Upper Chitral District (Khowar: توری ݯھیترارو ضلع; Urdu: ضلع چترال بالا) is an administrative district in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Kho people are the dominant ethnic group in the district, forming 99.84% of the total population.
Upper Chitral District
توری ݯھیترارو ضلع ضلع چترال بالا | |
|---|---|
  | |
.svg) Location in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province |  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Division | Malakand |
| Established | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Buni |
| Government | |
| • Type | District Administration |
| • Deputy Commissioner | Mr. Muhammad Irfan Uddin PMS (BPS-18)[1] |
| • District Police Officer | Shah Jahan (BPS-18 PSP) |
| • District Health Officer | N/A |
| Area | |
• District | 8,392 km2 (3,240 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• District | 195,528 |
| • Density | 23/km2 (60/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 0 |
| • Rural | 195,528 |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Numbers of Tehsils | 2 |
| Website | upperchitral |
Chitral River flows across the length of the district. Upper Chitral District along with Lower Chitral District were part of the erstwhile Chitral District which was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, covering an area of 14,850 km2. Previously, it formed part of the Chitral princely state that encompassed the region until its incorporation into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in 14 August 1947.[3] The erstwhile Chitral District was bifurcated into Upper Chitral and Lower Chitral Districts in November 2018.[4]
The town of Buni is the headquarters of the Chitral Upper District.[3] It shares a border with Gilgit-Baltistan to the east, with Badakshan province of Afghanistan to the north and with the Upper Dir District to the southwest and with Swat District to the southeast. A narrow strip of Wakhan Corridor separates Chitral from Tajikistan in the north.
Climate
editChitral has a warm steppe climate influenced by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Summers are pleasantly warm without ever getting too hot. Winters are extremely cold; longer periods with subzero temperatures are not uncommon. Precipitation figures here are higher than in other regions in Pakistan.
Demographics
edit| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 58,213 | — |
| 1972 | 71,383 | +1.87% |
| 1981 | 86,919 | +2.21% |
| 1998 | 133,815 | +2.57% |
| 2017 | 169,297 | +1.25% |
| 2023 | 195,528 | +2.43% |
| Sources:[5] | ||
As of the 2023 census, Upper Chitral district has 26,365 households and a population of 195,528. The district has a sex ratio of 105.75 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 73.83%: 84.87% for males and 62.11% for females. 44,351 (22.73% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas.[2]
In the 2023 census, 782 (0.40% of the surveyed population) people were from religious minorities, half Christians and half 'Other' religions.[6]
99.84% of the population spoke languages recorded as 'Other' on the census. The main language is Khowar, sometimes called Chitrali, spoken by the Dardi Kho. Wakhi is spoken in the northern regions along the Afghan border.[7]
Administrative Divisions
edit- Buni Tehsil
- Mastuj Tehsil
- Torkhow/Mulkhow Tehsil
National Assembly
editThe district along with Lower Chitral District is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-1.
| Member of National Assembly | Party Affiliation | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Abdul Akbar Khan | Muttahida Majlis e-Amal | 2018 |
Provincial Assembly
editThe district along with Lower Chitral District is represented by one elected MPA in the provincial assembly who represent the following constituencies:PK-1
References
edit- ^ "District Administration Upper Chitral". Archived from the original on 31 October 2023.
- ^ a b "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ a b "Upper Chitral gets status of separate district". dawn.com. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ "Upper Chitral gets the status of separate district". 21 November 2018.
- ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.