Currently, Pakistan is subdivided into four provinces, two territories, and also portions of Kashmir that are administered by the Pakistani government.

The Punjab or Panjab (Punjabi, Urdu: پنجاب) province of Pakistan is the country's most populous region and is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. Neighbouring areas are Sindh to the south, Balochistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas to the west, the North West Frontier Province, Azad Kashmir, Indian controlled Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad to the north, and Indian Punjab and Rajasthan to the east. The main languages are Punjabi, Seraiki, and Urdu and the provincial capital is Lahore. The name Punjab literally translates from Persian into the words 'Panj' (پنج) five, and 'Aab' (آب) water respectively, which can be translated as "five water" (hence the poetic name land of the five rivers), referring to the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum rivers. Part of Indus river also lies in Punjab, but it is not considered one of the "five" rivers.

There are 34 districts in Punjab.

Sindh (Sind) (Sindhi: سنڌ ;Urdu: سندھ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Sindhis, Muhajirs and various other groups. Neighbouring regions are Balochistan to the west and north, Punjab in the north and Rajasthan (India) to the east. To the south are the Arabian Sea and Gujarat (India). The main languages are Sindhi and Urdu. Known by various names in the past, the name Sindh comes from the Indo-Aryans whose legends claimed that the Indus River flowed from the mouth of a lion or Sinh-ka-bab. In Sanskrit, the province was dubbed Sindhu meaning an ocean. The Assyrians (as early as the seventh century BCE) knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Abisind, the Greeks Sinthus, the Romans Sindus, the Chinese Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it simply Sind, which is what the province is now known as.

Sindh Province is divided into 23 districts as shown in the following table.

The province of Balochistan (or Baluchistan) in Pakistan contains most of historical Balochistan and is named after the Baloch. Neighbouring regions are Iranian Balochistan to the west, Afghanistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan to the north and Punjab and Sindh to the east. To the south is the Arabian Sea. The principal languages in the province are Baluchi, Pashto, Brahui, and Persian. The capital and largest city is Quetta.

There are 26 districts in Balochistan.

The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is the smallest of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Pashtuns (Afghans) and various other groups. Neighbouring regions include Afghanistan to the west and north, and the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir to the northeast and east. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas stand as a buffer between the NWFP and parts of Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory are to the south and east. The principal language is Pashto and the provincial capital is Peshawar. Some Pashtuns refer to the province as Pakhtunkhwa which means 'Land of the Pashtuns' in Pashto, while other

Pakistanis sometimes refer to the province as 'Sarhad' in Urdu.

There are 24 districts in NWFP.

Local Governments

The provinces are divided into a total of 105 zillas (Districts.) A zilla is further subdivided into tehsils (roughly equivalent to counties.) Tehsils may contain villages or municipalities. There are over five thousand local governments in Pakistan. Since 2001, these have been led by democratically elected local councils, each headed by a Nazim (the word means "supervisor" in Urdu, but is sometimes translated as "mayor.") Women have been allotted a minimum of 33% seats in these councils; there is no upper limit to the number of women in these councils.