Harnai District

Harnai (Pashto: هرنای‎) is a district in the north-east of Balochistan province of Pakistan. Harnai is the principal town of this district and serves as its capital.

هرنای
District
Harnai District
Map of Balochistan with Harnai District highlighted
Coordinates: 30.105447°N 67.939861°E / 30.105447; 67.939861
CountryPakistan
ProvinceBalochistan
HeadquartersHarnai
Population
 (2017)[1]
 • Total97,017
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)

The predominant first language is Pashto – in the 1998 census it accounted for 90% of the population of the Harnai subdivision of Sibi, while Balochi accounted for 7.2%.[2] Wanetsi, a unique and archaic dialect of Pashto, is spoken in the district.[3]

History

The name Harnai refers to an influential Hindu personality, Harnam Das, supposed founder of Harnai town, the capital of Harnai District. The town is quite close to Loralai, Ziarat, Sibi, and Quetta. Harnai is surrounded by imposing hills on all sides. The encircling hill ranges have the resounding names of 'Khalifat' and 'Zarghun'. Harnai proper has a population of about 200,000. The majority of the population of Harnai are Tareens and they mostly speak a unique dialect, or language, 'Tareeno' (Wanetsi), which is quite different from the Pushto spoken in other parts of Baluchistan and NWFP provinces, and is probably a mixture of Pushto, Urdu and other languages developed as a 'lingua franca' sometime during the 18th and 19th centuries, when a variety of people of different ethnic origins lived here. There seems to be no earlier historical record or trace of it.

Until 2007 Harnai had been a tehsil of Sibi District, in August the Balochistan Government announced the Harnai district would be created by splitting the Sibi district and forming the new district from Harnai and Shahrag tehsils and the sub-tehsil of Khost.

Geography and climate

Harnai is surrounded by mountainous ranges. The minimum and maximum winter temperature of the area is −2˚C to 20˚C. The summer is extreme in the area and the minimum and maximum temperature fall between 20˚C to 48˚C. Harnai has a fertile rainy season during monsoon time. In general, Harnai has pleasant weather in the winter season. Harnai is one of the most beautiful cities of the Balochistan Province with plenty of water available in the streams. It is the only area of the production of fresh vegetables and fruits with fresh and clean water in the whole of Balochistan.

References
  1. "DISTRICT WISE CENSUS RESULTS CENSUS 2017" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  2. PCO 1999, p. 89.
  3. Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4.

Bibliography
  • 1998 District census report of Sibi. Census publication. 17. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 1999.


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