Mansehra District
District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
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Mansehra District (Urdu, Hindko: ضلع مانسہرہ) is a district in the Hazara Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Pakistan. The city of Mansehra serves as the headquarters of the district.
Mansehra District
ضلع مانسہرہ | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Mansehra District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province |  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Division | Hazara |
| Region | Pakhli |
| Headquarters | Mansehra |
| Government | |
| • Type | District administration |
| • Deputy Commissioner | Bilal Shahid Rao (BPS-18 PAS) |
| • District Police Officer | Zahoor Babar Afridi (BPS-19 PSP) |
| Area | |
| 4,579 km2 (1,768 sq mi) | |
| Population | |
| 1,797,177 | |
| • Density | 392.5/km2 (1,017/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 154,834 (8.62%) |
| • Rural | 1,642,343 |
| Literacy | |
| • Literacy rate |
|
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Area code | 0997 |
| Number of union councils | 59 |
| Number of tehsils | 5[3] |
| Website | mansehra |
Mansehra was established as an independent district in 1976. It was previously a tehsil within the broader Hazara District.[4] In 1993, a former subdivision of Mansehra, Battagram, was separated as an independent district.[5] Similarly, in 2011, another subdivision of Mansehra, Kala Dhaka, was separated which is now known as Torghar District.
The area comprising present-day Mansehra District historically consisted of two regions: Pakhal, known as the country of the Swati tribe, and Tanawal, the territory of the Tanoli tribe. According to revenue records, historical accounts, and British gazetteers, following the conquest of Pakhal from the Turks in 1703, Swati clans settled across the region, establishing ownership of nearly all villages in the district.[6]
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 260,631 | — |
| 1961 | 373,975 | +3.68% |
| 1972 | 552,842 | +3.62% |
| 1981 | 686,308 | +2.43% |
| 1998 | 978,157 | +2.11% |
| 2017 | 1,555,742 | +2.47% |
| 2023 | 1,797,177 | +2.43% |
| Sources:[7] | ||
As of the 2023 census, Mansehra district has 294,052 households and a population of 1,797,177. The district has a sex ratio of 103.08 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 63.79%: 75.33% for males and 52.02% for females. 478,985 (26.76% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 154,834 (8.62%) live in urban areas.[1]
Major ethnic groups
The major ethnic groups in Mansehra district are:
Other ethnic groups
Languages
At the time of the 2023 census, 66.22% of the population spoke Hindko, 17.97% Pashto, 2.51% Kohistani and 1.16% Urdu as their first language.[10]
Many of these, especially in the upper Kaghan Valley, are speakers of the Kohistani dialects. There are also speakers of the widely dispersed Gujari language, particularly in the Kaghan Valley.[11] The local variety is intermediate between the eastern dialects of Gujari (spoken in Azad Kashmir) and the western group (from Chitral, Swat and Gilgit).[12] There is also a small community in the village of Dana in Oghi Tehsil who speak the endangered Mankiyali language.[13]
Religions
| Religious group |
1941[14]: 22 | 2017[15] | 2023[16] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
Islam  |
293,231 | 97.79% | 1,555,315 | 99.97% | 1,785,071 | 99.75% |
Hinduism  |
5,431 | 1.81% | 28 | ~0% | 39 | ~0% |
Sikhism  |
1,174 | 0.39% | N/a | N/a | 31 | ~0% |
Christianity  |
22 | 0.01% | 163 | 0.01% | 3,986 | 0.22% |
| Other | 0 | ~0% | 236 | 0.02% | 497 | 0.03% |
| Total Population | 299,858 | 100% | 1,555,742 | 100% | 1,789,624[a] | 100% |
| Note: 1941 census data is for Mansehra, Amb and Phulra tehsils of erstwhile Hazara district, which roughly corresponds to contemporary Mansehra district. District and tehsil borders have changed since 1941. | ||||||
Constituencies
The district is represented in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly by elected MPAs who represent the following constituencies:[17]
Constituency and current member :
- PK-36 (Mansehra-I), Munir Lughmani Swati
- PK-37 (Manshera-II), Babar Saleem Swati
- PK 38 (Mansehra III), Zahid Chanzeb Swati
- PK 39 (Mansehra IV), Ikram Ghazi Tanoli
- PK 40 (Mansehra V), Sardar Shah Jahan
The district is represented in the National Assembly of Pakistan by two elected MNAs who represent the following constituencies:
- NA-14 (Mansehra-I)
- NA-15 (Mansehra Torghar), Shahzada Gustasip Khan Swati
Administrative divisions
Mansehra District consists of six tehsils, with Tanawal Tehsil separated from the other five in December 2022.[18]
| Tehsil | Name
(Urdu) |
Area
(km²)[19] |
Pop.
(2023) |
Density
(ppl/km²) (2023) |
Literacy rate
(2023)[20] |
Union Councils |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baffa Pakhal | (Urdu: تحصیل بفہ پکھل)[21] | 640 | 460,090 | 718.89 | 60.85% | |
| Bala Kot Tehsil | (Urdu: تحصیل بالاکوٹ) | 2,376 | 310,339 | 130.61 | 67.50% | |
| Darband | (Urdu: تحصیل دربند)[22] | 102 | 51,702 | 506.88 | 50.47% | |
| Mansehra Tehsil | (Urdu: تحصیل مانسہرہ) | 700 | 723,325 | 1,033.32 | 68.70% | |
| Oghi Tehsil | (Urdu: تحصیل اوگی) | 307 | 251,721 | 819.94 | 52.85% | |
| Tanawal Tehsil | (Urdu: تحصیل تناول) | ... | ... | ... | ... |
The Kala Dhaka tehsil was separated as Torghar District in 2011.
Politics
| Member of Provincial Assembly | Party affiliation | Constituency | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Munir Lughmani Swati | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-36 Mansehra-I | 2024 |
| Babar Saleem Khan Swati | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-37 Mansehra-II | 2024 |
| Zahid Chanzeb Swati | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-38 Mansehra-III | 2024 |
| Ikram Ghazi Khan Tanoli | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-39 Mansehra-IV | 2024 |
| Sardar Shah Jahan Yousaf | Pakistan Muslim League (N) | PK-40 Mansehra-V | 2024 |
