Rawalakot ( ur, ) is the capital of Poonch district in

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger K ...

, Pakistan. It is located in the

Pir Panjal Range The Pir Panjal Range (Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's A ...

History

Along with

Pallandri Pallandri, also spelled Palandri ( ur, ), originally Pulandari, is a Tehsil which serves as administrative capital of Sudhanoti district of Azad Kashmir. It is located at latitude 33° 42′ 54″ N, longitude 73° 41′ 9″ E, from Islamabad ...

, Rawalakot was the focal point of the

1955 Poonch uprising __NOTOC__ The 1955 Poonch revolt, also known as the 1955 Poonch uprising, was a Civil revolt in Azad Jammu and Kashmir against the State of Pakistan. The uprising broke out in February 1955 and was provoked largely by the dismissal of Sardar I ...

. It was led by the local

Sudhans Sudhans (also known as Sudhozai Pathans) is one of the major tribes from the districts of Poonch, Sudhanoti, Bagh and Kotli in Azad Kashmir, allegedly originating from Pashtun areas. History and particulars The tribe claims an Afghan ancestry ...

who disapproved of

Sher Ahmed Khan Colonel Sher Ahmed Khan (1902 at Pallandri, Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir - 1972) (Now in Sudhnuti, Azad Kashmir), was one of the guerrilla commanders of the Azad Kashmir Movement and also served as the President of Azad Kashmir. He was known as S ...

and wanted Sardar Ibrahim Khan, as well as democratic reforms.

2005 Kashmir earthquake

On Saturday, 8 October 2005 a 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed 73,338 people and left up to three million homeless in Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir. The city of Rawalakot, the capital of the Poonch, suffered significant damage from the

2005 Kashmir earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu an ...

; although most of the buildings were left standing, many of them were rendered uninhabitable, and some of the population was left homeless. Most of the buildings have been reconstructed. 2005 Earthquake damage, Rawalakot

Location

Rawalakot is located at

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

33°51'32.18"N,

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...

73° 45'34.93"E and an

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of 5374 feet. Rawalakot is approximately from

Kahuta Kahuta (Punjabi, Urdu: کہوٹہ) is a census-designated city and tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab Province, Pakistan. The population of the Kahuta Tehsil is approximately 220,576 at the 2017 census. Kahuta is the home to the Kahuta ...

and about from the city of

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's ...

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 ...

. It is linked with Rawalpindi and

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capita ...

via Goyain Nala and

Tain Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...

roads. Via Kotli Satiyan and Kahuta. It is also linked with Rawalpindi via

Sudhnuti The Sudhanoti District (also spelled Sudhanuti District) ( ur, ), meaning the "heartland of Sudhans" or "Sudhan heartland"), is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. The Sudhanoti District is bounded on the ...

Transport

Travel routes

Construction of the Ghazi-e-Millat road (also known as Guoien Nala road) between Rawalakot and

Azad Pattan Azad Pattan ( ur, ), previously Lachman Pattan, is a village near Palandri in the Sudhanoti District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located on border of Punjab and Azad Kashmir on bank of Guoien stream. The Azad Pattan bridge on the Jhelum R ...

has considerably reduced travel time, it is main road which is connecting

/Rawalpindi to Rawalakot city.

Road links

The road passing through Pakgali-Paniola connects Rawalakot to Bagh,

and

Muzaffarabad Muzaffarabad (; ur, ) is the capital and largest city of Azad Kashmir, and the 60th largest in Pakistan. The city is located in Muzaffarabad District, near the confluence of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. The district is bounded by the P ...

. The alternative road that passes through Mohri Farman Shah, Shuja Abad is the shortest possible road link that connects Rawalakot city with Bagh.

Murree Murree (Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is abou ...

, Islamabad and Rawalpindi are situated in a southward direction from Rawalakot. The town has another road link with

Kotli Kotli ( ur}) is a city in Kotli District of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It lies on the Poonch River, and the river contains several notable waterfalls including the Lala Waterfall near the town of Kotli and the Gulpur Waterfalls at the village o ...

Rawalakot Airport Rawalakot Airport is located at Rawalakot in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The airport is surrounded by a forest. History Pakistan International Airlines previously operated flights between Rawalakot and Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the ...

is non-operational and it has been closed since 1998.

Climate

Rawalakot features a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

due to high

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

. The weather of Rawalakot is quite erratic. However, the climate of Rawalakot can be divided into four seasons, namely spring, summer, autumn and winter. Rawalakot has mild to warm temperatures during the spring and autumn, humid temperatures during the summer and cold to snowy during the winter. The temperature can rise as high as during the mid-summer months and drop below during the winter months. Snowfall occurs in December and January, while most rainfall occurs during the monsoon season stretching from July to September.Pakistan Meteorological Department Kaleem Abbasi, 15 Aug, 2014

Demography

Rawalakot has an urban population of 56,006 people according to the 2017 census which rose to 56,590 in 2018.

Notes

References

External links

*
Britannica – Azad Kashmir
{{Tehsils of Azad Kashmir 2005 Kashmir earthquake Populated places in Poonch District, Pakistan Tehsils of Poonch District