South Waziristan District

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South Waziristan District ضلع جنوبی وزیرستان
District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Skanrr Gharra mountain from Kot Nawaz
Map of South Waziristan District
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Division	Dera Ismail Khan
Established	1893 (as an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas)
Headquarters	Wanna
Number of Tehsils	8
Government [2]
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	Khalid Khattak[1]
• District Police Officer	N/A
• District Health Officer	N/A
Area
• Total	6,620 km2 (2,560 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[3]
• Total	888,675
• Density	130/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Main language(s)	Waziri Pashto Ormari
Website	southwaziristan.kp.gov.pk

South Waziristan District (Urdu: ضلع جنوبی وزیرستان) was a district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, before splitting into the Lower South Waziristan District and the Upper South Waziristan District on 13 April 2022.^[4][5] It covers around 11,585 km² (4,473 mi²). Waziristan is located in the southwest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is situated between two rivers, the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. The region was an independent tribal territory from 1893, separated from both Afghanistan and the British-ruled empire in the subcontinent. Raiding the tribal areas was a constant problem for the British, requiring frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945.^{[citation needed]} Troops of the British Raj coined a name for this region "Hell's Door Knocker" in recognition of the fearsome reputation of the local fighters and inhospitable terrain.^{[citation needed]} The district headquarter of the South Waziristan district is Wanna. South Waziristan is divided into three administrative subdivisions of Ladha, Sarwakai, and Wanna. These three subdivisions are further divided into eight Tehsils: Ladha, Makin, Sararogha, Sarwakai, Tiarza, Wanna, Barmal, and Toi Khula.

The Waziristan was divided into two "agencies": North Waziristan and South Waziristan. Primarily, two big tribes live there. The Wazir tribe lives in the south Waziristan while Mahsud tribe inhibits the North Waziristan. Both the tribes are the subgroups of the Waziri tribe, after whom the region "Waziristan" is named,^[6] and speak a common Waziristani dialect. They have a reputation as warriors and are known for their frequent blood feuds. Traditionally, feuding local Waziri religious leaders have enlisted outsiders in the Pakistani government, and more recently the U.S. forces hunting al-Qaeda fugitives—in attempts at score-settling.^{[citation needed]} 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 through so-called Collective Responsibility Acts in the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

In terms of area, South Waziristan was the largest agency in the erstwhile FATA region(now merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) being 6,619 km². It has been functioning since 1895. After it was merged with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2018, it received the status of a district.^[7] It is bordered with the North Waziristan district on the north, Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts on the northeast, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts on the east, Zhob District of the Balochistan on the south and Afghanistan on the west.^[6]