There are thirty districts in the Pakistan province of Sindh. These districts together contain 138 tehsils as of 2023.
They comprised 1,100 Union Councils and 66,923 human settlements, as per the 1998 census. Each district has a headquarter, often referred to as the capital of the district.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh, is the most populous city district, as well as the most densely populated. It was initially a single district, which has now been further subdivided into East, West, South, Central, Malir, Keamari and Korangi districts.
In 2023, the Sindh government opted to rename four districts in the Karachi Division, East District to Gulshan, West District to Orangi, South District to simplified Karachi, Central District to Nazimabad, while the other three districts, Malir, Keamari and Korangi retained their names.
History Colonial era
In 1839, the British Invaded the Sind. On 1843's annexation Sind was merged into Bombay Presidency and form a division of Bombay Presidency.
Districts and divisions were both introduced in Sind as administrative units by the British when Sind became a part of British India, and ever since then, they have formed an integral part in the civil administration of the Sind. At the time in 1843, the Sind was divided into three districts. Khairpur state was administered separately as a princely state.
The administration was as given below: Sind Division Hyderabad District Karachi District Shikarpur District
In 1846-47 Upper Sind Frontier district headquarter was Khangarh (Jacobabad) carved out of Shikarpur district.
In 1882, British government create a new district named Thar and Parkar by bifurcation of Hyderabad district and In 1883, Headquarter of Shikarpur district was shifted from Shikarpur to Sukkur.
On 1 August 1901, British government split Shikarpur and Karachi district to create Larkana district and district status of Shikarpur also shifted to Sukkur.
On 1 November 1912, Hyderabad district again split to create Nawabshah district.
In 1931, British government divided Karachi and Larkana district to create Dadu district.
On April 1, 1936, Sind was separated from Bombay Presidency to form a separate province of British India. At that time Sind division changed to form Hyderabad division.
Just before the independence of Pakistan, the districts of Sind were: Hyderabad District Karachi District Sukkur District Upper Sind Frontier District Thar and Parkar District Larkana District Nawabshah District Dadu District
1947-1955 In 1947's partition, Sind joined Pakistan.
In 1948, Karachi district split into two districts to create Thatta district and Karachi district separated from Sind province to create the new Federal Capital Territory.
In 1952, Upper Sind Frontier district was renamed to Jacobabad district.
In 1953, Thar and parkar and Nawabshah district also split into two districts to create Sanghar district.
On 14 October 1955, Khairpur state merged into Sind province and gave the status of district or divisional headquarter.
In 1955, the districts were: Hyderabad Division Hyderabad District Thar and Parkar District Dadu District Thatta District Sanghar District
Khairpur Division Khairpur District Sukkur District Jacobabad District Larkana District Nawabshah District
1955-1970 On 30 September 1955, to diminish the differences between the two wings of Pakistan, the 'One Unit' programme merged the four provinces of West Pakistan into a single province to parallel the province of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
In 1959, the Federal Capital Territory was merged with West Pakistan and in 1960, Karachi Bela Division was formed comprising Karachi District and Las Bela District.
1970-present On 1 July 1970, West Pakistan was abolished and the four provinces were restored as in 1955.
In 1972, the Lasbela district transferred to Kalat division of Balochistan Province and Karachi district divided into three districts in a new Karachi Division.
South Karachi District East Karachi District West Karachi District
In 1975, a new district was formed – Badin district carved out of Hyderabad district and Abolish Khairpur Division and replace it with Sukkur Division۔
In 1977, Shikarpur district again was re-maintained.
In the 1980s, Larkana Division was established by bifurcation of Sukkur Division.
In 1983, Sukkur district again spitting out to form Ghotki district.
In 1989, Naushahro Feroze district carved out of Nawabshah district.
On 31 October 1990, Mirpurkhas district carved out of Tharparkar district and Spelt Hyderabad Division to established Mirpur khas Division.
On 17 April 1993, Tharparkar district again spilt out to form Umerkot district.
In 1996, two more districts were created in the Karachi division;Central and Malir district.
In 2000, the five districts of Karachi division was merged and create Karachi city district and the government of Pakistan abolished divisions throughout the country.
In 2004, three new districts were formed - Qambar Shahdadkot district carved out of Larkana district; Jamshoro district out of the Dadu district and Kashmore district out of Jacobabad district.
In 2005, Hyderabad district was carved out to form three new districts of Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari and Tando Allahyar.
In September 2008, Sindh Cabinet renamed the Nawabshah district to Shaheed Benazirabad.
On 11 July 2011, Government restored Administration division.
On 7 August 2011, Shaheed Benazirabad district transferred from Sukkur to Hyderabad division.
In October 2013, two new districts were formed - Sujawal District was carved out of Thatta District and Korangi district was carved out of East district.
In 2020, Keamari District was created after splitting Karachi West District.
Proposed districts Sindh government had announced the plan the three new districts Proposed District Proposed Headquarters Current District Division Chhachro Chhachro Tharparkar district Mirpur Khas division Thari Mirwah district Thari Mirwah Khairpur district Sukkur division Shahdadpur district Shahdadpur Sanghar district Shaheed Benazirabad division
Additional demands for new districts From time to time, several ministers and elected representatives, such as MLAs and MPs, have proposed the following new districts:
Proposed District Proposed Headquarters Current District Division Mirpur Mathelo district Mirpur Mathelo Ghotki district Sukkur division Ubauro district Ubauro Ghotki district Sukkur division Ghotki district Ghotki Ghotki district(at Mirpur Mathelo) Sukkur division Rohri district Rohri Sukkur district Sukkur division Pano Aqil district Pano Aqil Sukkur district Sukkur division Dokri district Dokri Larkana district Larkana division Qambar district Qambar Qambar Shahdadkot district Larkana division Shahdadkot district Shahdadkot Qambar Shahdadkot district Larkana division Mehar district Mehar Dadu district Hyderabad division Sehwan district Sehwan Sharif Jamshoro district Hyderabad division Matli district Matli Badin district Hyderabad division Tando Bago district Tando Bago Badin district Hyderabad division Kot Ghulam Muhammad district Kot Ghulam Muhammad Mirpur Khas district Mirpur Khas division Mithi district Mithi Tharparkar district Mirpur Khas division Diplo district Diplo Tharparkar district Mirpur Khas division Tharparkar district Nagarparkar Tharparkar district(at Mithi) Mirpur Khas division
List of Districts by area, population, density, literacy rate etc.
District Headquarter Area (km2) Population (2023) Density (/km2)Literacy rate (2023) DivisionBadinBadin6,8581,947,081284.646.65%HyderabadDaduDadu7,8661,742,320221.857.13%HyderabadGhotkiMirpur Mathelo6,0831,772,609291.351.38%SukkurHyderabadHyderabad9932,432,5402,448.777.21%HyderabadJacobabadJacobabad2,6981,174,097434.052.34%LarkanaJamshoroJamshoro11,2041,117,30899.759.63%HyderabadKarachi CentralNorth Nazimabad693,822,32555,838.893.55%KarachiKarachi EastGulshan e Iqbal1393,921,74228,220.190.07%KarachiKarachi SouthSaddar Karachi1222,329,76419,104.688.57%KarachiKarachi WestOrangi Town3702,679,3807,238.177.43%KarachiKashmoreKandhkot2,5801,233,957477.345.59%LarkanaKeamariMoriro Mirbahar5592,068,4513,699.872.07%KarachiKhairpurKhairpur15,9102,597,535163.360.14%SukkurKorangiKorangi1083,128,97128,968.889.86%KarachiLarkanaLarkana1,9481,784,453915.865.58%LarkanaMalirMalir2,1602,432,2481,126.863.14%KarachiMatiariMatiari1,417849,383599.055.88%HyderabadMirpur KhasMirpur Khas2,9251,681,386574.755.37%Mirpur KhasNaushahro FerozeNaushahro Feroze2,9451,777,082603.267.15%Shaheed Benazir AbadQambar ShahdadkotQambar5,4751,514,869276.450.02%LarkanaSangharSanghar10,7282,308,465215.053.66%Mirpur KhasShaheed BenazirabadNawabshah4,5021,845,102409.560.86%Shaheed BenazirabadShikarpurShikarpur2,5121,386,330552.153.70%LarkanaSujawalSujawal8,785839,29295.537.02%HyderabadSukkurSukkur5,1651,639,897317.768.26%SukkurTando AllahyarTando Allahyar1,554922,012592.849.80%HyderabadTando Muhammad KhanTando Muhammad Khan1,423726,119509.144.02%HyderabadTharparkarMithi19,6371,778,40790.646.39%Mirpur KhasThattaThatta8,5701,083,191126.836.88%HyderabadUmerkotUmerkot5,6081,159,831207.238.69%Mirpur Khas
See also List of tehsils of Sindh Districts of Pakistan
References