Regional & Local Government
Pakistan delegates government to a mix of provinces, federally administered areas and separate regions. The primary divisions are the four provinces – Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Punjab is the largest province, covering 205,000 square kilometres. Provinces are in turn divided into smaller units which are administered by district (Zila), tehsil and union councils. A tehsil is unique to South Asia and it is difficult to find equivalents elsewhere.
The provinces are governed by a Governor and a directly elected provincial assembly, and so enjoy considerable autonomy. The provincial government is responsible for providing major services such as health, education, agriculture and roads.
The provinces also return ministers to the Senate, Pakistan’s upper house. Each province sends 22 members, with the remaining seats given to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Federal Capital.
FATA is broken down into 8 administrative agencies managed by central government, while the other remaining regions: the Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, have their own political and administrative machinery.
| Regional & Local Government organisations in Pakistan | |
|---|---|
| Enterprise & Investment Promotion City District Government of Karachi |
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| Islamabad Capital Territory |
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| North West Frontier Province Government |
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| Province of Sindh |
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