Abbottabad District () is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

of the Pakistani province of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

. It is part of Hazara Division and covers an area of 1,969 km², with the city of

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourt ...

being the principal town. Neighbouring districts are

Mansehra Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province. The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Gojr ...

to the north, Muzaffarabad to the east, Haripur to the west, and

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

to the south.

History

Origin of name

The district is named after Major James Abbott, the first deputy commissioner of Hazara (1849–1853).IUCN Pakistan (2004). Abbottabad – State of the environment and Development. IUCN Pakistan and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa: Karachi, p. 2.

Hazara

During British rule Abbottabad became the capital of Hazara division, which was named after and contained the Hazara valley, a small valley in the outermost

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, between the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

in the west and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

in the east. The current Abbottabad District was originally a

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 ...

of Hazara, the Imperial Gazetteer of India described it as follows: In 1976 the tehsils of

and

Battagram Battagram ( ur, , ps, ) is a city and Union Council of Battagram District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°41'N 73°1'E and has an altitude of 1038 metres (3408 feet). Climate With a mild and generally warm a ...

were separated into the new

Mansehra District Mansehra District is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It was established as a district in 1976, prior to which it was a tehsil within the former Hazara District. Two former subdivisions of Mansehra we ...

, while the tehsil of Haripur became a separate district in 1991.

Administration

Provincial Assembly

Demography

At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 1,333,089, of which 677,857 were males and 655,196 females. Rural population was 1,039,104 (77.95%) while the urban population was 293,985 (22.05%). The literacy rate was 76.20% - the male literacy rate was 86.40% while the female literacy rate was 65.76%. 3,172 people in the district were from religious minorities, mainly Christians. At the time of the 2017 census, 86.59% of the population spoke

Hindko Hindko (, romanized: , ) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punj ...

, 5.97%

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

, 2.48%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

as their first language. The major language of the area is

, which in the 1981 census was the mother tongue of % of households. The data is specifically for Abbottabad ''Tehsil''; the only other tehsil of the district has since been promoted into the separate district of Haripur. The variety spoken in the city of Abbottabad has formed the basis of a literary language. It is very close to the Hindko varieties of

: the two share 86% of their basic vocabulary. In the Galliat region in the southeast of the district, the language is still known as ''Hindko'' but becomes more distinct and gradually transitions into the dialects of Pahari. Other languages, such as Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi, are found more in urban than rural areas.

Parks and protected areas

Under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act of 1975, two areas have been designated with the district:

Ayubia National Park Ayubia National Park ( ur, ), also known as Ayubia ( ur, ), is a protected area of located in Abbottabad District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It was declared a national park in 1984. Ayubia was named after Muhammad Ayub Khan (195 ...

and Qalandarabad game reserve.IUCN Pakistan (2004). Abbottabad – State of the environment and Development. IUCN Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Karachi, p. 50. Both areas cover only 6% of the landed area of the district. The Ayubia National Park was established in 1984, this park covers an area of over 3,312 ha. The Qalandarabad game reserve was established in 1980 with an area of 8,940ha.

Subdivisions

Abbottabad district is divided into three

s, Abbottabad Tehsil, Havelian Tehsil and Tehsil Lower Tanawal (a.k.a. Sherwan Teshsil) as well as one urban administration area – Nawanshehr. There are fifty-one Union Councils in the district, 38 in Abbottabad tehsil and 13 in Havelian.

Election 2008

With the announcement by the Election commission of Pakistan that elections would be held on 8 January 2008 more than a dozen candidates filed their nomination papers in Abbottabad.

Political campaigns

Abbottabad was the centre of the Sooba Hazara movement that started after national assembly passed 18th amendment to change the name of province from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to

. The former governor of the province has been vocal in this opposition to the new name

Provincial assembly

The district is represented in the provincial assembly by four elected MPAs (PK-36 to PK-39):

Education

According to the ''Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings'' ''2015'', Abbottabad is ranked 31 out of 148 districts in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 72 out of 148.

References

{{Authority control Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa