1. Existing districts are the building blocks
Each proposed Province / Suba is formed by grouping whole existing districts. District integrity makes the models easier to understand and allows published district census totals to be combined consistently. It does not mean that every current district boundary is permanent or ideal.
2. Four reform scales are compared
The 12, 18, 24 and 36-province models represent a progression from cautious to deep devolution. They are alternatives, not stages of one mandatory plan. Comparing them reveals the trade-off between creating additional administrations and reducing the distance between provincial institutions and communities.
3. Census figures are aggregated
Population, households and available demographic characteristics are calculated by adding the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics figures for the constituent districts. The national headline population is 241,499,431. Detailed demographic tables cover 240,458,089 people because some restricted areas supplied headcounts without the same detailed characteristics.
Percentages may therefore use a different base from the headline population. Totals may also differ slightly because of rounding or source-table coverage.
4. Proposed capitals are illustrative
A proposed capital indicates a possible location for the provincial assembly and core administration. It is not a claim that the named city should dominate the wider region. Final choices would require accessibility, infrastructure, cost, resilience and public-consent studies.
5. Boundaries require democratic review
A credible official process would need an independent commission, public hearings, precise geographic data, fiscal modelling and the constitutional approvals required for altering provincial limits. Language and cultural identity matter, but no single characteristic should determine every boundary.
Boundary source and coverage
The district map uses the WFP/OCHA Common Operational Dataset from HDX: 160 district shapes, valid September 2022 and reviewed September 2024, licensed CC BY-IGO. It replaces the older GADM/PakData layer and its generic source labels. 131 of the 136 census entries have mapped outlines. Five records use reference-outline choices; see the detailed coverage note below. AJK and GB are included geographically; their district statistics are outside this census snapshot. These are administrative reference boundaries, not a determination of sovereignty or certified current legal boundaries.
Known limitations
- The interactive boundaries are analytical overlays and are not survey-grade legal boundaries.
- District-level aggregation cannot represent every community preference within a district.
- The models do not yet provide a complete expenditure, revenue or institutional-transition plan.
- Proposed names and capitals are working labels open to correction and consultation.
District boundary coverage
All 136 PBS 2023 census entries remain available in the district list. The map supports 131 district identities using dated WFP/OCHA geometry. Surab, Keamari, Karachi West, Karachi South and Malir have no sufficiently verified census-year outline in this release. Their reference outlines open explicit census-record choices. Shared outlines show stripes when their districts belong to different proposal areas. GB and AJK remain visible without entering the 136-record census totals.
The source-ID crosswalk splits old Lehri geometry into Bhag (Kachhi) and Lehri (Sibi), following PBS Table 1. Map tooltips use census names only. Read the coverage audit · Download the crosswalk. Administrative geometry is not a certified political outline; see the Survey of Pakistan political map.