Chitral District (; ) was 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in the Malakand Division of the Pakistani province of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, from 14 August 1947 to 2018. It was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, covering an area of 14,850 km², before splitting into Upper and Lower Chitral Districts in 2018. It was the northernmost district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It shared a border with

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative units of Pakistan, administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has b ...

to the east and with

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

and Dir districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south. It also shared an international border with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

to the north and west. Afghanistan's narrow strip of Wakhan Corridor separated Chitral from

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

in the north.

History

Chitral shares much of its history and culture with the neighbouring

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

territories of Gilgit-Baltistan, a region sometimes called "Peristan" because of the common belief in fairies (''peri'') inhabiting the high mountains. The entire region that now forms the Chitral District was an independent monarchical state until 1895, when the British negotiated a treaty with its hereditary ruler, the Mehtar, under which Chitral became a semi-autonomous princely state within the Indian Empire. Chitral retained this status even after its accession to Pakistan in 1947, finally being made an administrative district of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, disestablishing the Princely State.

Topography and access

Chitral is counted amongst the highest regions of the world, sweeping from 1,094 metres at Arandu to 7,726 metres at Tirichmir and packing over 40 peaks more than 6,100 metres in height. The terrain of Chitral is very mountainous, and Tirich Mir (25,289 feet), the highest peak of the

, rises in the north of the district. Around 4.8 percent of the land is covered by forest, and 76 percent is mountains and glaciers. Chitral is connected to the rest of Pakistan by two major road routes, the Lowari Pass ( elevation. 10,23 ft.) from Dir and Shandur Top (elevation 12,200 ft.) from Gilgit. Both routes used to be closed in winter, but circa 2017 the highway Lowari Tunnel under the Lowari Pass opened to vehicular traffic for at least ten hours per day. A number of other high passes, including Darkot Pass, Thoi Pass, and Zagaran Pass, provide access on foot to Chitral from

. * Arandu Pass, on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan * Broghol Pass, on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan * Dorah Pass, on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan * Darkot Pass, on the border between Chitral and Gupis-Yasin District * Shandur Pass, on the border between Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan * Lowari Pass, on the border between Chitral and upper Dir * Lowari Tunnel, highway under Lowari Pass * Thoi Pass, on the border between Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan * Zagaran Pass, on the border between Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan

Demographics

The district has a population of about 414,000. The general population is mainly made up of Kho people, who speak

Khowar Khowar (, ''Khōwār'', ), also known by its common exonym Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic group, primarily spoken by the Kho (Chitrali) people, native to the Chitral region and surrounding areas of Pakistan. Khowar is th ...

, which is also spoken in parts of Yasin,

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

, Dir, and

. Chitral is also home to the Kalash tribe, who live in Bumburet and two other remote valleys southwest of Chitral town. A few thousand Nuristani people are also known to live in Chitral. The main language of the region is

. There are also smaller communities of speakers of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Gujari, Kalasha, Kyrgyz, Katë, Madaklashti, Palula, Sarikoli, Wakhi, and Yidgha.

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

has official status.

Chitral City

The city of Chitral is the main city in the district and serves as its capital. It is situated on the west bank of the Chitral River (also known as the Kunar River) at the foot of Tirich Mir, which at 7,708 m (25,289 ft) is the highest peak of the

. Until 14 August 1947, it served as the capital of the princely state of Chitral.

Administration

The district of Chitral is divided into twenty-four union councils and two

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

s: * Chitral * Mastuj

National Assembly

This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of the National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-1.

Provincial Assembly

The district is represented by two elected MPAs in the provincial assembly, who represent the following constituencies: * PK-2 (Chitral-I) * PK-1 (Chitral-II)

Villages

* Brun * Chumurkone * Kuragh * Rom Kili

References

External links

Municipal website - ARCHIVED
{{Coord, 36, 15, N, 72, 15, E, region:PK_type:adm3rd_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Former districts of Pakistan Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chitral (princely state)