North Waziristan

North Waziristan (Urdu: شمالی وزیرستان‎ Shomali Waziristan), abbreviated as NWA, is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering 11,585 square kilometres (4,473 sq mi). Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Kurram River (Tochi River) to the north and the Gomal River to the south, forming part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Miranshah is capital of North Waziristan. Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lies immediately to the east. The region became an independent tribal territory in 1893, remaining outside of the British empire and Afghanistan. Tribal raiding into British territory was a constant problem for the British, requiring frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945. The region became part of Pakistan upon its independence in 1947.

Waziristan is divided into two "agencies", North Waziristan and South Waziristan, with estimated populations (as of 1998) of 361,246 and 429,841 respectively. The two parts have quite distinct characteristics, though both tribes are subgroups of the Waziri tribe, after which the region is named, and speak a common Waziri language. They have a famed reputation as formidable warriors and are known for their frequent blood feuds. The tribes are divided into sub-tribes governed by male village elders who meet in a tribal jirga. Socially and religiously, Waziristan is an extremely conservative area. Women are carefully guarded, and every household must be headed by a male figure. Tribal cohesiveness is strong because of "Collective Responsibility Acts" in the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

Waziristan

Waziristan (Pashto: وزیرستان‎, "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the North Waziristan and South Waziristan agencies, FR Bannu, and the western part of Tank in northwestern Pakistan, and the Janikhel, Gurbuz and Barmal districts of eastern Afghanistan. Waziristan covers some 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi). The area is mostly populated by ethnic Pashtuns. It is named after the Wazir tribe. The language spoken in the valley is Pashto, predominantly the Wazir dialect. Most of the region forms the southern part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. Bannu, Tank and FR DI Khan lie immediately to the east, Kurram Valley lies to the northeast, while Paktia, Khost and Paktika lie to the west and north. The region was an independent tribal territory until 1893, remaining outside the British Empire. Tribal raiding into British-ruled territory was a constant problem for the British, eliciting frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945. The region became part of Pakistan in 1947.

North

North is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. North is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west.

Etymology

The word north is related to the Old High German nord, both descending from the Proto-Indo-European unit ner-, meaning "down" (or "under"). (Presumably a natural primitive description of its concept is "to the left of the rising sun".)

The Latin word borealis comes from the Greek boreas "north wind, north", which, according to Ovid, was personified as the son of the river-god Strymon, the father of Calais and Zetes. Septentrionalis is from septentriones, "the seven plow oxen", a name of Ursa Maior. The Greek arktikos is named for the same constellation, and is the derivation of the English word "Arctic".

Other languages have sometimes more interesting derivations. For example, in Lezgian, kefer can mean both 'disbelief' and 'north', since to the north of the Muslim Lezgian homeland there are areas formerly inhabited by non-Muslim Caucasian and Turkic peoples. In many languages of Mesoamerica, "north" also means "up". In Hungarian the word for north is észak, which is derived from éjszaka ("night"), since above the Tropic of Cancer, the Sun never shines from the north.