Global InformationWest Pakistan information
Province of West Pakistan مغربى پاکستان (Urdu) Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান (Bengali) Pôścim Pākistān Native language names
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| 1955–1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Anthem: Qaumi Taranah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![Location of West Pakistan (dark green)[a], the rest of Pakistan (light green)[b] and territories claimed by the federal government (pink)[c]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/West_Pakistan_%28orthographic_projection%29.png/250px-West_Pakistan_%28orthographic_projection%29.png) Location of West Pakistan (dark green)[a], the rest of Pakistan (light green)[b] and territories claimed by the federal government (pink)[c] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Administrative unit of Pakistan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Lahore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official languages |
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| Native languages |
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| Demonym(s) |
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| Government | Self-governing wing subject to the federal government | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Ministers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1955–1957 | Abdul Jabbar Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1957–1958 | Abdur Rashid Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1958[d] | Muzaffar Ali Qizilbash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Governors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1955–1957 | Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1957–1960 | Akhter Husain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1960-1966 | Amir Mohammad Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1966–1969 | Musa Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1969[e] | Yusuf Haroon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1969-1970 | Malik Nur Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1970-1971 | Attiqur Rahman[f] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Established | 14 October 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Dissolved[1] | 1 July 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Total | 796,096 km2 (307,374 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Pakistani rupee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+05:00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Pakistan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This article is part of the series |
| Former administrative units of Pakistan |
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West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan.[1] Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman in the Arabian Sea.
Following its independence from British rule, the new Dominion of Pakistan was physically separated into two exclaves, with the western and eastern wings geographically separated from each other by India. The western wing of Pakistan comprised three governor's provinces (the North-West Frontier, West Punjab and Sind), one chief commissioner's province (Baluchistan) along with the Baluchistan States Union, several independent princely states (notably Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Hunza, Khairpur and Swat), the Karachi Federal Capital Territory, and the autonomous tribal areas adjoining the North-West Frontier Province.[1] The eastern wing of the new country—known as East Pakistan—comprised the single province of East Bengal (which included the former Assamese district of Sylhet and the Chittagong Hill Tracts).
West Pakistan was the politically dominant division of the Pakistani union, despite East Pakistan making up more than half of its population. The eastern wing also had a disproportionately small number of seats in the Constituent Assembly. This administrative inequality between the two wings, coupled with the major geographical distance between them, was believed to be delaying the adoption of a constitution for Pakistan. To aid in diminishing the differences between the two regions, the Pakistani government decided to reorganize the country into two distinct provinces under the One Unit policy announced by then Pakistani Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali on 22 November 1954.
In 1970, the President of Pakistan General Yahya Khan enacted a series of territorial, constitutional and military reforms. These established the provincial assemblies, state parliament, as well as the current provisional borders of Pakistan's four official provinces. On 1 July 1970, West Pakistan was abolished under the Legal Framework Order of 1970, which dissolved the One Unit policy and restored the four provinces.[1] This order had no effect on East Pakistan, which retained the geopolitical position established in 1955.[1] The following year saw a major civil war erupt between West Pakistan and Bengali nationalists in East Pakistan. After a full-scale military intervention by India in support of the Bengali Freedom-fighters and West Pakistan's subsequent defeat, the exclave of East Pakistan seceded from its union with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as the new People's Republic of Bangladesh.
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- ^ a b c d e Story of Pakistan (June 2003). "West Pakistan Established as One Unit [1955]". Story of Pakistan (Note: One Unit continued until General Yahya Khan dissolved it on 1 July 1970). Story of Pakistan, West Pakistan. Retrieved 27 February 2012.