Lodhran District
District in Punjab, Pakistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lodhran District (Saraiki: ضِلع لودهراں), is a district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan, with the city of Lodhran as its capital. Located on the northern side of the River Sutlej, it is bounded to the north by the districts of Multan, Khanewal and Vehari, to the south by Bahawalpur, to the east lie the districts of Vehari and Bahawalpur; while district Multan lies on the western side.
Lodhran District
ضِلع لودھراں | |
|---|---|
Shrine of Sheikh Ahma Kabir | |
 Map of Punjab with Lodhran District highlighted | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province |  Punjab |
| Division | Multan |
| Headquarters | Lodhran |
| Government | |
| • Type | District Administration |
| • Deputy Commissioner | Abdul Rauf Mahar |
| • District Police Officer | Hassam Bin Iqbal |
| • Chief executive officer health | Faisal Waheed |
| Area | |
| 2,778 km2 (1,073 sq mi) | |
| Population | |
| 1,928,299 | |
| • Density | 694.1/km2 (1,798/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 325,053 |
| • Rural | 1,603,246 |
| Literacy | |
| • Literacy rate |
|
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Area code | 0608 |
| Number of Tehsils | 3 |
| Website | lodhran |
Lodhran was split off as a separate district from Multan in 1991.[3] It has the lowest Human Development Index of all districts in Punjab, and is among the thirty poorest districts in Pakistan.[4]: 85 It is a well-known cotton-growing area.[3]
Administrative divisions
Lodhran District is spread over an area of 2,778 square kilometres and is subdivided into three tehsils (Lodhran, Kahror Pakka and Dunyapur) which contain a total of 73 Union Councils:[5]
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 289,052 | — |
| 1961 | 363,563 | +2.32% |
| 1972 | 558,793 | +3.98% |
| 1981 | 739,912 | +3.17% |
| 1998 | 1,171,800 | +2.74% |
| 2017 | 1,699,693 | +1.98% |
| 2023 | 1,928,299 | +2.13% |
| Sources:[9] | ||
As of the 2023 census, Lodhran district has 323,866 households and a population of 1,928,299. The district has a sex ratio of 107.26 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 51.68%: 60.63% for males and 42.12% for females.[1][10] 540,664 (28.07% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age.[11] 325,053 (16.86%) live in urban areas.[1]
| Religious group |
1941[13]: 62–63 | 2017[14] | 2023[12] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
Islam  |
175,642 | 82.59% | 1,695,600 | 99.76% | 1,917,852 | 99.56% |
Hinduism  [a] |
33,246 | 15.63% | 93 | 0.01% | 97 | 0.01% |
Sikhism  |
3,519 | 1.65% | N/a | N/a | 24 | 0% |
Christianity  |
218 | 0.1% | 3,227 | 0.19% | 7,613 | 0.40% |
| Ahmadi | N/a | N/a | 710 | 0.04% | 656 | 0.03% |
| Others[b] | 49 | 0.02% | 63 | 0% | 93 | 0% |
| Total Population | 212,674 | 100% | 1,699,693 | 100% | 1,926,357 | 100% |
| Note: 1941 census data is for Lodhran tehsil of Multan District, which roughly corresponds to contemporary Lodhran district. District and tehsil borders have changed since 1941. | ||||||
At the time of the 2023 census, 73.81% of the population spoke Saraiki, 15.23% Punjabi, 6.41% Urdu, and 2.19% Mewati as their first language.[15]
The most widely spoken first language is Saraiki (70%), which is used by the major indigenous social groups of the Joya, Baloch, Awan, Arain, Kanju, Uttera/Uttero, Ghallu, Bhutta, Lodhra, Metla, Chaner Syed, Qureshi, Tareen and Pathan. Additionally, Punjabi is spoken by about 19%. The percentage of the district's population who declared Urdu as their language at the 1998 census was 9%; this includes these Haryanvi speakers as well as other, smaller, groups of Muhajirs such as the Mughal. Additionally, the nomadic Od people are speakers of the Od language, while Pashto (0.2%) is spoken by Pashtuns.[16][4]: 83
Notes
- 1941 census: Including Ad-Dharmis
- Including Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, or not stated