Wikipedia
Waziristan (, "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the North Waziristan and South Waziristan agencies, FR Bannu, and the western part of Tank in northwestern Pakistan, and the Janikhel, Gurbuz and Barmal districts of eastern Afghanistan. Waziristan covers some . The area is mostly populated by ethnic Pashtuns. It is named after the Wazir tribe. The language spoken in the valley is Pashto, predominantly the Wazir dialect. Most of the region forms the southern part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. Bannu, Tank and FR DI Khan lie immediately to the east, Kurram Valley lies to the northeast, while Paktia, Khost and Paktika lie to the west and north. The region was an independent tribal territory until 1893, remaining outside the British Empire. Tribal raiding into British-ruled territory was a constant problem for the British, eliciting frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945. The region became part of Pakistan in 1947.
For administrative purposes, Waziristan was divided into two "agencies", North Waziristan and South Waziristan, with an estimated populations in 1998 of 361,246 and 429,841 respectively. The two parts have quite distinct characteristics, though both are inhabited by the Wazir tribe. They have a reputation as formidable warriors.
The Wazir tribes are divided into clans governed by male village elders who meet in a tribal jirga. Socially and religiously, Waziristan is an extremely conservative area. Women are carefully guarded, and every household must be headed by a male figure. Tribal cohesiveness is also kept strong by means of the so-called Collective Responsibility Acts in the Frontier Crimes Regulations.
Taliban presence in the area has been an issue of international concern in the War on Terrorism particularly since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but has a history back to the later 19th Century.