Malakand Division ملاکنڈ ڈویژن ملاکنډ څانګه | |
|---|---|
 Malakand Division (red) inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province |  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Headquarters | Mingora |
| Government | |
| • Type | Divisional Administration |
| • Commissioner | Abid Khan Wazir (PAS) |
| • Regional Police Officer | Sher Akbar Khan (BPS-20 PSP) |
| Area | |
• Division | 31,162 km2 (12,032 sq mi) |
| Population (2023) | |
• Division | 9,959,399 |
| • Density | 319.60/km2 (827.76/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 1,020,752 (10.25%) |
| • Rural | 8,938,647 |
| Language Speakers | |
| • Speakers | |
| Literacy | |
| • Literacy rate |
|
| Website | cmd |
Malakand Division is an administrativedivision ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province ofPakistan. Malakand is the second-largest division by population while Mingora, its capital, is the third largest city in the province.CNIC code of Malakand Division is 15.[3]
Until 1970, the area was known as theMalakand Agency.[4] In 1970, Malakand Division was formed from the princely states ofChitral,Dir andSwat (incorporated intoWest Pakistan in 1969) and an area around theMalakand Fort known as the Malakand Protected Area. The capital of Malakand Division isSaidu Sharif, with the largest city beingMingora. In late 2018, formerChitral District was bifurcated intoUpper Chitral District, fromMastuj Tehsil, andLower Chitral District, fromChitral Tehsil.[5]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | ... | — |
| 1961 | ... | — |
| 1972 | ... | — |
| 1981 | 2,466,767 | — |
| 1998 | 4,262,700 | +3.27% |
| 2017 | 7,514,694 | +3.03% |
| 2023 | 9,959,399 | +4.81% |
| Sources:[6] | ||
According to2023 census, Malakand division had a population of 9,959,399[7] roughly equal to the country ofGreece[8] or the US state ofMichigan[9] or Chinese province ofHainan.
The major ethnic groups in the division are:
Malakand Division is comprising 09 districts i.e. Swat, Shangla, Buner, Malakand, Dir Upper & Lower, Chitral Upper & Lower and Bajaur Tribal District with a total area of 32007Kms having population of 8.7 million. Formerly, the districts were princely states of Swat, Dir, Chitral and Malakand Protected Area (Malakand Agency). The States were merged in Pakistan by the Government of Pakistan in 1969 and were declared as Malakand Division. The area consists of snow-capped mountains, singing rivers, fruits laden orchards, flower decked slops and green meadows which attract tourists both at national as well as international level. It lies in the north of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa touching Karakuram Highway at Besham, Afghan border with Dir & Chitral and the strategic Wakhan strip is bordering Chitral. The mentioning of this area is found in the ancient Greek accounts & by other historians. It was a center of Aryan and later on rich Ghandhara civilizations before the Muslim rulers. Alexander the Great, king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia passed through this route to India in 327 B.C, attacking the biggest cities of the area, Massaga (Chakdara), Bazira (Barikot) & Ora (Odigram) and faced tough resistance. However, he could not survive for longer. This area also witnessed the invasion of Sakas (nomadic Iranian people), Kushans (syncretic empire) & white Huns (a race of largely nomadic peoples who were a part of the Hunnic tribes of Central Asia), this region also remained under the influence of Ashoka of Maurian dynasty. The flourishing of Buddhism had genesis in the reign of Ashoka as he adopted Buddhism in the later part of his life. The area then had more than 1400 monasteries and 18,000 monks in different parts and was a prominent center of Ghandhara civilization.[11]
| # | District | Headquarter | Area (km²)[12] | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Lit. rate (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bajaur | Khar | 1,290 | 1,287,960 | 998.4 | 26.26% |
| 2 | Buner | Daggar | 1,865 | 1,016,869 | 545.1 | 43.75% |
| 3 | Lower Chitral | Chitral | 6,458 | 320,407 | 49.6 | 66.10% |
| 4 | Lower Dir | Timergara | 1,583 | 1,650,183 | 1,042.4 | 57.36% |
| 5 | Shangla | Alpuri | 1,586 | 891,252 | 562.0 | 33.74% |
| 6 | Malakand | Batkhela | 952 | 826,250 | 868.1 | N/A |
| 7 | Swat | Saidu Sharif | 5,337 | 2,687,384 | 503.6 | 48.13% |
| 8 | Upper Chitral | Booni | 8,392 | 195,528 | 23.3 | 73.83% |
| 9 | Upper Dir | Dir | 3,699 | 1,083,566 | 292.9 | 46.77% |
| 10 | Central Dir District | Wari | 1,483 | 488,543 | 329.4 | N/A |
Latvia 2,204,708, July 2011 est.
New Mexico - 2,059,179
Gujars also organised themselves, particularly in Malakand Division, under their own independent ethnic political group (Gujar Qaumi Tehrik).