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N.W.F.P
The North-West Frontier Province, or NWFP, runs for over 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) along the border with Afghanistan. Peshawar is its capital, and the Vale of Peshawar, fertile and well watered by the Kabul and Swat rivers, is its heart. This was also the heart of the ancient kingdom of Gandhara and is rich in archaeological remains. The northern half of the province consists of five river valleys running roughly parallel, north to south: the Chitral, Dir, Swat, Indus and Kaghan. These valleys are on the northern edge of the monsoon belt, so are fairly green and partly wooded in their southern sections. Northern Chitral and the upper regions of the Indus Valley are mountainous deserts, where cultivation depends entirely on irrigation. The NWFP south of Peshawar is below the monsoon belt and consists of low, Rocky Mountains and wide, gravelly plains.
The Tribal Areas, which cover nearly half the province along its border with Afghanistan, are autonomous regions governed by tribal law under the supervision of the Pakistani government. Because the government cannot, however, guarantee the safety of people who enter these areas, they are closed to foreigners. Even Pakistanis need permission to enter. The increased cultivation of opium in the Tribal Areas in recent years has intensified the nsks faced by outsiders who attempt to slip in for whatever reason.
The Khyber Pass, the route from Peshawar to Kabul in Afghanistan, is the feature of the province most widely known (and infused with romance) in the world beyond. To visit the pass you need a special permit from the Political Agent because of the tribal dangers and official sensitivity over drugs and guns. The PTDC at Deans Hotel run daily tours to the pass and make all the arrangements for permits and escort.
The warlike Pathans (or Pushtuns or Pukhtuns), who live in NWFP and the adjoining areas of Afghanistan, number about 17 million, making them one of the world's largest tribal societies. They have always considered themselves a race apart, a chosen people, and no one has ever managed to subdue them. The Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs, British and Russians have suffered defeat at their hands. The Pathans are divided into numerous subtnbes and clans, each defending its territory and honor. In addition, the Pathans serve as Pakistan's first line of defense along the Durand Line, the border drawn in 1893 by Sir Mortimer Durand, then foreign secretary of British India.
About four million Afghan refugees flooded into Pakistan after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. Because of the continuing civil war Afghanistan, many of them still live in Pakistan mostly in NWFP and Balochistan.