How Many Provinces of Pakistan, A Detailed Look at Pakistan’s Map
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a country in South Asia that shares a border with Iran, Afghanistan, India, and China.
Pakistan Came into existence on 14 august 1947 after the division of the former British Raj on the Indian subcontinent. The Country occupies an area of 796,096 Square kilometres.
How Many Provinces of Pakistan in 2023?
There are officially four provinces of Pakistan currently with 1 federal capital territory and 1 autonomous state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir ( AJK ).
Although Gilgit Baltistan has also been given the status of the 5th Province of Pakistan, However still there are some constitutional issues yet to be resolved.
- Punjab
- Sindh
- Khyber Paktunkhwa ( KPK )
- Balochistan
- Gilgit Baltistan
1. Punjab
Punjab is the biggest province of Pakistan in terms of the population while the second largest province of Pakistan by area after Balochistan. The Population of Punjab is more than 11 crore with an area of 205,344 square Kilometres. Province Capital City is Lahore
The Punjab province has a population that is larger than the populations of Turkey, Iran, Germany, France, Italy, and Great Britain.
Read Also: History of Minar e Pakistan
2. Sindh
Sindh is Pakistan’s second-largest province in terms of population and third-largest in terms of land area, after Punjab. Sindh has a population of around 4 crores 78 lacs and an area of 140,914 square kilometres. The capital city of Sindh province is Karachi.
3. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly known as the Northwest Frontier Province ( NWFP ) is the third-largest in population and the second-smallest province of Pakistan.
The Province has a population of 3 crores 55 lacs and an area of 101,741 square kilometres. Peshawar is the Capital of the Province of KPK.
4. Balochistan
Balochistan is the Second least populated province before Gilgit Baltistan and the largest province of Pakistan in terms of area.
The Population of Balochistan is somewhere around 1 crore 23 lacs and The Province occupies an area of 347,190 square kilometres, The Capital City of Balochistan is Quetta.
Thus, developed countries like Malaysia, Norway, and Italy are much smaller in size than the Province of Balochistan.
5. Gilgit Baltistan
Gilgit Baltistan has also been given the status of a Province, however, still there are some constitutional issues yet to be resolved.
Gilgit Baltistan is the smallest and least populated Province of Pakistan. Gilgit Baltistan has a far lower population than other provinces in Pakistan.
The land that Gilgit Baltistan occupies is 72,496 square kilometres and the population of the province is only around 14 lacs 49 thousand, therefore it is the smallest and least populated province of Pakistan. The capital city of the province is Gilgit.
Dispute of Autonomous State of Azad Jammu & Kashmir
Nominally Azad Jammu and Kashmir ( AJK ) is a self-governing state, however, Pakistan has imposed control over the territory without officially merging it into Pakistan since the 1949 ceasefire between Indian and Pakistani forces.
Control of the Kashmir area has been a cause of dispute between Pakistan, China, and India, who all control some parts of the territory.
India occupies an area of 101,338 kilometres, Pakistan controls 85,886 kilometres and China controls an area of 37,555 kilometres of the territory of the Kashmir region.
Does Pakistan Need More Provinces?
Developed countries have a concept that the more provinces or states a country has, The more it’ll be better governed.
Pakistan has had bad governance issues for years due to which it is demanded that the time has come to create more administrative units in Pakistan so that the authorities can be passed down to the lower level and people’s issues should be solved at their doorsteps.
Global Governance Index 2022, Shows that Bangladesh, which was separated from Pakistan in 1971, is placed 84th on the list of 180 countries, whereas Pakistan is ranked 144th, and India is ranked 65th, While South Korea tops the list of world countries with the best governance.
The rankings of these countries are based on their infrastructure, government cohesion, business environment, corruption, and financial stability.
South Korea is 8 times smaller than Pakistan in the area and 4 times smaller in population, Still there are 9 provinces to run the country well, similarly, our neighbour country China has 23 provinces, Iran has 31 provinces Afghanistan has 34 provinces and India has 28 provinces.
Hopefully, your question has been answered that why good governance is associated with more provinces.
