Peshawar District

Peshawar
District
Country  Pakistan
Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Capital Peshawar
Area
 • Total 1,257 km2 (485 sq mi)
Population (2014)
 • Total 3,575,000
 • Density 2,800/km2 (7,400/sq mi)
Time zone PKT (UTC+5)
Languages (1981) 87.54% Pashto
6.85% Hindko[1]

Peshawar District (Urdu: ضلع پشاور‎) is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, located at the north-west end of Pakistan about 160 km west of the federal capital Islamabad.

History

Peshawar has a geo-strategically important location and an enriched history. This city has seen the rise and fall of many civilizations. It was once the center of Gandhara civilization and has subsequently been ruled by Persians, Greeks, Buddhists, Kushans, Afghans, Mughals, Sikhs and the British. The original district of Peshawar was a district of the North-West Frontier Province of British India.[2] At independence in 1947 the old Peshawar District became Peshawar Division, containing the current district of Peshawar. However, under the latest revision of Pakistan's administrative structure, promulgated in 2001, Peshawar was also given the status of a city district.

Administration

The district is represented in the provincial assembly by eleven elected MPAs who represent the following constituencies:[3]

There is only one tehsil in the district i.e. Peshawar tehsil. District Peshawar has been divided into 279 mouzas (Revenue Villages), out of which 236 are rural, 15 are urban and 28 mouzas are partly urban. Also, there are 30 police stations in the district. The district is represented in the provincial assembly by two elected MPAs who represent the following constituencies:[4]

Demographics

According to 1897 records during British Raj, most people living in Peshawar valley were Pathans and belonged to an agriculture community but there was also an admixture of Punjabi community living in the valley religiously belonging to both Islam and Hinduism. Most people in Peshawar city spoke and understood Urdu. Elite belonging to small towns such as big feudal Khan families, traders and almost all of Hindus also spoke Urdu. Persian was also spoken by elites of Peshawar city and by traders from Kabul. Majority of the population of the district especially the agriculturists and Pathans only spoke Pashto. 92% of the total population of Peshawar valley practiced religion of Islam and remainder 8% practiced Hinduism, Sikhism and other religions. People belonging to these minority religions only lived in major cities such as Peshawar, Charsadda (now in Charsadda District) and Hoti (now in Mardan District) and mostly in cantonment areas of these cities. 97% of the population living in rural towns practiced Islam.[5]

Native languages of Peshawar District
(according to 1981 census)[1]
Pashto
  
 87.54%
Hindko
  
 6.85%

According to 1981 census, 87.54% people of Peshawar district speak Pashto while 6.85% speak Hindko .[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stephen P. Cohen (2004). The Idea of Pakistan. Brookings Institution Press. p. 202. ISBN 0815797613.
  2. ↑ Peshawār District - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 20, p. 111.
  3. ↑ Constituencies and MPAs - Website of the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP
  4. ↑ Constituencies and MPAs - Website of the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP
  5. ↑ Church Missionary Society (1897). The Church Missionary Review, Volume 48. Cornell University. p. 757. ISBN 0815797613.

Coordinates: 34°00′N 71°45′E / 34.000°N 71.750°E / 34.000; 71.750

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