Sargodha District (

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

and ), is a district 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 ...

, Pakistan. The capital of the district is

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi language, Punjabi/; ; ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Central Punjab, central Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 11th most populous city and ...

. It is an agricultural district with wheat, rice,

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and

kinnow The kinnow is a high yield mandarin hybrid cultivated extensively in the wider Punjab region of India and Pakistan. It is a hybrid of two citrus cultivars — 'King' (''Citrus nobilis'') × 'Willow Leaf' (''Citrus × deliciosa'') — first deve ...

being its main crops. The Sargodha district and region is also famous for

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruit including

Kinnow The kinnow is a high yield mandarin hybrid cultivated extensively in the wider Punjab region of India and Pakistan. It is a hybrid of two citrus cultivars — 'King' (''Citrus nobilis'') × 'Willow Leaf' (''Citrus × deliciosa'') — first deve ...

, orange and lemon. The district has an area of 5,864 km². Sargodha District is among the world's best

-producing regions. Sargodha District is well known for its

, a citrus variety.

Etymology

It is believed that there was an old pond in the middle of the town where an old Hindu monk or

sadhu ''Sadhu'' (, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female), also spelled ''saddhu'') is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively ...

(godha) used to live. The

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word for pond is "ser". Since the town had a modest population, people would refer the place as 'ser godha', the place where that famous Sadhu resided next to the pond. The

Shahpur district Shahpur District, established in 1893 during the British Raj, existed in what is now Pakistan until 1960. From its inception until 1914, Shahpur served as the district headquarters. In 1914, the headquarters were relocated to Sargodha, althoug ...

was renamed when its headquarters were shifted to Sargodha in 1960.

Administration and tehsils

Sargodha city is the administrative headquarter of

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 ...

and handles the population of about 8.1 million. Sargodha District is administratively divided into Seven

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, which contain a total of 161 Union Councils. Following are the seven tehsils of Sargodha district:

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Sargodha district has 684,321 households and a population of 4,334,448. The district has a sex ratio of 102.53 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 66.73%: 73.63% for males and 59.62% for females. 1,089,643 (25.18% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 1,609,587 (37.13%) live in urban areas.

Religion

As per the 2023 census

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

were the predominant religious community with 98.03% of the population while

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

were 1.86% of the population.

Language

At the time of the 2023 census, 90.79% of the population spoke

, 7.61%

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 ...

and 1.26%

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

as their first language.

Villages

* Behak Maken * Chak 36 NB * Chak 104 SB * Hathi Wind * Kot Bhai Khan * Ludewala * Muzamabad Shareef * Jalip * Al Syed Farms, Dera Syed Sibt ul Hassan Shah Mari * Chak NO. 91 N.B

Electricity supplier

The electricity supply in Sargodha District is managed by the

Faisalabad Electric Supply Company Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) is a state-owned electric distribution company that supplies electricity to the districts of Faisalabad, Sargodha, Mianwali, Khushab, Jhang, Bhakkar, Toba Tek Singh, and Chiniot in Pakistan. This compa ...

References

{{Districts of Punjab (Pakistan) Districts of Punjab, Pakistan