Pashtunistan

Pashtunistan (or Pakhtunistan) is the Pashtun-dominated area of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pakistani (and formerly British Indian) part comprises an area from Chitral (in the north of Pakistan) to Sibi (in the southwest). This area in Pakistan is referred to as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), but is also known as Afghania (indicating their ethnic likeness with the Afghanistani Pashtuns).

The language spoken in this area is Pashto. Many Pashtuns fought against the Soviet Union during their occupation of the country and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

The leaders in northern Pashtunistan are Khan Wali Khan, Ajmal Khatak, Asfandyaar Khan, Afzal Khan, Moulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, Afrasiab Khattak and the Pashtun leaders in southern Pashtunistan are Mehmood Achakzai, Nawab Ayyaz Khan kakar, Moulana Sherani, and Naseer Kakar of PML-N.

The majority of Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, but a few are Shia Muslims.

The Pashtuns, also called Pukhtoons and Pakhtuns, are separated by the Durand Line, a nearly arbitrary border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pashtuns have been struggling for a separate homeland known as Pashtunistan ever since the 1947 partition of south Asia occurred.