ABSTRACT
The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) is a mountainous region situated between Afghanistan and the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan, Punjab, and Gilgit (Northern Areas). Its population is over 15 million, including 3 million living in the tribal belt. Along with neighboring Afghanistan, the province is situated on the cultural crossroads between China, Iran, India, and Central Asia. For centuries, the Khyber Pass—with its formal entrance at the Jamrud Fort, located only 18 kilometers from the capital city of Peshawar—was to all actual and potential conquerors the most famous gateway to the fertile subcontinent.
