Bagh District ( ur, ) is one of
the ten districts of Pakistan's territory of
Azad Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee:
*
*
* and constituting the western portion of the larger K ...
. Previously part of
Poonch District, it was established as a separate district in 1988.
The Bagh District is bounded on the north by the
Muzaffarabad District, the
Hattian Bala District, and the
Baramulla District of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on the east by the
Haveli District, on the south by the Poonch District, and on the west by the
Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's
Punjab Province. The total area of the district is 770 square kilometers. The Bagh District is linked to the
Muzaffarabad District by two roads, one via
Sudhan Gali (80 km) and the other via
Kohala (97 km). The district headquarters is the city of Bagh, which is situated 46 km from
Rawalakot. It is said that a ''bagh'' (garden) was set up by a landowner where the premises of the Forest Department are now located. As a result, the area that is now the district headquarters was named "Bagh".
History
There is an archaeological site in the Bagh District called
Bagh Fort.
Prior to 1947, Bagh was a tehsil in the
Poonch District of
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
.
Administrative divisions
The district of Bagh is subdivided into 5
tehsil
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its adminis ...
s:
*
Bagh Tehsil
*
Dhirkot Tehsil
*
Hari Ghel Tehsil
*
Rera Tehsil
*
Birpani Tehsil
Geography
Topographically, the entire Bagh District is a mountainous area, generally sloping from north-east to south-west. The area is part of the Lesser Himalayas zone. The main mountain range in the district is the Pir Panjal.
The Haji-Pir Pass is situated at a height of 3421 meters above sea level. The general elevation is between 1500 and 2500 meters above sea level. The mountains are generally covered with coniferous forests. The main river in the district is the Mahl Nala, but numerous other rivulets also flow in the district.
Climate
The climate of the district varies with altitude. The temperature generally remains between 2 °C and 40 °C. The main eastern part of the district is very cold in the winter and moderate in the summer. However, the lower valleys, the localities bordering Bagh at Kohala and its adjoining areas (Mongbajri and Ajra-Bagh) remain cold in the winter and hot in the summer. May, June, and July are the hottest months. The maximum and minimum temperatures during the month of June are about 40 °C and 22 °C, respectively. December, January, and February are the coldest months. The maximum temperature in January is about 16 °C, and the minimum temperature is 3 °C. Annual rainfall is about .
Demography
The total population of the district according to the
2017 census is 371,919.
The main language of the district is
Pahari, which is estimated to be native to around 95% of the inhabitants.
The Pahari dialect spoken in Bagh is closely related to the dialect spoken to the north in the
Muzaffarabad (84% shared basic vocabulary) and to the core Pahari varieties spoken to the south-west in the
Galyat region around
Murree (86–88%). There are also small groups of speakers of
Gujari
Gojri (, ), also known as Gujari, Gujri, Gojari, or Gojri, is a variety of Rajasthani spoken by the Gurjars and other tribes of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In India, the language is mainly spoken in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Prades ...
and
Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, their language
People with the name
* Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
.
Education
According to the
Pakistan District Education Ranking 2017, a report by
Alif Ailaan
Alif Ailaan ( ur, ) was a nonprofit organization working in the field of education in Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. Launched by a team of media and communications specialists, the program aimed to highlight education on priority basis in Pakist ...
, the Bagh District is ranked at number 5 nationally in the ranking related to education, with an education score of 73.99. The learning score is at 85.42, with a gender parity score of 88.32.
The school infrastructure score of the Bagh District is 28.32, giving Bagh a national rank of 126.
School infrastructure is a major problem in all of Azad Kashmir. Access to schools, with schools being far away, is the primary reason why there are fewer enrollments after the completion of primary school.
2005 earthquake
The city of
Bagh
Bagh ( fa, باغ, link=no, meaning "garden") may refer to:
Places India
* Bagh Caves in Madhya Pradesh, India
* Bagh, Dhar, a town in Madhya Pradesh, India
Iran
* Bagh, Ardabil, a village in Ardabil Province
* Bagh, Larestan, a village ...
, like other areas of the district, was heavily damaged in the
2005 Kashmir earthquake. Sixty percent of the buildings collapsed. Thousands of people died, and many more found themselves homeless. In the aftermath of the earthquake,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
sent specialists to the district to help with clearing and reconstruction. There was a report that an entire village in the district had been wiped out. The United States government, through Pakistan, distributed vouchers to people in the district so that they could buy food and water.
References
External links
Bagh Azad Jammu and Kashmir Official PortalDistrict Profile – Bagh Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) 2007
{{Poonch Division
Districts of Azad Kashmir