Wadh (; , ) is an administrative subdivision (

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 ...

) of

Khuzdar District Khuzdar (Balochi language, Balochi: ; Urdu and Brahui language, Brahui: ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city of Khuzdar serves as the district's headquarters. Until its e ...

Balochistan, Pakistan Balochistan (; ; , ) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Khybe ...

. It is one of ten administrative units comprising both tehsils and sub-tehsils within the district, alongside Aranji, Gresha, Karakh,

Khuzdar Khuzdar ( Balochi, , ) also known as ''Hozdar'', is a city and the administrative headquarters of Khuzdar District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Khuzdar is surrounded by mountainous region of the southwestern portion of the country near ...

, Nal, Moola, Ornach, Saroona, and

Zehri Zehri () is an ethnic Brahui tribe mainly found in Balochistan, Pakistan. According to the official list by Mir Ahmad Yar, the last Khan of Kalat, Zehri was originally one of the Jaṭṭ tribes inhabiting Balochistan. It belongs to the Jha ...

. Until 1 March 1974, Wadh was part of the former

Jhalawan Jhalawan ( Brahui: جھالاوان) was an administrative division of the Khanate of Kalat, a princely state of Brahui that acceded to Pakistan in 1947. It was established in the 17th century and its boundary was fixed with Sindh in 1853. ...

state. On that date, it was designated as one of the three original tehsils (along with Nal and Khuzdar) upon the establishment of a separate district within Balochistan.

Population

According to the 2023 national census, Wadh Tehsil has a total population of 116,229, comprising 89,354 rural and 26,875 urban residents. The urban population is primarily centred in the town of Wadh, which serves as the tehsil headquarters. The tehsil includes 21,772

households A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is impo ...

, of which 16,775 are in rural areas and 4,997 in urban settings.

Education

The

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

in the tehsil stands at 31.83%, reflecting limited access to formal education. This includes a male literacy rate of 41.57% and a significantly lower female literacy rate of 20.81%, underscoring a notable gender gap in educational attainment.

Location

The tehsil spans an area of 1,352 square kilometres and is characterised by mountainous and

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

terrain, typical of the broader geography of central Balochistan. There are some fertile areas used for agriculture. The tehsil has mineral resources, with deposits of

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of Iron, FeChromium, Cr2Oxygen, O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The ...

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula ( magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic r ...

manganite Manganite is a mineral composed of manganese oxide-hydroxide, MnO(OH), crystallizing in the monoclinic system (pseudo-orthorhombic). Crystals of manganite are prismatic and deeply striated parallel to their length; they are often grouped togethe ...

. Geographically, Wadh is bounded by Ornach tehsil to the west, Nal tehsil to the northwest, Khuzdar tehsil to the north, Aranji tehsil to the east, and

Lasbela District Lasbela District ( , , ) is a coastal district and part of the Kalat Division situated in the south-east of Balochistan, Pakistan. Located approximately northwest of Karachi, the district is geographically and economically significant. A ...

to the south.

References

Tehsils of Khuzdar District Khuzdar District {{Balochistan-geo-stub