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Waziristan[wuzE´ristAn´´] Pronunciation Key, region (1981 est. pop. 545,000), 4,473 sq mi (11,585 sq km), North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, on the Afghanistan border. An extremely arid and mountainous region, it is divided into N Waziristan, inhabited by farming Wazir tribes, and S Waziristan, populated by seminomad Mahsuds. The two tribes, both of Pathan descent, have constant blood feuds and supplement their meager incomes by brigandage. They live in fortresslike mountain villages. A major source of income derives from the smuggling and processing of illicit drugs. Fertile valleys in parts of N Waziristan support wheat, corn, barley, and millet; livestock are also raised. In S Waziristan the hills are used for grazing, and forests on the higher slopes provide timber.
Protected by the mountain fastness, the Wazirs and Mahsuds historically resisted British authority. When the Durand Line was established as the border between Afghanistan and British India in 1893, Waziristan became an independent territory outside the bounds of effective British rule. Since Waziristan became part of Pakistan in 1947, the government has continued the British practice of pacification through payment of subsidies to tribal chieftains; it has also tried to persuade the tribespeople to move to more settled areas. The tribes, led by the Faqir of Ipi, reportedly received arms from Afghanistan, which agitated for an independent Pushtunistan composed of all border Pathan tribal lands. Waziristan was one of the many border regions that struggled to absorb hundreds of thousands of refugees during the Soviet invasion and occupation (1979–89) of Afghanistan.
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