Paktia , is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan

Provinces of Afghanistan

The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions of Afghanistan. As of 2004, there are thirty-four provinces in the country. Each province is further divided into smaller districts....

, in the east of the country. Its capital is Gardez

Gardez, Afghanistan

-History:According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Gardēz is a city "belonging to a network of old isolated Tājīk settlements in southern Afghanistan that are remnants of a time when Pashto had not yet reached the area."...

. The population is predominantly Pashtun

Pashtun people

Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...

.
Paktia is basically Pashtia (پښتیا). Some Pashtun scholars are claiming that the word Pashtu has been stemmed from Pashtia (پښتو = پښتیا). Paktia used to be a unified province with Khost

Khost

Khost or Khowst is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Khost province, which is a mountainous region near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan...

 and Paktika, these three provinces are now referred to as Loya Paktia, meaning "Greater Paktia".