Bannu in the context of "Gambila River"

The Kurram River (Persian: رود کرم), (Pashto: د کورمې سيند) or Kurrama River, originates from the watershed of Safed Koh region in the Paktia province of Afghanistan and the Kurram District of Pakistan. It flows through North Waziristan, and the city of Bannu, before joining the Indus River near Isa Khel. It drains the southern flanks of the Safed Koh mountain range and is a right-bank tributary of the Indus.

Kurram River mainly passes through the southern Tribal Areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It irrigates around 32,000 hectares (80,000 acres) of land.

Sattagydia or Thatagush (Old Persian: 𐎰𐎫𐎦𐎢𐏁 Thataguš, country of the "hundred cows") was one of the easternmost regions of the Achaemenid Empire, part of its Seventh tax district according to Herodotus, along with Gandārae, Dadicae and Aparytae. It was situated east of the Sulaiman Mountains up to the Indus in the Kurram River basin around Bannu in modern day's southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Sattagydia was no longer mentioned by the third century BC, probably having been absorbed into one of the adjoining provinces.

Paropamisadae or Parapamisadae (Ancient Greek: Παροπαμισάδαι or Παροπανισάδαι) was a satrapy of the Alexandrian Empire in modern Pakistan, which largely coincided with the Achaemenid province of Parupraesanna. It consisted of the districts of Sattagydia (Bannu basin), Gandhara (Kabul, Peshawar, and Taxila), and Oddiyana (Swat Valley). Paruparaesanna is mentioned in the Akkadian language and Elamite language versions of the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great, whereas in the Old Persian version it is called Gandāra. The entire satrapy was subsequently ceded by Seleucus I Nicator to Chandragupta Maurya after Mauryan Victory in Selucid-Mauryan war following a treaty.

The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (Pashto: یوسفزی, pronounced [jusəpˈzai]), also referred to as the Esapzai (ايسپزی, pronounced [iːsəpˈzai]), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Swabi, Mardan, Bajaur, Peshawar, Tor Ghar), to which they migrated from Kabul during the 16th century, but they are also present in parts of Afghanistan, including Kunar, Kabul, Kandahar and Farah. Outside of these countries, they can be found in Ghoriwala District Bannu (Mughal Khel), Balochistan Sibi (Akazai), Chagai (Hassanzai) and Rohilkandh.

Most of the Yusufzai speak a northern variety of Pashto and some southern variety of Pashto (as in case of Mughal Khel) and Afghan dialect Persian.

The Wazirs or Waziris (Pashto: وزير) are a Karlani Pashtun tribe found mainly in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. The Utmanzai Wazir are settled in North Waziristan and Wazir Tehsil in Bannu, while the Ahmadzai Wazir and Mahsud Wazir are in South Waziristan, and in Domel, Bannu. Those subgroups are in turn divided further into, for example, Utmanzai tribes such as the Baka Khel and Jani Khel.

The Wazirs speak the Waziristani dialect of Pashto, which is similar to the neighboring Banuchi and Dawari dialect but remains distinct.

The Bangash, Bungish, Bangaš or Bangakh (Pashto: بنګښ) are a tribe of Pashtuns, inhabiting their traditional homeland, the Bangash district which stretches from Kohat to Tall in Hangu and Spīn Ghar, Kurram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. They also live as a smaller population in Dera Ismail Khel, Bannu while also a smaller population of Bangash inhabit mainly Gardez, Paktia and around the Lōya Paktia region of Afghanistan.

Mīrānshāh (Urdu: میران شاہ)(Pashto: میران شاه‎) is a main town in the region that is the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Miranshah lies on the banks of the Tochi River in a wide valley surrounded by the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains. It is located at an elevation of about 930 metres (3,050 ft), 17 kilometres (11 mi) from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Durand Line). The nearest city in Pakistan is Bannu, about 55 kilometres (34 mi) to the east, while the nearest city across the border in Afghanistan is Khost, 60 kilometres (37 mi) to the northwest.

The city has a shrinking population of only 4,361, and it has only 356 households. This makes it the least populous urban area in Bannu Division, but it is also the only urbanized area in the entire region of North Waziristan, and also the entire Waziristan region, a mountainous area that has 99% of its 1.22 million residents living in rural areas. Miranshah remains a regional business hub for surrounding rural areas that visits the bazaar for day to day requirements. Miranshah bazaar is become a hustling during daytimes while it remains less busy during late hours.