Rawalpindi Division is an administrative division of the

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# ...

i province of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

serves as the headquarters of the division which consists of 6 districts:

Attock Attock ( Punjabi, ), formerly known as Campbellpur (Punjabi, ), is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 36th largest city in the Punjab and 61st largest c ...

Chakwal Chakwal (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ) is a city in Chakwal District in the Potohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the Largest cities of Pakistan, 48th largest city of Pakistan by population. Chakwal is located 90 kilometres south-west o ...

Talagang Talagang ( Punjabi / ) is a city and the headquarters of the Talagang District located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is part of the Potohar Plateau and lies on the north of Salt Range and east of the Kala Chita range. Talagang is known for its liter ...

Jhelum Jhelum (; , ) is a city, located along the western bank of the Jhelum River, in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city in Punjab and 31st largest in Pakistan, by population. Located in northern Punjab, it serves as the capital of the ...

Murree Murree () is a mountain resort city in the northernmost region of the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Lying in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range under the western Himalayas, it forms the outskirts of the Islamabad–Rawal ...

, and

. Divisions are the third tier of government below the federal and provincial levels. In 2000, local government reforms abolished administrative

divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

and raised the

districts 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, subdivisions ...

to become the new third tier of government. But in 2008, the division system was restored again.

History

British rule

Following the British conquest of the region in 1849, the area around Rawalpindi became a division of the Punjab province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, primarily because of the strategic location of the city of

. The Imperial Gazetteer of India describes the division as follows: "North-western Division of the Punjab, lying between 31°35' and 34° 1' N. and 70° 37' and 74°29' E. The Commissioner's headquarters are at Rawalpindi and Murree. The total population of the Division increased from 2,520,508 in 1881 to 2,750,713 in 1891, and to 2,799,360 in 1901. Its total area was 25,000 Km Square (15,736) square miles, and the density of the population is 178 persons per square mile, compared with 209 for the Province as a whole" The division was composed of four districts:

After independence

On independence in 1947, the division was one of four divisions of the province of

West Punjab West Punjab (; ) was a province in the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. It was established from the western-half of British Punjab, following the independence of Pakistan. The province covered an area of 159,344 km sq (61523 sq mi), i ...

but from 1955 to 1970, the divisions was one of twelve (later thirteen) divisions of

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

province under the

One Unit The One Unit Scheme (; ) was the reorganisation of the provinces of Pakistan by the central Pakistani government. It was led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955. The government claimed tha ...

policy. On the dissolution of West Pakistan, the division was restored to the new Punjab province, but parts of the division were transferred with parts of

Lahore Division Lahore Division is an administrative division of Punjab Province, Pakistan. It comprises four Districts - Kasur, Lahore, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura. The Lahore Division is commanded by a Commissioner to manage the division. Under the Commissio ...

to form the new

Gujranwala Division Gujranwala Division is an administrative division of Punjab province, Pakistan. The division, headquartered at the city of Gujranwala, consist of 3 districts, covers an area of 8,975 km2. Demographics According to 2023 census, Gujranwala di ...

Geography

Rawalpindi division shares borders with

Gujrat division Gujrat Division (), also called Division X, is an administrative division of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan, comprising the List of districts in Punjab, Pakistan, districts of Gujrat District, Gujrat, Hafizabad District, Hafizabad, Mandi B ...

Mianwali division Mianwali Division is a proposed administrative division of Punjab province, Pakistan. Mianwali city would be the capital of the division. As of 2024, the division has not been established. On January 14, 2023, CM Pervaiz Elahi announced that Mi ...

and

Sargodha division Sargodha Division is an administrative division of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province, Pakistan. Sargodha, Sargodha city is the capital of the division. Divisions of Pakistan, Divisions are the Administrative units of Pakistan, third tier of gover ...

Demographics

Population

According to 2023 census, Rawalpindi division had a population of 11,406,496, roughly equal to the nation of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

or the US state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

List of the Districts

List of the Tehsils

Constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

References

{{IGI Divisions of Punjab, Pakistan