Narowal District is a district within the Gujranwala Division of Punjab, Pakistan. The city of Narowal serves as the headquarters of the district. It was formed in 1991 when the two tehsils of Narowal and Shakargarh were split off from Sialkot District.
Administration The district is administratively divided into the following three tehsils (subdivisions), which contain a total of 74 Union Councils:
TehsilDivisions/Districts of Pakistan
Note: Although divisions as an administrative structure has been abolished, the election commission of Pakistan still groups districts under the division namesArea (km²)Pop. (2023)Density (ppl/km²)
(2023)Literacy rate (2023)Union CouncilsShakargarh835769,339921.3676.28%28Narowal1,065680,402638.8876.78%28Zafarwal437501,2131,146.9471.72%26
Urban areas The district has six urban areas.
CityArea (km²)Pop. (2023)Density (ppl/km²)
(2023)Literacy rate (2023)Narowal200130,692......Shakargarh...126,742......Zafarwal1052,639......Qila Sobha Singh...19,671......Baddomalhi...19,351......Talwandi Bhindran...13,000......
Geography The district is bounded by Sialkot District on the northwest, by India on the north, by Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts on the southeast, Amritsar district on the south, and Sheikhupura district in Pakistan on the southwest.
Demography
Population
As of the 2023 census, Narowal district had a population of 1,950,954 which is roughly equal to the population of Santa Clara County, California, USA and Huangpu District, Guangzhou, China. There are 281,536 households. The district has a sex ratio of 104.40 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 75.28%: 79.89% for males and 70.49% for females. 494,799 (25.36% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 349,095 (17.89%) live in urban areas. According to the 2017 census, total population of District Narowal is 1.709 million. Male population is 0.853 m (49.96%) and female population is 0.855 m (50.04%). According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, Narowal District's population was 1,256,097, of which only 12.11% were urban.Urban Resource Centre - Population table
The total area of the district is approximately 2,337 square kilometres. Prior to the creation of Zafarwal Tehsil in July 2009, Narowal Tehsil occupied 1,065 square kilometres while the remaining area (1,272 square kilometres) fell in Shakargarh Tehsil.
Religion
As of 2023, 97.48% of the population adheres to Islam whereas 2.22% adheres to Christianity. There is a small Hindu population in the district. + Religion in contemporary Narowal DistrictReligiousgroup194120172023 Islam 296,582 1,663,50897.42%1,901,64597.48% Hinduism 170,8836570.04%8330.04% Sikhism 67,2671250.01% Christianity 24,12737,9102.22%43,4212.23%Ahmadiyya 5,4300.32%4,4910.23% Others24470~0%2540.01% Total Population 559,103 100%1,707,575100%1,950,769100%
Language
At the time of the 2023 census, 94.29% of the population spoke Punjabi, 3.05% Urdu and 2.28% Mewati as their first language.
Education
District Narowal boasts a robust educational infrastructure, featuring a total of 1,609 schools that cater to students at the foundational and secondary levels. Higher education is supported by 35 colleges, which include 8 for boys, 4 for girls, and 3 dedicated commerce colleges, providing a range of academic and professional programs. In addition, the presence of 3 universities further enhances the opportunities for advanced studies and research, contributing significantly to the overall development of education in the area.
Here is the list of universities & medical colleges in Narowal: University/CampusEstablishedSpecializationTypeUniversity of Narowal2018GeneralPublicUniversity of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Narowal campus2012GeneralPublicUniversity of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Narowal campus2017GeneralPublicNarowal Medical College2024MedicalPublicVirtual University of Pakistan, Narowal virtual campusGeneralPrivateSahara Medical College Narowal2015MedicalPrivate **University of Narowal (UoN) was previously the Narowal campus of University of Gujrat (UoG), but later on UoN became an independent university. Now there is no campus of UoG in Narowal.
Health The following hospitals operate in Narowal district: NameTypeEstablishedBedsDHQ Hospital, NarowalPublic1991300Sughra Shafi Medical Hospital ComplexPrivate2003600
Notable people
Dev Anand, Bollywood actor, director & producer Muhammad Tariq Anis: Ex MPA and MNA Daniyal Aziz, State Minister of Broadcasting Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Punjabi poet Anwar Aziz Chaudhry, politician Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, justice Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Pakistani revolutionary poet Abrar-ul-Haq, singer-songwriter, philanthropist, politician Syed Saeed ul Hassan, Minister of Punjab for Auqaf and Religious Affairs Adnan Ilyas, cricketer Ahsan Iqbal, Interior Minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Khan, longest serving Parliamentarian in the history of Pakistan. Rajendra Kumar, Indian film actor, director, producer, recipient of Padma Shri (1969) Naseer Ahmad Malhi, one of the founding fathers of Pakistan and the first education minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Abdul Rahim, politician Des Raj, Indian cricket umpire Afzal Ahsan Randhawa, writer Gurbachan Singh Salaria, former Indian Army officer Kidar Sharma, Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and Lyricist of Hindi films. Z. A. Suleri, political journalist
Constituencies
Provincial Assembly ConstituencyNational Assembly ConstituencyPP-54 Narowal-INA-75 Narowal-IPP-55 Narowal-IIPP-56 Narowal-IIINA-76 Narowal-IIPP-57 Narowal-IVPP-58 Narowal-V
See also Districts of Pakistan Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Districts of Punjab, Pakistan Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan Districts of Sindh, Pakistan Districts of Azad Kashmir Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan Tehsils of Pakistan Tehsils of Punjab, Pakistan Divisions of Pakistan Divisions of Balochistan Divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Divisions of Punjab Divisions of Sindh Divisions of Azad Kashmir Divisions of Gilgit-Baltistan
References
External links Tehsils & Unions in the District of Narowal - Government of Pakistan Profile of Narowal District