Federally Administered Tribal Areas

{{Short description|1947–2018 semi-autonomous region in Pakistan}} {{Redirect|FATA}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=April 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}} {{Infobox former subdivision | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|ur|{{nq|وفاق کے زیر انتظام قبائلی علاقہ جات}}}}<br>{{lang|ps|فدرالي قبايلي سيمې}}}} | conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas | nation = Pakistan | subdivision = Former Territory | image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg | image_coat = File:Coat of arms of FATA.svg | image_map = Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan (claims hatched).svg | image_map_caption = Former Location of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas | event_start = Established | year_start = 1947 | date_start = 14 August | year_end = 2018 | date_end = 31 May | event_end = Merged into Khyber Pakthunkhwa | flag_s1 = Flag of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.svg | s1 = Merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa{{!}}Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | flag_p1 = Flag of United Kingdom.svg | p1 = Frontier Crimes Regulation{{!}}British Administrated Tribal Areas | stat_year1 = 2017 | stat_area1 = 27,220 | stat_pop1 = | today = Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | demonym = | area_km2 = | area_rank = | GDP_PPP = | GDP_PPP_year = | HDI = | HDI_year = | common_name = FATA Human Development Index 0.456 }}

The '''Federally Administered Tribal Areas''' ('''FATA'''){{efn|{{langx|ps|فدرالي قبايلي سيمې}}; {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|وفاق کے زیر انتظام قبائلی علاقہ جات}}}}}} was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the Twenty-fifth amendment to the constitution of Pakistan. It consisted of seven tribal agencies (districts) and six frontier regions, and were directly governed by the federal government through a special set of laws called the Frontier Crimes Regulations.

On 24 May 2018, the National Assembly of Pakistan voted in favour of an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan for the FATA-KP merger which was approved by the Senate the following day.<ref name="amendment-merger">{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1718734/1-ppp-pti-set-throw-weight-behind-k-p-fata-merger-bill-senate/|title=Senate approves FATA, K-P merger bill|date=2018-05-25|newspaper=The Express Tribune|access-date=2018-05-25|publisher=Tribune}}</ref> Since the change was to affect the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it was presented for approval in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on 27 May 2018, and passed with majority vote. On 28 May 2018, the President of Pakistan signed the FATA Interim Governance Regulation, a set of interim rules for FATA until it merges with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within a timeframe of two years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/197129-president-mamnoon-hussain-signs-kp-fata-merger-bill|title=Tribespeople freed of FCR as president signs FATA governance regulation|website=geo.tv|access-date=31 May 2018}}</ref> The 25th Amendment received assent from President Mamnoon Hussain on 31 May 2018, after which FATA was officially merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<ref name="nation.com.pk">{{cite web |url=https://nation.com.pk/31-May-2018/president-signs-constitutional-amendment-to-merge-fata-with-kp |title=President signs 'Constitutional Amendment' to merge FATA with KP |date=31 May 2018 |newspaper=The Nation |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531150929/https://nation.com.pk/31-May-2018/president-signs-constitutional-amendment-to-merge-fata-with-kp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== History ==

=== Colonial period === {{Former administrative units of Pakistan}}

Although the British never succeeded in completely calming unrest in the region,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rabasa|first1=Angel|first2=Steven|last2=Boraz |first3=Peter|last3=Chalk |title=Ungoverned territories: understanding and reducing terrorism of terrorists groups risks|publisher=RAND|place=Santa Monica, California|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8330-4152-4|page=49|quote=The British annexed the area during the nineteenth century but never fully pacified the area.}}</ref> it served as a buffer from unrest in Afghanistan.<ref name=Leaving227>{{cite book|last1=Bjørgo|first1=Tore|author-link=Tore Bjørgo|author-link2=John Horgan (political psychologist)|first2=John |last2=Horgan|title=Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and Collective Disengagement|publisher=Routledge|place=Abingdon-on-Thames, England|year=2009|isbn=978-0-203-88475-1|page=227}}</ref> The British Colonial Government attempted to control the population of the annexed tribal regions with the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which granted large amounts of power to local leaders along the North-West Frontier as part of the process of indirect rule.<ref name="Leaving227" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Analysis: Pakistan's tribal frontiers|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1711316.stm|work=BBC|date=14 December 2001|access-date=2009-05-19}}</ref><ref name="ali">{{cite book|last1=Ali|first1=Shaheen Sardar|author-link=Shaheen Sardar Ali|first2=Javaid|last2=Rehman|title=Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities of Pakistan: constitutional and legal perspectives|publisher=Routledge|place=Abingdon-on-Thames, UK|year=2001|isbn=0-7007-1159-7|page=52}}</ref> Due to "the extremely harsh, inhuman and discriminatory provisions" contained within the FCR, the legislation came to be known as the "black law."<ref name="ali" /><gallery> File:Map of Tribal Territory north of Peshawar district of the North-West Frontier Province, British India, published in 'The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir' (1916).jpg|Map of Tribal Territory north of Peshawar district of the North-West Frontier Province (1916) File:Map of Tribal Territory in the western part of the North-West Frontier Province, British India, published in 'The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir' (1916).jpg|Map of Tribal Territory in the western part of the North-West Frontier Province (1916) </gallery>

===After independence=== The annexed areas continued to be governed through the Frontier Crimes Regulations after the creation of Pakistan in 1947, by the Dominion of Pakistan in 1947, and into the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956.<ref name=Tierney>{{cite book|last=Tierney|first=Stephen|title=Accommodating national identity: new approaches in international and domestic law|edition=21|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|location=Leiden, Netherlands|year=2000|isbn=90-411-1400-9|pages=190–191}}</ref>

According to the United States Institute of Peace, the character of the region underwent a shift beginning in the 1980s. Mujahideen entered to fight against the jirgas as allies of the CIA Operation Cyclone; both were opposed to forces of the Soviet Union prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of Soviet Union.<ref name=Troubles/>

In 2001, the Tehrik-e-Taliban militants began entering into the region.<ref name=Troubles/> In 2003, Taliban forces sheltered in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas began crossing the border into Afghanistan, attacking military and police after the United States invasion.<ref name=Crews231>{{cite book|title=The Taliban and the crisis of Afghanistan|last1=Crews|first1=Robert D.|first2=Amin|last2=Tarzi|author-link2=Amin Tarzi|publisher=Harvard University Press|place=Cambridge, MA, USA|year=2008|isbn=978-0-674-02690-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/talibancrisisofa00robe/page/231 231]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/talibancrisisofa00robe/page/231}}</ref> Shkin, Afghanistan was a key location for these frequent battles. This heavily fortified military base housed mostly American special operations forces since 2002 and is located six kilometers from the Pakistani border. It is considered the most dangerous location in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_6f_3DobpdwC&q=shkin,+afghanistan,+most+dangerous&pg=PA110 |title=Blackwater: the rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army |first=Jeremy|last=Scahill|author-link=Jeremy Scahill|publisher=PublicAffairs|place=New York, NY, USA|date=2008-05-27|isbn=9781568584065|page=110|access-date=2012-03-08}}</ref>

Since the September 11 attacks in the United States of 2001, the tribal areas were a major theatre of militancy and terrorism. The Pakistan Army launched 10 operations against the Pakistani Taliban since 2001, notably the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan. The operations displaced about two million people from the tribal areas, as schools, hospitals, and homes have been destroyed in the war.<ref name="nytimes">{{Cite news |last=Zahra-Malik |first=Mehreen |date=2018-02-06 |title=In Pakistan, Long-Suffering Pashtuns Find Their Voice |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/world/asia/pakistan-pashtun-long-march.html |access-date=2018-02-07}}</ref>

With the encouragement of the United States, 80,000 Pakistani troops entered the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in March 2004 to search for al-Qaeda operatives, meeting with fierce resistance from Pakistani Taliban.<ref name="Crews231" /> It was not the elders, but the Pakistani Taliban who negotiated a truce with the army, an indication of the extent to which the Pakistani Taliban had taken control.<ref name="Crews231" /> Troops entered the region, into South Waziristan and North Waziristan, eight more times between 2004 and 2006, and faced further Pakistani Taliban resistance. Peace accords entered into in 2004 and 2006 set terms whereby the tribesmen in the area would stop attacking Afghanistan, and the Pakistanis would halt major military actions against the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, release all prisoners, and permit tribesmen to carry small guns.<ref name="Crews231" />

On 4 June 2007, the National Security Council of Pakistan met to decide the fate of Waziristan and take up a number of political and administrative decisions to control "Talibanization" of the area. The meeting was chaired by President Pervez Musharraf and it was attended by the Chief Ministers and Governors of all four provinces. They discussed the deteriorating law and order situation and the threat posed to state security. To crush the armed militancy in the Tribal regions and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the government decided to intensify and reinforce law enforcement and military activity, take action against certain madrasas, and jam illegal FM radio stations.<ref name="Dawn">{{cite web |last=Khan |first=Ismail |year=2007 |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/253526/plan-ready-to-curb-militancy-in-fata-settled-areas |title=Plan ready to curb militancy in Fata, settled areas |newspaper=Dawn |publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications|location=Karachi, Pakistan |access-date=2007-06-27 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070711090947/http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/26/top4.htm |archive-date = 2007-07-11}} </ref>

===Merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa=== On 2 March 2017, the federal government considered a proposal to merge the tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and to repeal the Frontier Crimes Regulations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sikander |first=Sardar |date=2017-03-02 |title=Federal cabinet approves FATA's merger with K-P, repeal of FCR |language=en-US |work=The Express Tribune |place=Karachi, Pakistan |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1343825/federal-cabinet-approves-fata-reforms/ |access-date=2017-03-02}}</ref> However, some political parties opposed the merger, and called for the tribal areas to instead become a separate province of Pakistan.<ref name="nytimes" />

The proposed merger was near finalized at a meeting presided over by President Mamnoon Hussain at the Presidency in January 2017. The Prime Minister gave approval after discussing the issue with all the stakeholders.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/181582-Govt-decides-to-merge-Fata-with-KP |title=Govt decides to merge Fata with KP |newspaper=The News International|publisher=Jang Group of Newspapers|location=Karachi, Pakistan|date=2017-01-25}}</ref> By March 2017, the federal cabinet approved the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other reforms.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/189745-Cabinet-approves-recommendations-on-Fata-reforms|title=Cabinet approves Fata merger with KP|date=2017-03-02|newspaper=The News International|publisher=Jang Group of Newspapers|location=Karachi, Pakistan}}</ref>

====National Implementation Committee on FATA Reforms====

On 18 December 2017, the National Implementation Committee (NIC) on FATA Reforms, chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, endorsed the FATA-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa merger and agreed to let FATA elect 23 members to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the July 2018 general elections. The NIC also decided to remove controversial sections of the Frontier Crimes Regulations and to allow colonial-era regulation to continue with a sunset clause to be replaced entirely once a proper judicial system is in place in the tribal region.<ref name="dec-nic-meeting">{{cite news|newspaper=Dawn|publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications|location=Karachi, Pakistan|date=2017-12-26|access-date=2018-04-09|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1378852|title=Historic decision on Fata-KP merger taken|last=Khan|first=Ismail}}</ref>

====Constitutional amendment====

On 24 May 2018, the National Assembly of Pakistan passed a bill to enact the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan which called for the merger of FATA with the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The vote was 229–1 in favor of the amendment. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party lawmakers walked out from the assembly ahead of the vote. The sole dissenter was Dawar Kundi of the PTI.

On 25 May 2018, the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was passed with a majority in the Senate of Pakistan. A total of 69 votes was needed for the bill to be approved; the vote was 71–5 in favor of the amendment for FATA, K-P merger.<ref name="amendment-merger" />

On 27 May 2018, the Thirty-first Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was passed with a majority in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. A total of 83 votes was needed for the bill to be approved, the vote was an 87–7 in favor of the amendment for FATA, K-P merger.<ref name="amendment-merger" />

===Qabailistan proposal=== Parliamentarians from tribal areas took strong exception to a resolution adopted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly asking for merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with their province. The Awami National Party also made similar demands that the FATA be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These proposals were opposed by tribal parliamentarians in Islamabad.<ref name="Mian">{{cite web|first=Bakhtawar|last=Mian |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/716903/tribal-lawmakers-oppose-move-to-merge-fata-with-kp |title=Tribal lawmakers oppose move to merge Fata with KP |newspaper=Dawn|publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications|location=Karachi, Pakistan|date=2012-05-09 |access-date=2013-07-12}}</ref> The name Qabailistan was proposed for FATA as a new province separate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<ref name="Qabailistan province proposed">{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7-107429-Qabailistan-province-proposed |title=Qabailistan province proposed |publisher=The News International|place=Karachi, Pakistan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510004725/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7-107429-Qabailistan-province-proposed|date=2012-05-10|access-date=2018-04-09|archive-date=2012-05-10}}</ref> The Qabailistan proposal never got any traction and was dropped in favor of merging FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.<ref name="Qabailistan province proposed"/><ref name="Mian"/><ref name="nation.com.pk"/>

== Geography == [[File:Village Tari Mengal Pewar Kurram Agency.jpg|thumb|Tari Mangal in the Kurram District]] The Federally Administered Tribal Areas were bordered by Afghanistan to the north and west, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the east, and Balochistan to the south.

The seven Tribal Areas laid in a north-to-south strip adjacent to the west side of the six Frontier Regions. The geographical arrangement of the seven Tribal Areas in order from north to south was: Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan, South Waziristan. The geographical arrangement of the six Frontier Regions in order from north to south was: FR Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Bannu, FR Lakki Marwat, FR Tank, FR Dera Ismail Khan.

== Demographics == {{historical populations | percentages = pagr |1901|74,756 |1911|1,622,094 |1921|2,825,136 |1931|2,259,288 |1941|2,377,599 |1951|1,332,005 |1961|1,847,195 |1972|2,491,230 |1981|2,198,547 |1998|2,746,490 |2017|5,001,676 | source = <ref name="POP2017">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/Population_Results.pdf|title=Preliminary 2017 census result|work=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|access-date=26 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918065346/http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/Population_Results.pdf|archive-date=18 September 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="NWFP1941">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215543 |jstor=saoa.crl.28215543 |access-date=15 October 2021 |title=Census of India, 1941. Vol. 10, North-West Frontier Province |year=1941}}</ref>{{rp|9}}<ref name="NWFP1901">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25363739 |jstor=saoa.crl.25363739 |access-date=25 February 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province. |year=1901}}</ref>{{rp|7}} }} The total population of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas was estimated in 2000 to be about 3,341,080 people, or roughly 2% of Pakistan's population. Only 3.1% of the population resides in established townships.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zaman|first1=Arshad|last2=Ara|first2=Iffat|date=September 2002|title=Rising urbanization in Pakistan: Some facts and suggestions|url=http://www.nipa-khi.edu.pk/Dr.%20Arshad%20Zaman%20and%20Iffat%20Ara.pdf#search=%22pakistan%20urbanisation%22|url-status=dead|journal=The Journal|publisher=NIPA Karachi|volume=7|issue=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041116201218/http://www.nipa-khi.edu.pk/Dr.%20Arshad%20Zaman%20and%20Iffat%20Ara.pdf#search=%22pakistan%20urbanisation%22|archive-date=16 November 2004|access-date=2018-04-09|df=dmy-all}}</ref> According to 2011 estimates FATA gained 62.1% population over its 1998 figures, totaling up to 4,452,913. This was the fourth-highest increase in population of any province, after that of Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan.<ref name="POP2011">{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-population-increased-by-46-9-between-1998-and-2011/articleshow/12453387.cms|title=Pak population increased by 46.9% between 1998 and 2011|work=The Times of India|access-date=27 January 2016}}</ref>

===Languages=== {{bar box|float=left|title=Languages of Federally Administered Tribal Areas<br/><small>(2017 Census of Pakistan)</small><ref name="Kiani">{{Cite web |last=Kiani |first=Khaleeq |date=2018-05-28 |title=CCI defers approval of census results until elections |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1410447 |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en |quote=In Fata, 98.4pc had Pushto as mother tongue, followed by 0.49pc Urdu, 0.28pc Punjabi, 0.10pc Sindhi and 0.08pc Balochi.}}</ref>|bars={{bar percent|Pashto|Green|98.4}} {{bar percent|Urdu|Red|0.49}} {{bar percent|Punjabi|Blue|0.28}} {{bar percent|Sindhi|Violet|0.10}} {{bar percent|Balochi|Yellow|0.08}}}}According to the 2017 census of Pakistan, 98.4% of the population of FATA had Pashto as mother tongue, followed by 0.49% Urdu, 0.28% Punjabi, 0.10% Sindhi and 0.08% spoke Balochi.<ref name="Kiani">{{Cite web |last=Kiani |first=Khaleeq |date=2018-05-28 |title=CCI defers approval of census results until elections |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1410447 |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en |quote=In Fata, 98.4pc had Pushto as mother tongue, followed by 0.49pc Urdu, 0.28pc Punjabi, 0.10pc Sindhi and 0.08pc Balochi.}}</ref>

===Religions=== {{bar box |title=Religions in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/POPULATION%20BY%20RELIGION.pdf|title=Population by Religion|publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|access-date=7 April 2018|archive-date=29 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329204115/http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/tables/POPULATION%20BY%20RELIGION.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> |titlebar=#Fcd116 |left1=Religion |right1=Percent |float=left |bars= {{bar percent|Islam|green|99.6}} {{bar percent|Others†|black|0.4}} |caption=Distribution of religions<br /> †<small>Includes Sikhs, Parsis, Hindus, Christian .</small> }} Over 99.6% of the population was Muslim belonging to the Sunni Hanafi Fiqh.

According to a report by the government of Pakistan there were around 50,000 religious minority members living in former FATA region. These included 20,000 Sikhs, 20,000 Christians and 10,000 Hindus.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1874626/1-tribal-way-lone-church-south-waziristan-continues-services/?amp=1|title=Tribal way: Lone church in South Waziristan continues services|access-date=4 April 2020}}</ref>{{clear}}

==Government and politics== {{Main|Administrative System of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas}}

=== Democracy and parliamentary representation === In 1996, the Government of Pakistan finally granted the Federally Administered Tribal Areas the long requested "adult franchise", under which every adult would have the right to vote for their own representatives in the Parliament of Pakistan.<ref name="Troubles">{{cite web|last1=Fair |first1=C. Christine|author-link1=C. Christine Fair|first2=Nicholas|last2=Howenstein |first3=J. Alexander|last3=Thier |title=Troubles on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border |date=December 2006 |url=http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2006/1207_pakistan_afghanistan_border.html |publisher=United States Institute of Peace|place=Washington, DC, USA|access-date=2009-05-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509031256/http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2006/1207_pakistan_afghanistan_border.html |archive-date=9 May 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Tierney206">Tierney, 206.</ref> The Federally Administered Tribal Areas were not allowed to organize political parties.<ref name="Tierney206" /> Islamist candidates were able to campaign through mosques and madrasas, as a result of which mullahs were elected to represent the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the National Assembly in 1997 and 2002.<ref name="Troubles" /> This was a departure from prior tribal politics, where power was focused in the hands of secular authorities, ''Maliks''.<ref name="Troubles" />

=== Women and elections === All of the FATA's adults were legally allowed to vote in the Majlis-e-Shoora of Pakistan under the "adult franchise" granted in 1996.<ref name="Troubles" /> Stephen Tierney, in ''Accommodating National Identity,'' reported that women came out to do so in the thousands for the 1997 office, possibly motivated by competition for voter numbers among the tribes.<ref name="Tierney206" /> However, Ian Talbot in ''Pakistan, a Modern History'' states that elders and religious leaders attempted to prevent female participation by threatening punishment against tribesmen whose women registered, leading to under-registration in the female population.<ref>{{cite book|title=Pakistan, a modern history|last=Talbot|first=Ian|edition=revised|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|place=London, UK|year=1998|isbn=0-312-21606-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pakistanmodernhi00talb/page/2 2–3]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistanmodernhi00talb/page/2}}</ref> In 2008, the Taliban ordered women in the FATA regions of Bajaur, Kurram and Mohmand against voting under threat of "serious punishment", while Mangal Bagh, chief of the Lashkar-e-Islam, forbade women to vote in the Jamrud and Bara subdivisions of the Khyber Agency.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/02/17/0802171510_pak-women.html|title=Poll doors closed on a third of FATA women|date=2008-02-17|archive-date=31 May 2009|access-date=2018-04-09|newspaper=Press Trust of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531183448/http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/02/17/0802171510_pak-women.html|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Administration ===

{{main|Administrative System of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas}}

The region was controlled by the Federal government of Pakistan for more than seventy years until its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On behalf of the President, the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly NWFP) used to exercise the federal authority in the context of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The Constitution of Pakistan had special provisions to rule the FATA. The rules which were framed by the British in 1901 as Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) also continued to operate. According to now repealed Article 247 of Constitution of Pakistan, The Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and any of the High Court of Pakistan did not extend to FATA and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA). The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly had no power in FATA, and can exercise its powers in PATA only for that which was part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The Pashtun tribes who inhabit the areas were semi-autonomous, with cordial relations with the Pakistan government.<ref name="talibanistan">{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601850,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325154852/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601850,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 March 2007|title=The Truth About Talibanistan|date=22 March 2007|newspaper=Time|last=Baker|first=Aryn|author-link=Aryn Baker|access-date=28 January 2016}}</ref>

===Relations with the Pakistani military=== In 2001, the Pakistani military entered the Federally Administered Tribal Areas for the first time which was previously governed by Frontier Corps. In 2010, The New America Foundation and Terror Free Tomorrow conducted the first comprehensive public opinion survey in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The results showed that, on the issue of fighting militancy in the region, the people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas overwhelmingly support the Pakistani military.<ref name=":0" /> Nearly 70 percent back the Pakistani military pursuing Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Tribal Areas. According to a survey, when asked how the Federally Administered Tribal Areas should be governed, 79 percent said it should be governed by the Pakistani military.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://newamerica.net/publications/policy/public_opinion_in_pakistan_s_tribal_regions|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129055411/http://newamerica.net/publications/policy/public_opinion_in_pakistan_s_tribal_regions|archive-date=2010-11-29|title=Public Opinion in Pakistan's Tribal Regions |publisher=New America Foundation|place=Washington, DC, USA|last1=Bergen|first1=Peter|last2=Doherty|first2=Patrick C.|last3=Ballen|first3=Ken|author-link1=Peter Bergen|date=2010-09-28 |access-date=2018-04-09}}</ref>

In 2014, about 929,859 people were reported to be internally displaced from North Waziristan as a result of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, a military offensive conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces along the Durand Line.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1117879|title=North Waziristan IDPs figure reaches 800,000|newspaper=Dawn|publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications|location=Karachi, Pakistan|date=2014-06-08|last=Sherazi|first=Zahir Shah}}</ref><ref name="13July">{{cite news|title=Air raids flatten 5 militant hideouts|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/735366/air-raids-flatten-5-militant-hideouts/|date=14 July 2014|work=The Express Tribune|place=Karachi, Pakistan|access-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>

=== Administrative divisions === thumb|403x403px|Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) consisted of two types of areas, the Tribal Agencies, and Frontier Regions. There were seven Tribal Agencies and six Frontier Regions.

====Tribal Agencies==== The Tribal Agencies were further divided into Subdivisions, and Tehsils. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas consisted of the following subdivisions and tehsils:<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.fata.gov.pk/index.php?link=9|title=FATA – Official Web Portal|work=fata.gov.pk|access-date=28 January 2016|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118005233/https://www.fata.gov.pk/index.php?link=9|url-status=dead}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Agency / FR ! Subdivision ! Tehsil |- | rowspan=7 | Bajaur Agency | rowspan=3 | Khaar | Khara Bajaur |- | Utman Khel |- | Salarzai |- | rowspan=4 | Nawagai | Nawagai |- | Mamund |- | Barang |- | Bar Chamarkand |- | rowspan=7 | Mohmand Agency | rowspan=4 | Lower Mohmand | Yake Ghund |- | Ambar Utman Khel |- | Pindiali |- | Prang Ghar Utmankhel |- | rowspan=3 | Upper Mohmand | Safi |- | Upper Mohmand |- | Halim Zai |- | rowspan=4 | Khyber Agency | rowspan=2 | Jamrud | Jamrud |- | Mula Gori |- | Landi Kotal | Landi Kotal |- | Bara | Bara |- | rowspan=4 | Orakzai Agency | rowspan=2 | Lower Orakzai | Lower |- | Central |- | rowspan=2 | Upper Orakzai | Ismail Zai |- | Upper |- | rowspan=3 | Kurram Agency | Lower Kurram | Lower Kurram |- | Central Kurram | Central Kurram F.R. |- | Upper Kurram | Upper Kurram |- | rowspan=9 | North Waziristan Agency | rowspan=3 | Mirali | Mir Ali |- | Spinwam |- | Shewa |- | rowspan=3 | Miramshah | Miran Shah |- | Datta Khel |- | Ghulam Khan |- | rowspan=3 | Razmak | Razmak |- | Dossali |- | Gharyum |- | rowspan=8 | South Waziristan Agency | rowspan=3 | Ladha | Ladha |- | Makin |- | Sararogha |- | rowspan=2 | Sarwakai | Serwekai |- | Tiarza |- | rowspan=3 | Wanna | Wana |- | Birmil |- | Toi Khullah |}

====Frontier Regions==== {{Main|Frontier Regions}}

The Frontier Regions were named after their adjacent settled Districts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The administration of the FR was carried out by the DCO / DC of the neighbouring named district. The overall administration of the frontier regions was carried out by the FATA Secretariat, based in Peshawar and reporting to the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The six regions were: *Frontier Region Bannu *Frontier Region Dera Ismail Khan *Frontier Region Kohat *Frontier Region Lakki Marwat *Frontier Region Peshawar *Frontier Region Tank

== Economy == {{See also|FATA Development Authority|Tribal Electric Supply Company}} The Former FATA region was amongst the most impoverished parts of the nation. Despite being home to 2.4% of Pakistan's population, it made up only 1.5% of Pakistan's economy with a per capita income of only $663 in 2010<ref name="dawn.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/19-economics-and-extremism-hh-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108132730/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/19-economics-and-extremism-hh-04 |date=2010-01-08|archive-date=2010-01-08|access-date=2018-04-09|title= Economics and extremism|last=Burki|first=Shahid Javed|author-link=Shahid Javed Burki|publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications|place=Karachi, Pakistan|newspaper=Dawn}}</ref> only 34% of households managed to rise above the poverty level.<ref name=Markey5>{{cite book|last=Markey|first=Daniel S.|title=Securing Pakistan's Tribal Belt|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|place=New York, NY, USA|year=2008|isbn=978-0-87609-414-3|page=5}}</ref>

Due to the Former FATA region's tribal organization, the economy was chiefly pastoral, with some agriculture practiced in the region's few fertile valleys. Its total irrigated land was roughly 1,000 square kilometres.<ref name=jpnyt>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/world/asia/16pakistan.html?pagewanted=print|last=Perlez|first=Jane|author-link=Jane Perlez|title=Aid to Pakistan in Tribal Areas Raises Concerns|date=2007-07-16|access-date=2007-11-09|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> The region was a major center for opium trafficking, as well the smuggling of other contraband.<ref name=jpnyt/>

Foreign aid to the region was a difficult proposition, according to Craig Cohen, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Since security is difficult, local nongovernmental organizations were required to distribute aid, but there was a lack of trust amongst NGOs and other powers that hampered distribution. Pakistani NGOs were often targets of violent attacks by Islamist militants in the Former FATA region. Due to the extensive hostility to any hint of foreign influence, the American branch of Save the Children was distributing funding anonymously in the region as of July 2007.<ref name=jpnyt/> The concept of setting up Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in the former FATA region and Afghanistan was an element in the United States Government's counter-terrorism and regional economic integration strategies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40627.pdf|date=2009-10-15|last=Bolle|first=Mary Jane|title=Afghanistan and Pakistan Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs), H.R. 1318/H.R. 1886/H.R. 2410 and S. 496: Issues and Arguments|publisher=Congressional Research Service|place=Washington, DC, USA}}</ref>

==Social issues== === Health ===

There was one hospital bed for every 2,179 people in the former FATA region, compared to one in 1,341 in Pakistan as a whole. There was one doctor for every 7,670<ref>{{cite book |date=January 2010|title=Pakistan Smart Book|edition=First|location=Sierra Vista, AZ, USA|publisher=TRADOC Cultural Center|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Pakistan_Smart_Book_v1.pdf}}</ref> people compared to one doctor per 1,226 people in Pakistan as a whole. 43% of the former FATA region's citizens had access to clean drinking water.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Much of the population is suspicious about modern medicine, and some militant groups are openly hostile to vaccinations.

In June 2007, a Pakistani doctor was blown up in his car "after trying to counter the anti-vaccine propaganda of an imam in Bajaur", Pakistani officials told ''The New York Times''.<ref name=jpnyt/>

=== Education === The Former FATA region had a total of 6,050 government education institutions out of which 4,868 were functional. Out of these 4,868 functional institutions, 77 percent (3,729) were primary schools. Total enrolment in government institutions was 612,556 out of which 69 percent were studying at primary stage. Total number of working teachers in FATA was 22,610 out of which 7,540 were female. The survival rate from Grade KG to Grade 5 was 36 percent while the transition rate from primary to middle in public schools in Ex-FATA was 64 percent (73 percent for boys and 45 percent for girls).<ref name="Atlas 2015">{{cite web|url=http://www.aepam.edu.pk/Files/Publications/PakistanEducationAtlas2015.pdf|title=Pakistan Education Atlas 2015}}{{Dead link|date=April 2018}}</ref>

thumb|300px|right|Literacy Map of FATA (2007).<ref name="fata.gov.pk"/>

The Former FATA region has one university, FATA University in Akhurwal, Darra Adam Khel, FR Kohat, which was approved by Mir Hazar Khan Khoso in May 2013.<ref name="approval-uni">{{cite news|title=PM approves FATA University in FR Kohat|url=http://khybernews.tv/newsDetails.php?cat=2&key=MzUzNDI=|newspaper=Khyber News|date=2013-05-21|archive-date=2016-03-04|access-date=2018-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082740/http://khybernews.tv/newsDetails.php?cat=2&key=MzUzNDI=}}</ref> Classes commenced on 24 October 2016, under the direction of Dr. Mohammad Tahir Shah, former professor of geology at University of Peshawar.<ref name="uni-opens">{{cite news|newspaper=Dawn|url=https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=14_10_2016_007_009|title=Classes at Fata University to start on Oct 24|last=Shah|first=Sadia Qasim|date=2016-10-14|access-date=2018-04-11|publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications|location=Karachi, Pakistan}}</ref> The university plans to open sub-campuses at Khar, Miran Shah, and Parachinar.<ref name="uni-subcampuses">{{cite news|url=https://www.urdupoint.com/en/education/fata-university-to-establish-sub-campus-at-ba-166686.html|date=2017-07-25|newspaper=UrduPoint|title=FATA University To Establish Sub Campus At Bajaur Agency|last=Mir|first=Rukhshan|access-date=2018-04-11}}</ref>

The Former FATA region's literacy rate is 22%, which is well below the nationwide rate of 56%. 35.8% of men, and only 7.5% of women received education, compared to a nationwide 44% of women.<ref name="fata.gov.pk"/><ref name="dawn.com2">{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/18-literacy-day-today-education-not-on-govts-priority-list-am-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911162113/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/18-literacy-day-today-education-not-on-govts-priority-list-am-03|archive-date=2009-09-11|date=2009-09-08|access-date=2018-04-09|title= Literacy Day: Education not on govt's priority list |publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications|place=Karachi, Pakistan|newspaper=Dawn}}</ref>

{| class="sortable wikitable" |- ! rowspan=2 | Agency !! colspan=3 | Literacy rate 2007<ref name="fata.gov.pk">{{cite web |url=http://fata.gov.pk/files/MICS.pdf |title=Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)|access-date=2010-09-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816015355/http://fata.gov.pk/files/MICS.pdf |archive-date=2011-08-16|year=2009}}</ref> |- ! Male !! Female !! Total |- | Khyber || 57.2% || 10.1% || 34.2% |- | Kurram || 37.9% || 14.4% || 26.5% |- | South Waziristan || 32.3% || 4.3% || 20% |- | Orakzai || 29.5% || 3.4% || 17% |- | Mohmand || 28.5% || 3.5% || 16.6% |- | Bajaur Agency || 27.9% || 3.1% || 16.5% |- | North Waziristan (1998)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khyberpakhtunkhwa.gov.pk/Departments/BOS/fatadevstat-educa-tab-74.php |title=Agency/FR wise Literacy Ratio of (Population 10 years and above) in FATA 1998 Census|publisher=Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bureau of Statistics|access-date=2018-04-09|archive-date=2012-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227041328/http://www.khyberpakhtunkhwa.gov.pk/Departments/BOS/fatadevstat-educa-tab-74.php}}</ref>|| 26.77% || 1.47% || 15.88% |}

== Sports == FATA was home to the former domestic cricket team FATA Cheetahs. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas cricket team gained first class status in 2015.<ref name="qualify">{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/927167.html |title=FATA make it to Pakistan's first-class tournament |access-date=1 November 2015 |work=ESPNcricinfo|last=Farooq|first=Umar|place=Bengalaru, India}}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Geography|Asia|Pakistan|<!-- Federally Administered Tribal Areas -->}} *Administrative System of the FATA *Economy of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas * Frontier Regions *Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) *Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

== References == {{Notelist}} {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Sister project links|voy=Federally Administered Tribal Areas}} *[http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part12.ch3.html Constitutional Provisions on the Tribal Areas] – Chapter 3, Part XII of the Constitution of Pakistan *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120918213535/http://www.fata.gov.pk/ FATA Secretariat Official Website] *[http://dmoz.pk/Provinces/F-A-T-A/ FATA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104082231/http://dmoz.pk/Provinces/f-a-t-a/ |date=4 November 2017 }} Guide. *[http://fatada.gov.pk/ FATA Development Authority Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512042619/http://fatada.gov.pk/ |date=12 May 2013 }} *{{Wikivoyage inline|Federally Administered Tribal Areas}}

{{Geographic location | Centre = Federally Administered Tribal Areas | North = Kunar Province, {{flag|Afghanistan}} | Northeast = | East = Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Southeast = | South = Balochistan | Southwest = Paktika Province, {{flag|Afghanistan}} | West = Paktia Province, {{flag|Afghanistan}}<br />Khost Province, {{flag|Afghanistan}} | Northwest = Nangarhar Province, {{flag|Afghanistan}}<br />Logar Province, {{flag|Afghanistan}} }} <ref>{{Cite news |title=SMIU’s PhD student conducts research on human behavior |url=http://dawn.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19971210110221/http://dawn.com/ |url-status=live |archive-date=10 December 1997 |date=2025-11-19 |work=Dawn}}</ref>

{{Administrative units of Pakistan}} {{Federally Administered Tribal Areas}} {{List of districts of Pakistan |all}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Federally Administered Tribal Areas Category:Former subdivisions of Pakistan Category:Belt regions Category:Countries and territories where Pashto is an official language Category:Durand Line Category:States and territories established in 1970 Category:States and territories disestablished in 2018 Category:2010s disestablishments in Pakistan