Bhakkar District (Urdu: ضِلع بهكّر), is a district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The district was created out of parts of Mianwali in 1982,[4] and has the city of Bhakkar as its headquarters. Part of its area consists of a riverine tract along the Indus, called Kaccha, while most of the district area lies in the desolate plain of the Thal Desert.[5]
Bhakkar
بهكّر | |
|---|---|
Jamia Masjid, Mankera | |
Location of Bhakkar District within Punjab. | |
| Coordinates: 31°37′23″N 71°03′45″E / 31.6230°N 71.0626°E | |
| Country | |
| Province | |
| Division | Mianwali |
| Established | 1981 |
| Headquarters | Bhakkar |
| Tehsils (4) | |
| Government | |
| • Type | District Administration |
| • Deputy Commissioner | Muhammad Ashraf |
| Area [1]: 1 | |
| 8,153 km2 (3,148 sq mi) | |
| Population (2023)[2] | |
| 1,957,470 | |
| • Density | 240/km2 (620/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 352,434 |
| • Rural | 1,605,036 |
| Literacy | |
| • Literacy rate |
|
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PKT) |
| Area code | 0453 |
| Languages | Saraiki, Punjabi Urdu |
| Website | bhakkar |
Located in the west of the Punjab province, Bhakkar district is bordered by Layyah to the south, Jhang to the southeast, Dera Ismail Khan to the west, Khushab to the northeast, and Mianwali to the north.
Administration
editThe district is administratively divided into four Tehsils and 64 Union Councils. The Tehsils are:[6]
| Tehsil[7] | Area
(km²)[8] |
Pop.
(2023) |
Density
(ppl/km²) (2023) |
Literacy rate
(2023)[9] |
Union Councils |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhakkar[6] | 2,427 | 809,789 | 333.66 | 58.56% | ... |
| Darya Khan[6] | 1,719 | 421,309 | 245.09 | 51.09% | ... |
| Kaloorkot[6] | 2,239 | 415,708 | 185.67 | 55.43% | ... |
| Mankera[6] | 1,768 | 310,664 | 175.71 | 54.83% | ... |
Khansar Union Council is one of the major Union Councils in Bhakkar. Mari Shah Sakhira Union Council is very close to Bhakkar District boundary.
Demographics
edit| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 233,733 | — |
| 1961 | 332,882 | +3.60% |
| 1972 | 500,498 | +3.78% |
| 1981 | 665,884 | +3.22% |
| 1998 | 1,051,456 | +2.72% |
| 2017 | 1,647,852 | +2.39% |
| 2023 | 1,957,470 | +2.91% |
| Sources:[10] | ||
In 2023, the district had 313,559 households and a population of 1,957,470.[2]
Religion
edit| Religion | Population (1941)[11]: 62–63 | Percentage (1941) | Population (2017)[12] | Percentage (2017) | Population (2023) | Percentage (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islam |
169,276 | 82.16% | 1,646,014 | 99.89% | 1,950,820 | 99.69% |
| Hinduism |
32,740 | 15.89% | 13 | 0% | 17 | ~0% |
| Sikhism |
3,996 | 1.94% | — | — | 30 | ~0% |
| Christianity |
23 | 0.01% | 1,661 | 0.1% | 5,913 | 0.3% |
| Ahmadi | — | — | 112 | 0.01% | 124 | 0.01% |
| Others [c] | 0 | 0% | 52 | 0% | 59 | ~0% |
| Total Population | 206,035 | 100% | 1,647,852 | 100% | 1,956,971 | 100% |
Languages
editAt the time of the 2023 census, 79.42% of the population spoke Saraiki, 9.73% Punjabi, 7.5% Urdu and 2.41% Pashto as their first language.[14]
Education
editAccording to the census held in 2017, the literacy rate of Bhakkar is about 55%. There are 19 colleges, and 1300 primary, elementary, secondary, and higher secondary schools.
Notable people
edit- Rasheed Akbar Khan Nawani (politician)
- Muhammad Sana Ullah Khan Masti Khel (politician)
- Inamullah Niazi (politician)
- Lekh Raj Batra, a distinguished mycologist and linguist
- Asghar Khan Nawani (Policemen turned Politician)
- Amir Inayat Khan Shahani (politician)
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ 1941 figures are for Bhakkar tehsil of the then Mianwali District, which roughly corresponds to present-day Bhakkar district. Historic district borders may not be an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.
- ^ 1941 census: Including Ad-Dharmis
- ^ Including Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, or not stated
References
edit- ^ 1998 District Census report of Bhakkar. Census publication. Vol. 74. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
- ^ a b "TABLE 1 : HOUSEHOLDS, POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2023.
- ^ "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
- ^ "Bhakkar". Punjab Portal, Government of Punjab websitel. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ Bhakkar Tahsil - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 8, p. 43
- ^ a b c d e "Tehsils & Unions in the District of Bhakkar". Government of Pakistan website. 9 February 2012. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ Divisions/Districts of Pakistan Archived 2006-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Note: Although divisions as an administrative structure has been abolished, the election commission of Pakistan still groups districts under the division names
- ^ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB" (PDF).
- ^ "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
- ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI PUNJAB PROVINCE". Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023)" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ "Pakistan Census 2023" (PDF).