Bhimber District

Bhimber

ضلع بھمبر
Bhimber ضلع بھمبر
District
	Map of Azad Kashmir with Bhimber highlighted
Country	Pakistan
Province	Jammu and Kashmir
Established	1996
Headquarters	Bhimber
Area
• Total	1,516 km2 (585 sq mi)
Population (2017)
• Total	420,624
• Density	277/km2 (720/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Number of Tehsils	3
Website	http://www.bhimber.com

Bhimber (Urdu:ضلع بھمبر) is the southernmost of the ten districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It borders Indian-administered Kashmir to the east. The district is located between Latitude: 32-48 to 33-34 and Longitude: 73.55 to 74-45, and has an area of 1516 km². The chief town is Bhimber.

History

The area is very rich in archaeological remains due to its strategic location. It lies on the route that was followed by the Mughal Emperors for their frequent visits to the Kashmir Valley.Due to such important location it was called Gateway to Kashmir (Bab-e-Kashmir).

Until 1995 Bhimber was a sub-division (tehsil) of Mirpur District. In 1996 the Tehsil of Bhimber was removed from Mirpur and made into a separate district.

Location

The district is bounded by Mirpur district to the northwest (and is 50 km from Mirpur city), and Punjab province in the west and south. It also shares borders with Indian administered Kashmir to the east.

Administrative divisions

The total area of the district is 1516 square kilometres and is sub-divided into three tehsils:

Demography

According to the 2017 census, the total population of the district stands at 420,624.^[1]

Education

According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2015, Bhimber ranked 10th out of 145 districts in Pakistan in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 116 out of 145.^[2]

Climate

The southern zone Mirpur Division has a similar climate to the neighbouring areas of Punjab, hot summer temperature is often over 45 C from May to September and cold winter, rainfall is concentrated in the monsoon from late June to the end of August. There is often a prolonged dry period from October to early January followed by Winter rains from mid-January to March.