Upper Swat District (), also known as Bar Swat District () is a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was carved out of the Swat District in October 2025. It consists of the Behrain, Matta and Khwazakhela tehsils of former Swat District, with Matta as headquarter.
With forests, alpine meadows, and snow-capped mountains, Upper Swat is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.
Geography
Upper Swat District largely consists of Swat Kohistan, with two smaller plain tehsils. Swat Kohistan forms the larger, northern part of the district. Administratively, it is surrounded by Lower Chitral and Upper Dir to the west, Gilgit-Baltistan to the north, and Kohistan and Shangla to the east and southeast, respectively.
The Swat Valley is enclosed by mountains that forms a natural geographic boundary for it. The Swat River whose headwaters arise in the Hindu Kush mountain range runs through the length of the region. The main area consists of many sub valleys such as Kalam, Bahrain, Matiltan, Utror, and Gabral.
History In August 2025, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced the plan to divide the Swat District. A notification was issued by the Revenue Department directing the Commissioners of Malakand Division and the Deputy Commissioner of Swat to submit a report on the division plan within three days.
On 19 December the provincial cabinet approved the bifurcation of the district and the creation of Upper Swat District, with Matta as the headquarter. It is known for tourism and is also known as Switzerland of the East.
Demographics Languages Upper Swat District is mostly inhabited by Pashto speaking communities who make up 83.27% of the population. Languages classified as 'Others', mainly Gawri, Torwali and Gujari are spoken by 13.48% of the population, and form the majority in the Swat Kohistan region of Upper Swat.
Administrative divisions Upper Swat is subdivided into three administrative units, known as Tehsils: TehsilArea (km2)Pop. (2023)Density (ppl/km2)
(2023)Literacy rate (2023)Union CouncilsBehrain Tehsil2,899270,62393.3545.26%Matta Tehsil684552,431807.6565.54%Khwaza Khela Tehsil392307,300783.9370% Each tehsil comprises certain numbers of union councils.
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References