Two days after independence, the Muslim-majority Murshidabad district in Bengal was moved out of the Dominion of Pakistan and put within the Dominion of India due to a boundary adjustment by the Radcliffe Commission which was aimed at keeping the Hooghly River entirely within India.

In 1955, the One Unit policy was launched by then-Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra, whereby all the provinces and princely states of the western wing were merged to form the provincial wing of West Pakistan, with Lahore serving as its provincial capital.

The One Unit policy aimed to reduce expenditure and to eliminate provincial prejudices, but the military coup of 1958 brought difficulties when the first military President, Ayub Khan, abolished the office of the Chief Minister of West Pakistan in favour of Governor rule.

In 1962, Dacca was made the legislative capital of the country due to East Pakistan's high population.

In 1974, the remaining princely states of Hunza and Nagar were abolished and their territories merged into the Gilgit Agency, following which the Northern Areas were formed.

In 1975, portions of the districts of Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan were separated to form the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

In August 2000, divisions were abolished as part of a plan to restructure local governments, followed by elections in 2001.

On 31 May 2018, the final step in the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was completed, as then-President Mamnoon Hussain signed the 25th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law.

The amendment's signing abolished the Federally Administered Tribal Areas as a separate political entity and merged them into the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Their role is similar to district governor or prefect, with responsibility for implementing government strategy and developing initiatives arising out of it.