio (%)
|-
|Below primary||413,782||3,252,278||3,666,060||100.00
|-
|Primary||741,035||4,646,111||5,387,146||79.33
|-
|Middle||613,188||2,911,563||3,524,751||48.97
|-
|Matriculation||647,919||2,573,798||3,221,717||29.11
|-
|Intermediate||272,761||728,628||1,001,389||10.95
|-
|BA, BSc ... degrees||20,359||42,773||63,132||5.31
|-
|MA, MSc ... degrees||18,237||35,989||53,226||4.95
|-
|Diploma, Certificate ... ||82,037||165,195||247,232||1.92
|-
|Other qualifications||19,766||75,226||94,992||0.53
|-
|—||'''2,994,084'''||'''14,749,561'''||'''17,743,645'''||—
|}

===Public medical colleges===
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province has 9 government medical colleges:
* [[Khyber Medical University]], Peshawar
* [[Bannu Medical College]], Bannu
* [[Khyber Girls Medical College]], Peshawar
* [[Ayub Medical College]], Abbottabad
* [[Bacha Khan Medical College]], Mardan
* [[Gajju Khan Medical College Swabi]]
* [[Gomal Medical College]], D.I.Khan
* Nowshera Medical College, [[Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]]
* [[Saidu Medical College]] Swat

=== Engineering universities ===
* [[CECOS University]] of Information Technology and Emerging Science, Peshawar
* [[National University of Sciences and Technology]], Islamabad- [[College of Aeronautical Engineering]], Risalpur Campus
* [[COMSATS Institute of Information Technology]], Islamabad (Abbottabad Campus)
* [[City University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar]]
* Gandhara Institute of Science & Technology, PGS Engineering College ([[University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar]])
* [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology]], Topi-Swabi
* [[Iqra University]] Peshawar (Formerly Iqra University, Karachi (Peshawar Campus)
* [[National University of Sciences and Technology]], Islamabad- [[Military College of Engineering (Pakistan)|Military College of Engineering]], Risalpur Campus
* [[National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences]], Islamabad (Peshawar Campus)
* [[University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar]] (Main Campus)
* [[University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar]] (Mardan Campus)
* [[University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar]] (Bannu Campus)
* [[University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar]] (Abbottabad Campus)
* [[University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar]] (Kohat Campus)
* [[Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar]]
* [[Abasyn University, Peshawar]]
* [[University of Science and Technology, Bannu]]
* [[IMSciences]], [[Peshawar]]
*[[Gomal University|Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan]]

=== Major educational establishments ===
* [[Cadet College Kohat]]
* [[Edwardes College]], Peshawar
* [[Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan|Abdul Wali Khan University]], Mardan 
* [[Islamia College University]], Peshawar
* [[University of Agriculture (Peshawar)|University of Agriculture]], Peshawar
* [[University of Malakand]], Chakdara
* [[University of Peshawar]], Peshawar
* [[Khyber Medical College]], [[Peshawar]]

==Sports==
[[Cricket (sport)|Cricket]] is the main sport played in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It has produced world-class sportsmen like [[Shahid Afridi]], [[Younis Khan]], [[Khushdil Shah]], [[Fakhar Zaman (cricketer)|Fakhar Zaman]] and [[Umar Gul]]. Besides producing cricket players, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the honour of being the birthplace of many world-class [[squash (sport)|squash]] players, including greats like Hashim Khan, Qamar Zaman, [[Jahangir Khan]] and [[Jansher Khan]]. {{citation needed|date = December 2021}}

== Tourism ==
{{excerpt|Tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

==See also==
* [[Northern Pakistan]]
* [[List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population]]
* [[List of cultural heritage sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
* [[List of hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
* [[List of populated places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
* [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa clothing]]
* [[Provincial Highways of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
* [[Tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
* [[North-West Frontier Province]]
* [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]]
{{-}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|voy=Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
* {{Official|http://www.kp.gov.pk}}
* [http://kptourism.com Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tourism corporation]

{{Khyber Pakhtunkhwa topics}}
{{Administrative units of Pakistan}}
{{Districts of the North-West Frontier Province}}
{{Pakistan topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Khyber Pakhtunkhwa| ]]
[[Category:2005 Kashmir earthquake]]
[[Category:Durand Line]]
[[Category:Pashto-speaking countries and territories]]
[[Category:Provinces of Pakistan]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1970]]