Bagh District

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.[2]

Bagh
City
Ganga Choti, Bagh Valley, AJK
Coordinates: 33.9735°N 73.7918°E / 33.9735; 73.7918
CountryPakistan
StateAzad Kashmir
HeadquartersBagh
Area
 • Total770 km2 (300 sq mi)
Elevation
1,038 m (3,406 ft)
Population
 (2017)
 • Total371,919
 • Density483/km2 (1,250/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialUrdu
Time zonePST
GPO
12500

The district is bounded by Muzaffarabad District and Hattian Bala 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.[3] 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”.[4][5]

History

There is an archaeological site located in Bagh called Bagh Fort.[6]

Prior to 1947, Bagh was a tehsil in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.[7]

Administrative divisions
Dhirkot Park

The district of Bagh is sub-divided into 3 tehsils:[1]

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.[8]

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).[8]

Demography

The total population of the district according to the 2017 census was 371,919.[9]

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%).[10]

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.[11]

The school infrastructure score of Bagh is 28.32, giving Bagh a national rank of 126.[11] School infrastructure is a major problem in all of Kashmir. Access to schools, schools being far away is also a reason why there are fewer 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.[12] There was a report that an entire village was wiped out in the district.[13] The U.S., through Pakistan, distributed vouchers so people could buy water and food.[14]

References
  1. "Bagh District on AJK map". ajk.gov.pk. AJK Official Portal. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  2. Government of Azad Kashmir
  3. Bagh District Statistics
  4. "AJ&K Official Portal". www.ajk.gov.pk.
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2010-01-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Archived 2011-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. xxi, ISBN 978-1-84904-342-7
  8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2010-01-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Census 2017: AJK population rises to over 4m". The Nation. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  10. 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.
  11. "Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017" (PDF). elections.alifailaan.pk. Alif Ailaan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  12. "Nato winds up Kashmir relief work". January 31, 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  13. "Strong quake rocks Indian subcontinent". ABC News. October 8, 2005.
  14. "Pakistan Earthquake Families to Receive $100 Vouchers (Update1)". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
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