Lower Dir District

(Redirected from Dir Lower)

Lower Dir District (Pashto: ښکته دير ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع دیر زیریں) is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.[2] Timergara is the district's headquarters and largest city.[2] The Lower Dir district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was divided into Upper Dir and Lower Dir districts.[2] On 22 January 2023, both Lower Dir and Upper Dir districts were further bifurcated to create a new Central Dir District.[3] Lower Dir is famous for its beautiful snow-capped mountains, valleys, and pleasant weather.[citation needed] The primary industry in Lower Dir is tourism, which is now rapidly growing.[citation needed]

Lower Dir District
ضلع دیر زیریں
ښکته دير ولسوالۍ
Timergara, the district headquarters
Lower Dir District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Lower Dir District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Coordinates: 34°51′N 71°51′E / 34.850°N 71.850°E / 34.850; 71.850
Country Pakistan
Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
DivisionMalakand
HeadquartersTimergara
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • Deputy CommissionerMuhammad Fawad (BPS-20 PCS)
 • District Police OfficerIkramullah Khan (BPS-18 PSP)
Area
 • Total1,583 km2 (611 sq mi)
Population
 • Total1,650,183
 • Density1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi)
 • Urban
47,855 (2.90%)
 • Rural
1,602,327
Time zonePST
Number of Tehsils5
Websitedirlower.kp.gov.pk

Lower Dir district borders with Swat District to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Upper Dir to the north and Malakand and Bajaur District to the south.

History

edit

At the time of independence of Pakistan, Dir was a princely state ruled by Nawab Shah Jehan Khan. Dir was merged with Pakistan in 1969, declared a district in 1970, and split into Upper and Lower Dir in 1996.[2]

Education

edit

Demographics

edit
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1972 277,481—    
1981 404,844+4.29%
1998 717,649+3.42%
2017 1,436,082+3.72%
2023 1,650,183+2.34%
Sources:[4][1]

As of the 2023 census, Lower Dir district has 202,836 households and a population of 1,650,183. The district has a sex ratio of 97.24 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 57.36%: 72.57% for males and 43.16% for females. 542,074 (32.88% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 47,860 (2.90%) live in urban areas.[1] 4,439 (0.27%) people in the district were from religious minorities, mainly Christians.[5] Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 99.54% of the population.[6]

Administration

edit

National Assembly

edit

NA-6 (Lower Dir-I) and NA-7 (Lower Dir-II) are constituencies of the National Assembly of Pakistan from Lower Dir district. These areas were formerly part of NA-34 (Lower Dir) constituency from 1977 to 2018. The delimitation in 2018 split Lower Dir into two separate constituencies, NA-6 (Lower Dir-I) and NA-7 (Lower Dir-II).

Member of National Assembly Party Affiliation Year
Qazi Hussain Ahmad Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal 2002
Maulana Ahmad Ghafoor Ghawas Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal 2003
Malak Azmat Khan Pakistan Peoples Party 2008
Shahib Zada Muhammad Yaqub Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan 2013
Member of National Assembly Party Affiliation Constituency Year
Mehboob Shah PTI NA-6 (Lower Dir-I) 2018
Muhammad Bashir Khan PTI NA-7 (Lower Dir-II) 2018

Provincial Assembly

edit
Member of Provincial Assembly Party Affiliation Constituency Year
Muhammad Azam Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-13 (Lower Dir-I) 2018
Humayun Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-14 (Lower Dir-II) 2018
Shafi ullah Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-15 (Lower Dir-III) 2018
Bahdur Khan Awami National Party PK-16 (Lower Dir-IV) 2018
Liaqat Ali Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-17 (Lower Dir-V) 2018

Sudivisions

edit
  1. Adenzai Tehsil
  2. Balambat Tehsil
  3. Khall Tehsil
  4. Lal Qilla Tehsil
  5. Munda Tehsil
  6. Samar Bagh Tehsil
  7. Timergara Tehsil

Notable people

edit
edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  2. ^ a b c d "About District". Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Deputy Commissioner Dir Lower.
  3. ^ "KP gets another district". Dunya News. 2023-01-18. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  4. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  5. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  6. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  7. ^ "Tribe seeks ban on sale, purchase of shared land". www.thenews.com.pk.
  8. ^ High Court, Peshawar (17 November 2016). "Judgment Sheet In The Peshawar High Court - The Government Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa & Others Vs. Nawabzada Muhammad Shahabuddin Through Lrs & Others" (PDF). Retrieved 18 January 2024.

https://senate.gov.pk/en/profile.php?uid=804

edit