Upper Chitral District (; ) is an administrative

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 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 ...

, Pakistan. Kho people are the dominant ethnic group in the district, forming 99.84% of the total population. Chitral River flows across the length of the district. Upper Chitral District along with

Lower Chitral District Lower Chitral District (; ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is mainly populated by the ethnic Kho people. Demographics As of the 2023 census, Lower Chitral district has 46,028 household ...

were part of the erstwhile

Chitral District Chitral District (; ) was a district in the Malakand Division of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from 14 August 1947 to 2018. It was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, covering an area of 14,850 km2, before spl ...

which was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, covering an area of 14,850 km². Previously, it formed part of the Chitral princely state that encompassed the region until its incorporation into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in 14 August 1947. The erstwhile Chitral District was bifurcated into Upper Chitral and Lower Chitral Districts in November 2018. The town of Buni is the headquarters of the Chitral Upper District. It shares 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, with

Badakshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising the Wakhan Corridor in northeast Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

province of

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 with the

Upper Dir Upper Dir District (, ) is a district located in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city of Dir is its district headquarter. Geographically, it is located in the northern part of Pakistan. It borders with th ...

District to the southwest 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 ...

District to the southeast. A narrow strip of

Wakhan Corridor The Wakhan Corridor (; ) is a narrow strip of territory in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. This corridor stretches eastward, connecting Afghanistan to Xinjiang, China. It also separates the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajiki ...

separates 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.

Climate

Chitral has a warm steppe climate influenced by the

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 ...

mountain range. Summers are pleasantly warm without ever getting too hot. Winters are extremely cold; longer periods with subzero temperatures are not uncommon. Precipitation figures here are higher than in other regions in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Upper Chitral district has 26,365 households and a population of 195,528. The district has a sex ratio of 105.75 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 73.83%: 84.87% for males and 62.11% for females. 44,351 (22.73% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas. In the 2023 census, 782 (0.40% of the surveyed population) people were from religious minorities, half Christians and half 'Other' religions. 99.84% of the population spoke languages recorded as 'Other' on the census. The main language is

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 ...

, sometimes called Chitrali, spoken by the Dardic Kho. Wakhi is spoken in the northern regions along the Afghan border.

Administrative Divisions

National Assembly

The district along with Lower Chitral District is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-1.

Provincial Assembly

The district along with Lower Chitral District is represented by one elected MPA in the provincial assembly who represent the following constituencies:PK-1

References