Abbottabad District (Hindko, ) is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is part of the Hazara Division and covers an area of , with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town.Geography of District Abbottabad Neighbouring districts include Mansehra to the north and Haripur to the west in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muzaffarabad to the east in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Rawalpindi to the south in the Punjab province. According to the 2023 Pakistani census, the population of Abbottabad District is 1,397,587.

History

Origin of name The district is named after Major James Abbott, the first deputy commissioner of Hazara (1849–1853).IUCN Pakistan (2004). Abbottabad – State of the environment and Development. IUCN Pakistan and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa: Karachi, p. 2.

Hazara During British rule, Abbottabad became the capital of the Hazara division, which was named after and contained the Hazara valley, a small valley in the outermost Himalayas, between the Indus in the west and Kashmir in the east.Hazara – Nordisk familjebok

The current Abbottabad District was originally a tehsil of Hazara, the Imperial Gazetteer of India described it as follows:

The area covered by the modern district is described as lying between 33°50' and 34°23' North, 73°35' and 73°31'East.NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS JournalNX- A Multidisciplinary Peer Reviewed Journal ISSN No: 2581 - 4230 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 4, Apr. -2021

In 1976, the tehsils of Mansehra and Battagram were separated into the new Mansehra District, while the tehsil of Haripur became a separate district in 1991.

Administration

Abbottabad district is divided into four tehsils:Open Data tehsils-in-district-abbottabad-year-2021

TehsilArea (km2)Pop. (2023)Density (ppl/km2)

(2023)Literacy rate (2023)Union CouncilsAbbottabad Tehsil1,2851,003,339101.7678.39%51Havelian Tehsil342256,75498.876.08%13Lora Tehsil18798,71797.2273.73%Lower Tanawal Tehsil15360,26298.8871.66% Abbottabad district has one urban administration area – Nawanshehr.

Election 1977 During the 1977 elections Iqbal Khan Jadoon, known as the Fakhr-e-Hazara or pride of Hazara, was elected to the district's NA-12 (Abbottabad) constituency.National Assembly Elections in Pakistan 1970-2008 - A compendium of elections related facts and statistics Page 130

Election 2008 With the announcement by the Election commission of Pakistan that elections would be held on 8 January 2008,2008 Elections – ELECTION COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN more than a dozen candidates filed their nomination papers in Abbottabad.Election campaign starts in Abbottabad – Associated press of Pakistan

Political campaigns Abbottabad was the centre of the Sooba Hazara movement that started after the national assembly passed the 18th amendment to change the name of the province from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The former governor of the province has been vocal in this opposition to the new name

Provincial assembly The district is represented in the provincial assembly by four elected MPAs (PK-36 to PK-39):PF-48 (Abbottabad-V) Result: Announced Member of Provincial Assembly Party affiliation Constituency Year Nazir Ahmed Abbasi Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-36 Abbottabad-I2018 Sardar Aurangzeb Pakistan Muslim League (N)PK-37 Abbottabad-II 2018 Qalandar Khan LodhiPakistan Tehreek-e-InsafPK-38 Abbottabad-III 2018 Mushtaq Ahmed GhaniPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-39 Abbottabad-IV2018

Demographics As of the 2023 census, Abbottabad district has 236,789 households and a population of 1,419,072. The district has a sex ratio of 100.77 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 77.34%: 86.20% for males and 68.42% for females. 334,274 (23.92% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 332,315 (23.42%) live in urban areas.

The population of the district increased from 880,666 in 1998 to 1,419,072 in 2023 which is an increase of 61% over the 25 year period.

Major ethnic groups The major ethnic groups in the district are: Gujjar Awan Dhund Karlal Sarara Kashmiris

The Tanawal–Sherwan region is mainly inhabited by the Tanoli tribe, while the Galliyat hill areas are mostly home to the Karlal and Abbassi tribes and the lowland plains are largely settled by the Awan community.Society and Culture - Abbottabad Government website

Language

At the time of the 2023 census, 87.43% (1,221,957) of the population spoke Hindko, 5.85% (81,731) Pashto, 3.06% (42,734) Urdu, 11,744 Kohistani, 10,401 Punjabi, 1,971 Shina, 1,722 Saraiki, 1,080 Kashmiri as their first language. Other languages, namely the Kohistani (11,744), are also spoken in this district.

Literacy According to the 2023 census Abbottabad was the only district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that had a literacy of 75.1% and above.- Page 125

Religion

+ Religion in contemporary Abbottabad DistrictReligiousgroup194120172023 Islam 284,22892.13% 1,329,91799.76%1,391,39499.56% Hinduism 17,5585.69% 800.01%1140.01% Sikhism 6,0351.96%43~0% Christianity 2780.09% 2,6050.20%5,8180.42%Other4190.13%4870.03%2180.01% Total Population308,518100% 1,333,089100%1,397,587100%

The major language of the area is Hindko, which in the 1981 census, was the mother tongue of % of households. The data is specifically for Abbottabad Tehsil; the only other tehsil of the district has since been promoted into the separate district of Haripur. The variety spoken in the city of Abbottabad has formed the basis of a literary language. It is very close to the Hindko varieties of Mansehra: the two share 86% of their basic vocabulary.The figure is from:

The relative homogeneity of the Hindko dialects of Abbottabad and Manshehra is mentioned in: In the Galliat region in the southeast of the district, the language is still known as Hindko but becomes more distinct and gradually transitions into the dialects of Pahari.

Other languages, such as Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi, are found more in urban than rural areas.

Parks and protected areas Under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act of 1975, two areas have been designated with the district: Ayubia National Park and Qalandarabad game reserve.IUCN Pakistan (2004). Abbottabad – State of the environment and Development. IUCN Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Karachi, p. 50. Both areas cover only 6% of the landed area of the district.

The Ayubia National Park was established in 1984, this park covers an area of over 3,312 ha.

The Qalandarabad game reserve was established in 1980 with an area of 8,940ha.

Education According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2015, Abbottabad is ranked 31 out of 148 districts in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 72 out of 148.The literacy rate of Abbottabad is 69%.

See also 2005 Kashmir earthquake

References