One of the four provinces of Pakistan, until 2010 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was called the North-West Frontier Province. It is relatively small in population and the tiniest among the Pakistani states. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is located in the north-west of the country on the border with Afghanistan. At the same time, it is the third largest and the fastest growing economy in Pakistan. The province is a major provider of electricity and forestry resources to the rest of the country.
The titular ethnic group is Pashtuns comprises about 74% of the region's population. The Pashtu language, which belongs to the eastern group of Iranian languages and is related to the Pamir languages, distinguishes them from the predominant Punjabis and the rest of Pakistan. In addition to Pashtuns, about 18% of the province's population is Hindhi, about 4% are Sarayks. The proportion of Punjabis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is minuscule.
The province appeared within the contemporary borders at the end of the 19th century as a result of a division of the territory of the Pashtun tribes between Afghanistan and British India. Thus, the Pashtuns were separated from their kin-state, and during the partition of British India, an independent political movement of the Pashtuns emerged. Its leaders were the allies of the Indian National Congress. Since that time, a strong ethnic-regional party was formed in the region, representing the interests of the Pashtuns at both the provincial and national levels - the Awami National Party. Currently, other Pashtun parties, both moderate and radical, are active in the region. A number of them are supported by the government of Afghanistan, which does not recognize the division of the Pashtun tribes.
