Lower Dir District
Lower Dir District (Pashto: لر / کوز دير ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضِلع دیرِ زیریں) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Timergara city is the district headquarter and largest city, while the other small cities are Chakdara, Munda, Samar Bagh, Khall and Kumbar.
Lower Dir District
ضلع دیرِ زیریں | |
---|---|
Country | Pakistan |
Province | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
Headquarters | Timergara |
Area | |
• District | 1,582 km2 (611 sq mi) |
Population | |
• District | 1,435,917 |
• Density | 910/km2 (2,400/sq mi) |
• Urban | 40,373 |
• Rural | 1,395,544 |
Time zone | PST |
Main language | Pashto (99.4)[2]:27 |
Website | http://dirlower.com/ |
At the time of independence, Dir was a princely state ruled by Nawab Shah Jehan Khan. It was merged with Pakistan in 1969 and later declared a district in 1970. The district was formed in 1996, when the district of Dir was divided into Upper Dir and Lower Dir. The district borders Swat District on its East, Afghanistan on its West, Upper Dir and Chitral on its North and North-West respectively and Malakand and Bajaur Agency on its South.
Administration
The district is administratively subdivided into seven tehsils, Adenzai, Timergara, Balambat, Khall, Munda, Samar Bagh and Lal Qila Maidan, which contain a total of 41 Union Councils.[3] In Lower Dir, there are 7 tehsils:
Tehsil | Union councils |
---|---|
Adenzai |
Asbanr, Badwan, Chakdara, Khadagzai, Tazagram, Khanpur, Kotigram, Ouch |
Balambat |
Balambat, Hayaserai, Lajbook, Munjai, Koto, Rabat , Odigram |
Khall |
Khall-I, Khall-II, Toormang-I, Toormang-II, Sultankhel (Payeen Dara) |
Lal Qilla |
Bishgram, Lal Qilla, Gall Maidan, Kotkai (Maidan), Zaimdara, |
Munda |
Khazana, Mia Kalai, Munda, |
Samarbagh |
Darangai, Kambat, Mayar, Maskini, Sadbar Kali, Samar Bagh |
Timergara |
Bagh Dush Khel,Saddo, Bandagai, Khungai, Malak Abad Ghara, Noora Khel, Shahi Khel Ziarat Talash, Timergara (Urban) |
National Assembly
NA-6 (Lower Dir-I) and NA-7 (Lower Dir-II) are constituencies of the National Assembly of Pakistan from Lower Dir district. These areas were formerly part of NA-34 (Lower Dir) constituency from 1977 to 2018. The delimitation in 2018 split Lower Dir into two separate constituencies, NA-6 (Lower Dir-I) and NA-7 (Lower Dir-II).
NA-34 constituency (2002-2018)
Member of National Assembly | Party Affiliation | Year |
---|---|---|
Qazi Hussain Ahmad | Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | 2002 |
Maulana Ahmad Ghafoor Ghawas | Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | 2003 |
Malak Azmat Khan | Pakistan Peoples Party | 2008 |
Shahib Zada Muhammad Yaqub | Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan | 2013 |
Since 2018: NA-6 (Lower Dir-I)
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Mehboob Shah | PTI |
Since 2018: NA-7 (Lower Dir-II)
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Muhammad Bashir Khan | PTI |
Provincial Assembly
The district is represented by four elected MPAs in the provincial assembly who represent the following constituencies. After the shifting of three union councils from the Upper Dir to Lower Dir, the provincial constituency of upper Dir, PF-93, now consists of UCs Khall, Toor Mang and Akha Gram of Lower Dir. [4]
Notable people
- Siraj ul Haq, politician
- Muhammad Bashir Khan, politician
- Noorena Shams, professional squash player
- Naseem Shah, cricketer
- Zahid Khan, Ex-Senator
See also
References
- "DISTRICT AND TEHSIL LEVEL POPULATION SUMMARY WITH REGION BREAKUP: KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2018-01-03. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
- 1998 District Census report of Lower Dir. Census publication. 31. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 1999.
- "Tehsils & Unions in the District of Lower Dir – Government of Pakistan". nrb.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
- Constituencies and MPAs – Website of the Provincial Assembly of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Archived 2008-04-28 at the Wayback Machine