The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA; Pashto: قبایلي سیمې، منځنۍ پښتونخوا; Urdu: وفاقی منتظم شدہ قبائیلی علاقہ جات) is a semi-autonomous tribal region in northwestern Pakistan, consisting of seven tribal agencies (districts) and six frontier regions, and are directly governed by Pakistan's federal government through a special set of laws called the Frontier Crimes Regulations. It borders Pakistan's provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to the east and south, and Afghanistan's provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Paktika to the west and north. The territory is almost exclusively inhabited by the Pashtun, who also live in the neighbouring provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Balochistan, and straddle across the border into Afghanistan. They are mostly Muslim. The largest towns of the territory are Miramshah, Parachinar, Wanna, Khaar, Jamrud, and Landi Kotal.
Since the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001, the tribal areas are a major theatre of militancy and terrorism. Pakistan Army launched 10 operations against the Taliban since 2001, most recently Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan. The operations have displaced about two million people from the tribal areas, as schools, hospitals, and homes have been destroyed in the war. On March 2, 2017, the federal government considered a proposal to merge the tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and to repeal the Frontier Crimes Regulations. However, some political parties have opposed the merger, and called for the tribal areas to instead become a separate province of Pakistan.
