Lower Dir District
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| Lower Dir District | |
 Location of Dir (highlighted in yellow) within the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. |
|
| Province | North-West Frontier Province |
| Capital | Timergara |
| Area | 1,582 km² |
| Population () • Density |
• /km² |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| Established • District Nazim • District Naib Nazim • District Council • Number of Tehsils |
• • • seats • 2 |
| Main language(s) | |
| Website | www.nwfp.gov.pk |
Lower Dir is one the 24 districts of North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. The district was formed in 1996, when the district of Dir was divided into Upper Dir and Lower Dir.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
The district is 1,582 square kilometres in area[1] and formed part of the Malakand Division until divisions were abolished in 2000. Almost all of it lies in the valley of the Panjkora which rises high in the Hindu Kush at Lat. 35.45 and joins the Swat River near Chakdara, where the district is usually entered, at Lat. 34.40. Apart from the tehsils of Adenzai round Chakdara and Munda in the south-west, Lower Dir is rugged and mountainous.
The district is bounded by Swat District to the east, Bajour Agency to the west, Upper Dir to the north, and Malakand District to the south.
Timergara, the district headquarters, lies at only 2,700 ft (820 m). Except for Timergara and a number of rapidly growing bazaar towns along the main roads the population is rural, scattered in more than 1200 villages over the plains of Adenzai and Munda and the deep narrow valleys of the Panjkora and its tributaries.
The road from Timergara to Dir, a 1.5 hour car journey, following the bank of the river Panjkora, is very scenic. It passes the villages of Danwa, Rabat, Khal and Wari (Warai).
Kat Kala, at the entrance to the Talash valley, was identified by Sir Olaf Caroe as a possible site of the town of Massaga, captured by Alexander the Great in 327 B.C.
[edit] History
[edit] Administration
The district is administratively subdivided into two Tehsils which contain a total of 13 Union Councils:[2]
| Tehsil | No. of Unions |
|---|---|
| Samar Bagh | 6 |
| Timargara | 7 |
| Total | 13 |
The district is represented in the provincial assembly by four elected MPAs who represent the following constituencies: [3]
- PF-94(Lower Dir-1)
- PF-95(Lower Dir-2)
- PF-96(Lower Dir-3)
- PF-97(Lower Dir-4)
[edit] Demographics
The population of the Lower Dir district's 37 Union Councils is 797,852 according to the 1998 census report. The projected population of Dir Lower was 1.037.091 in 2005 with the same growth between the 1981 and 1998 census i.e. 3.42% per annum. The projected male population of Dir lower in 2005 is 514,072 and the female is 523,020.
The literacy ratio of the district among the population aged 10 years and above is 29.90 percent which has increased significantly since 1981 when it was just 10.16 percent. The male literacy ratio is higher i.e. 48.76 compared to 12.25 percent for females, according to census report 1998.
Dir is considered one of the most sensitive areas in Pakistan in term of religious extremism. Religio-political parties have taken root in Dir, e.g. JUI, JI and TNSM. The development indicators in Dir have always been discouraging. Dir was ruled by a princely dynasty till 1969. There were limited facilities for education, health, road, transportation and communication for the inhabitants of the Dir State.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ NWFP Government website section on Lower Dir
- ^ Tehsils & Unions in the District of Lower Dir - Government of Pakistan
- ^ Constituencies and MPAs - Website of the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP
[edit] External links
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