Dera Ghazi Khan (Urdu: ضلع ڈيره غازى خان, Saraiki: ضلع دیرہ غازی خان) is a district in Punjab, Pakistan. Its administrative capital is Dera Ghazi Khan.

Dera Ghazi Khan District
ضلع ڈيره غازى خان
ضلع دیرہ غازی خان
Top to bottom: Shrine of Mullah Qaid Shah, Hills of Fort Munro.
Map of Dera Ghazi Khan District
Map of Dera Ghazi Khan District
Country Pakistan
ProvincePunjab, Pakistan Punjab
DivisionDera Ghazi Khan
HeadquartersDera Ghazi Khan
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • Deputy CommissionerSardar Abdullah Dasti
 • District Police OfficerN/A
 • District Health OfficerN/A
Area
 • District of Punjab
9,153 km2 (3,534 sq mi)
Population
 • District of Punjab
3,393,705
 • Density370/km2 (960/sq mi)
 • Urban
807,412
 • Rural
2,586,293
Literacy
 • Literacy rate
  • Total:
    (46.78%)
  • Male:
    (56.17%)
  • Female:
    (37.20%)
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Area code064
Number of Tehsils3
Websitedgkhan.punjab.gov.pk

The district lies to the west of the Indus River. The Sulaiman Mountains rise to a height of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the north of the district. Popular tourist destinations are Fort Munro, Yakbai Hill station and Mubarki Top.

Administration

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The district is divided into three tehsils [4][5] which are divided into a total of sixty Union Councils:[6]

Tehsil[7] Area

(km²)[8]

Pop.

(2023)

Density

(ppl/km²)

(2023)

Literacy rate

(2023)[9]

Union Councils
Dera Ghazi Khan 2,012 1,443,409 717.40 47.25% 41
Koh-e-Suleman Tehsil 5,339 248,683 46.58 ... ...
Kot Chutta 1,802 904,836 502.13 38.61% 24

History

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Dera Ghazi Khan International Airport

The region around Dera Ghazi Khan was inhabited by Mallian people in late antiquity. Then it was part of wide Multan region.[10] The town of Dera Ghazi Khan was founded at the close of the 15th century and named after Nawab Ghazi Khan Mirani, son of Nawab Haji Khan Mirani, the city was founded when Shah Hussain of the Langah Sultanate of Multan invited the Baloch people to settle the region. Together with two other Deras i.e. settlements, Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Fateh Khan, it gave its name to Derajat. Derajat eventually came into the possession of the British after the Sikh War in 1849 and was divided into two districts: Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan.[11] After the independence, many of the city's Hindu residents settled in Derawal Nagar colony of Delhi, India.[12] The district of Rajanpur was later carved out of the Dera Ghazi Khan district.

Based on the surveys of 2004–2005, Dera Ghazi Khan district is considered one of the 20 poorest districts of Pakistan with about 51% of its population living under the poverty line.[13]

Demographics

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1951 380,393—    
1961 472,600+2.19%
1972 686,057+3.45%
1981 943,663+3.61%
1998 1,643,118+3.32%
2017 2,872,631+2.98%
2023 3,393,705+2.82%
Sources:[14]

At the 2017 census, Dera Ghazi Khan district had 339,202 households and a population of 2,872,631. Dera Ghazi Khan had a sex ratio of 979 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 46.67% - 59.15% for males and 34.26% for females. 546,221 (19.01%) lived in urban areas. 979,674 (34.10%) were under 10 years of age.[15] In 2023, the district had 454,711 households and a population of 3,393,705.[2]

Religion

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As per the 2023 census, the vast majority of the population was Muslim and made up nearly the entire population with 99.67%. Christians made up the largest minority (0.27%), followed by Ahmadis (0.05%) with Hindus and Sikhs making up the rest.[16]

Religion in Dera Ghazi Khan District
Religious

group

2017[17] 2023[16]
Pop. % Pop. %
Islam   2,869,385 99.89% 3,375,249 99.67%
Ahmadiyya   2,546 0.09% 1,823 0.05%
Christianity   330 0.01% 9,135 0.27%
Hinduism   248 0.01% 166 0%
Sikhism   48 0%
Others 122 0% 154 0%
Total Population 2,872,631 100% 3,386,575 100%
Religious groups in Dera Ghazi Khan District (British Punjab province era)
Religious
group
1901[18] 1911[19][20] 1921[21] 1931[22] 1941[23]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Islam   412,012 87.45% 442,234 88.47% 411,431 87.72% 432,911 88.16% 512,678 88.19%
Hinduism  [a] 57,815 12.27% 56,485 11.3% 56,346 12.01% 57,217 11.65% 67,407 11.59%
Sikhism   1,027 0.22% 1,042 0.21% 932 0.2% 760 0.15% 1,072 0.18%
Christianity   152 0.03% 76 0.02% 47 0.01% 31 0.01% 87 0.01%
Jainism   143 0.03% 23 0% 296 0.06% 125 0.03% 106 0.02%
Zoroastrianism   0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Buddhism   0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Judaism   0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Others 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Total population 471,149 100% 499,860 100% 469,052 100% 491,044 100% 581,350 100%
Note: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.
Religion in the Tehsils of Dera Ghazi Khan District (1921)[21]
Tehsil Islam   Hinduism   Sikhism   Christianity   Jainism   Others[b] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil 167,687 86.53% 25,272 13.04% 507 0.26% 27 0.01% 296 0.15% 0 0% 193,789 100%
Sanghar Tehsil 74,548 87.95% 10,207 12.04% 4 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 84,759 100%
Rajanpura Tehsil 94,148 89.66% 10,444 9.95% 415 0.4% 1 0% 0 0% 0 0% 105,008 100%
Jampur Tehsil 75,048 87.78% 10,423 12.19% 6 0.01% 19 0.02% 0 0% 0 0% 85,496 100%
Note: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.
Religion in the Tehsils of Dera Ghazi Khan District (1941)[23]
Tehsil Islam   Hinduism  [a] Sikhism   Christianity   Jainism   Others[c] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil 192,278 85.94% 31,052 13.88% 221 0.1% 37 0.02% 106 0.05% 41 0.02% 223,735 100%
Sanghar Tehsil 97,234 89.08% 11,875 10.88% 34 0.03% 6 0.01% 0 0% 0 0% 109,149 100%
Rajanpura Tehsil 122,849 90.18% 12,591 9.24% 791 0.58% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 136,231 100%
Jampur Tehsil 100,317 89.38% 11,889 10.59% 26 0.02% 3 0% 0 0% 0 0% 112,235 100%
Note1: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Note2: Tehsil religious breakdown figures for Christianity only includes local Christians, labeled as "Indian Christians" on census. Does not include Anglo-Indian Christians or British Christians, who were classified under "Other" category.

Languages

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Languages of Dera Ghazi Khan district (2023)[24]

  Saraiki (81.55%)
  Balochi (14.94%)
  Urdu (2.40%)
  Pashto (0.63%)
  Others (0.48%)

At the time of the 2023 census, 81.55% of the population spoke Saraiki, while 14.94% mentioned Balochi, 2.4% Urdu, and 0.63% Pashto as their first language.[24]

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "D.G.Khan | Punjab Portal".
  2. ^ a b "TABLE 1 : HOUSEHOLDS, POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2023.
  3. ^ "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Tehsils & Unions in the District of D.G. Khan – Government of Pakistan". Nrb.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  5. ^ Pakistan Government – List of Tehsils Archived 5 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Tehsils & Unions in the District of D.G. Khan Archived 9 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Divisions/Districts of Pakistan Archived 2006-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Note: Although divisions as an administrative structure has been abolished, the election commission of Pakistan still groups districts under the division names
  8. ^ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB" (PDF).
  9. ^ "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  10. ^ Durrani, Ashiq Muhammad Khān (1991). History of Multan: From the Early Period to 1849 A.D. Vanguard. ISBN 978-969-402-045-7.
  11. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dera Ghazi Khan" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 64.
  12. ^ "Colonies, posh and model in name only!". NCR Tribune. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  13. ^ Haroon Jamal (June 2007). Income Poverty at District Level: An Application of Small Area Estimation Technique (PDF) (Report). Social Policy and Development Centre. pp. 15–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  14. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  15. ^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  16. ^ a b "Population by Sex, Religion and Rural/Urban, Census-2023" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Population by Sex, Religion and Rural Urban" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province". 1901. p. 34. JSTOR saoa.crl.25363739. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1911. p. 27. JSTOR saoa.crl.25393788. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  20. ^ Kaul, Harikishan (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II". p. 27. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables". 1921. p. 29. JSTOR saoa.crl.25430165. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  22. ^ "Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1931. p. 277. JSTOR saoa.crl.25793242. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab". 1941. p. 42. JSTOR saoa.crl.28215541. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  24. ^ a b "TABLE 11 : POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  1. ^ a b 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis
  2. ^ Including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated
  3. ^ Including Anglo-Indian Christians, British Christians, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated
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29°50′N 70°30′E / 29.833°N 70.500°E / 29.833; 70.500