The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) was a former province created by the British in their controlled territories in Indian Subcontinent then called British India. It was established in 1901 and dissolved in 1955, after eight years as part of the independent state of Pakistan. The area became Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 1955.

The province covered an area of 70,709 km², including much of the current Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (also called KP) province but excluding the former princely states of Amb, Chitral, Dir, Phulra and Swat. The capital was the city of Peshawar and the province was composed of three divisions (Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Malakand. Until 1947 the province was bordered by five princely states to the north, the minor states of the Gilgit Agency to the northeast, the province of West Punjab to the east, and the province of Balochistan to the south. Afghanistan lay to the northwest, with the tribal agencies forming a buffer zone.

History

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP or KPK; Urdu: خیبر پختونخوا‎ ; Pashto: خیبر پښتونخوا‎) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the northwestern region of the country. It was formerly known as North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), commonly called Sarhad in Urdu, which means "frontier." Its provincial capital and largest city is Peshawar, followed by Mardan. It shares borders with the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to the west; Gilgit–Baltistan to the northeast; Azad Kashmir, Islamabad and Punjab to the east and southeast. Balochistan lies to the southeast. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also shares an international border with the Afghanistan, connected through the Khyber Pass.

It is also the site of the ancient kingdom Gandhara, the ruins of its capital, Pushkalavati, (modern day Charsadda), and the most prominent center of learning in the Peshawar Valley, Takht-i-Bahi. It has been under the suzerainty of the Persians, Greeks, Mauryans, Kushans, Shahis, Ghaznavids, Mughals, Sikhs, and British Empire throughout its long history. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the third largest province of Pakistan by the size of both population and economy though it is geographically the smallest of four. It comprises 10.5% of Pakistan's economy, and is home to 11.9% of Pakistan's total population, with the majority of the province's inhabitants being Pashtuns , Hazarewal, Chitrali, and Kohistanis.

North-West Frontier Province may refer to:

See also

North West Frontier Province may refer to: