A look back while climbing uphill at Ranigat 1

The Valley of Peshawar ( ps, د لوی پېښور وادي; ur, وادئ پشاور), or Peshawar Basin, historically known as the Gandhara Valley, is a broad area situated in the central part of the

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 ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The valley is in area, and is traversed by the Kabul River. It has a mean elevation of . The valley takes its name from the city of

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, which is situated at the western part of the valley close to Warsak Dam. To the west of the valley lies the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing p ...

. The five most populous cities in the valley are Peshawar,

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

Swabi Swabi ( ps, صوابۍ; ur, ) is a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan,Charsadda Chārsadda ( ps, چارسده; ; ur, ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

, and Nowshera.

Districts located in the valley

These districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are completely located in the Valley of Peshawar: * Charsadda District (population: 1,616,198) *

Mardan District Mardan District ( ps, مردان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Mardan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The district is named after Mardan city, which is also the headquarters of the district. The district is fam ...

(population: 2,373,061) *

Peshawar District Peshawar District ( ps, پېښور ولسوالۍ, hnd, , ur, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is located about 160 km west of the Pakistan's capital Islamabad. The district headquarter i ...

(population: 4,269,079) In addition, most of

Nowshera District Nowshera District ( ps, نوښار ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The capital and district headquarter is Nowshera city. Overview and history Nowshera was a tehsil (sub d ...

, most of

Swabi District Swabi District ( ps, سوابۍ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in the Mardan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Kabul Rivers. Before becoming a district in 1988, it was a tehsil wit ...

, and smaller portions of Khyber (including Jamrud),

Mohmand The Mohmand ( ps, مومند) or Mohmand is a prominent tribe of Pashtun people. They are based primarily in the Mohmand territory, which is located in Nangarhar, Afghanistan and Mohmand Agency, Pakistan. Most people of the Mohmand tribe sp ...

, Malakand, and

Frontier Region Peshawar Peshawar Subdivision formerly Frontier Region Peshawar is a subdivision in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The region is named after Peshawar District which lies to the north and west and also borders Nowshera District to the east an ...

are also located in the Valley of Peshawar.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Indus basin Peshawar District