Bagh District

Bagh
City
Bagh
Coordinates: 33°58′25″N 73°47′30″E / 33.9735°N 73.7918°E / 33.9735; 73.7918Coordinates: 33°58′25″N 73°47′30″E / 33.9735°N 73.7918°E / 33.9735; 73.7918
Country  Pakistan
State Azad Kashmir
Headquarters Bagh
Area
 • Total 768 km2 (297 sq mi)
Elevation 1,038 m (3,406 ft)
Population (2017)
 • Total 371,919
 • Density 483/km2 (1,250/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Urdu
Time zone PST
GPO 12500

Bagh District (Urdu: ضلع باغ‬‎) is one of the Ten districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. The district, which had been part of Poonch District, was created in 1988.[1]

The district is bounded by Muzaffarabad District to the north, Poonch district to the south, and Poonch district of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the east; it is bounded by the Punjab, Rawalpindi District and Abbottabad District of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province to the west. The total area of the district is 770 square kilometers.[2] Bagh District is linked to Muzaffarabad by two roads, one via Sudhan Gali (80 km) and the other through Kohala (97 km). It is situated 46 km from Rawalakot. The district's headquarters is located at Bagh. It is said that a bagh (garden) was set up by the landowner where the premises of the Forest Department are now located. As a result, the area that is now the district headquarters was named “Bagh”.[3][4]

History

There is an archaeological site located in Bagh called Bagh Fort.[5]

Prior to 1947, Bagh was a tehsil in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.[6]

Administrative divisions

Dhirkot Park

The district of Bagh is sub-divided into 2 tehsils:

Geography and climate

Map of Bagh district

Topographically, the entire Bagh district is a mountainous area, generally sloping from northeast to south-west. The area falls in the lesser Himalayas zone. The main range in the district is Pir-Panjal.

The Haji-Pir Pass is situated at the height of 3421 meters above sea level. The general elevation is between 1500 and 2500 meters above sea level. The mountains are generally covered with coniferous forests. Mahl Nala (in the Bagh sub-division) and Betar Nala (in the Haveli sub-division) are the two main streams. However, numerous other rivulets flow in the district.[7]

The climate of the district varies with altitude. The temperature generally remains between 2 °C to 40 °C. The main eastern part of the district is very cold in winter and moderate in summer. However, the lower valleys, the localities bordering Bagh at Kohala and its adjoining areas (Mongbajri and Ajra-Bagh) remain cold in winter and hot in summer. May, June and July are the hottest months. Maximum and minimum temperatures during the month of June are about 40 °C and 22 °C respectively. December, January and February are the coldest months. The maximum temperature in January is about 16 °C and minimum temperature is 3 °C respectively. Annual rainfall is about 1,500 millimetres (59 in).[7]

Demography

The total population of the district according to the 2017 census was 371,919.[8]

The major language of Azad Kashmir is Pahari. The Pahari dialect spoken in Bagh is closely related to the dialect spoken to the north in Muzaffarabad (84% shared basic vocabulary) and with the core Pahari varieties spoken to the south(west) in the Galyat region around Murree (86–88%).[9]

Education

According to Pakistan District Education Ranking 2017, a report by Alif Ailaan, the district of Bagh is ranked at number 5 nationally in the ranking related to education, with an education score of 73.99. The learning score is at 85.42 and gender parity score of 88.32,

The school infrastructure score of Bagh is 28.32, giving Bagh a national rank of 126. School infrastructure is a major problem in all of Kashmir. Access to schools, schools being far away is also a reason why there are less number of enrollments , especially after completing primary school.

2005 earthquake

The city of Bagh, like other areas of the district, was heavily damaged in the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Sixty percent of the buildings collapsed. Thousands of people died and many more found themselves homeless. In the aftermath of the earthquake, NATO came to the district to help with reconstruction and clearing.[10] There was a report that an entire village was wiped out in the district.[11] The U.S., through Pakistan, distributed vouchers so people could buy water and food.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Government of Azad Kashmir
  2. ↑ Bagh District Statistics
  3. ↑ Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Archived 2011-02-09 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. xxi, ISBN 978-1-84904-342-7
  7. 1 2
  8. ↑ "Census 2017: AJK population rises to over 4m". The Nation. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  9. ↑ Lothers, Michael; Lothers, Laura (2010). Pahari and Pothwari: a sociolinguistic survey (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports. 2010-012. p. 24. The wordlist for these comparisons was collected in Neela Butt.
  10. ↑
  11. ↑
  12. ↑
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