Hazara Division

Hazara Division
ہزارہ ڈویژن
هزاره څانګه
Hazara Division (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Hazara Division (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
CountryPakistan
ProvinceKhyber Pakhtunkhwa
HeadquartersAbbottabad
Districts9
Government
 • TypeDivisional Administration
 • CommissionerAamir Sultan Tareen (BPS-20 PAS)
 • Regional police officerTahir Ayub Khan (BPS-20 PSP)
Area
 • Division
17,064 km2 (6,588 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)
 • Division
6,188,736
 • Density362.68/km2 (939.33/sq mi)
 • Urban
634,914 (10.26%)
 • Rural
5,553,822 (89.74%)
Native Speakers
 • Speakers
Literacy
 • Literacy rate
  • Total:
    (60.95%)
  • Male:
    (71.42 %)
  • Female:
    (50.33 %)
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Area codeCNIC: 13
Websitechd.kp.gov.pk

Hazara Division, located along the Indus River in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, serves as an administrative region of the province, encompassing nine districts: Abbottabad, Allai District[4], Battagram, Haripur, Kolai-Palas, Lower Kohistan, Mansehra, Torghar, and Upper Kohistan.[5]

Location

Hazara Division is located in the east of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province - to the west it is bordered by Malakand and Mardan divisions of the province - to the south it is bordered by the Rawalpindi Division of Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory, to the east by Azad Kashmir and to the north by Gilgit-Baltistan.[6]

History

During the colonial era Hazara Division (then Hazara District) had been part of Peshawar Division[7] and was made up of three tehsils namely Haripur, Mansehra and Abbottabad [8] - following the dissolution of West Pakistan in 1970, Hazara District and the two tribal agencies were merged to create the new Hazara Division, with Abbottabad designated as its capital. Initially, the division comprised two districts: Abbottabad and Mansehra. Over the next few years, administrative changes led to the creation of two additional districts—Haripur was carved out of Abbottabad District, and Batagram was separated from Mansehra District.

Hazara functioned as a district until 1976, when it was formally upgraded to a division. In October of that year, Mansehra was granted full district status, encompassing the tehsils of Mansehra and Batagram. Later, in July 1991, Haripur Tehsil was separated from Abbottabad and established as an independent district. This left only the original Abbottabad Tehsil, which was then officially became Abbottabad District.

In 2000, Pakistan abolished its administrative divisions, elevating districts to serve as the new third tier of government. At the time of abolition, Hazara Division consisted of eight districts.[9]

However, in 2008, administrative divisions were reinstated, and Hazara Division was formally re-established.

Hazara Division Administrative Timeline with Tehsil Details
Year Event Tehsil Details
1970 Hazara District and two tribal agencies merged to form
Hazara Division (capital: Abbottabad)
Hazara District included Abbottabad,
Mansehra, and Haripur tehsils
1970s Haripur District created from Abbottabad;
Batagram District created from Mansehra
Haripur Tehsil became Haripur District;
Batagram Tehsil separated from Mansehra
1976 Hazara formally upgraded to division status;
Mansehra becomes a full district
Mansehra District comprised
Mansehra and Batagram tehsils
1991 Haripur Tehsil separated from Abbottabad
and made into a district
Abbottabad Tehsil was then split into
Havelian and Abbottabad tehsils
forming the tehsils of Abbottabad District
2000 Administrative divisions abolished;
Hazara Division dissolved
Districts functioned independently;
tehsil structure remained intact
2008 Administrative divisions reinstated;
Hazara Division restored
Hazara Division included Abbottabad,
Mansehra, Haripur, Batagram,
and later Kohistan and Torghar districts

Demographics

Population

According to the 2023 census, Hazara Division had a population of 6,188,736[10] roughly equal to the nation of Bulgaria[11] or the US state of Missouri.[12]

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1951...—    
1961...—    
1972...—    
19812,701,257—    
19983,505,581+1.54%
20175,325,121+2.22%
20236,188,736+2.54%
Sources:[13]

The increase in population from 1981 to 2023 was 129.1% equivalent to an average increase of approximately 1.96% per annum.

List of the Districts

Hazara Division contains the following districts:[14]

# District Headquarter Area

(km2)[15]

Pop.

(2023)

Density

(ppl/km2)

(2023)

Lit. rate

(2023)

1 Abbottabad Abbottabad 1,967 1,419,072 721.6 77.34%
2 Allai Allai Valley 521 N/A N/A N/A
3 Battagram Battagram 1,301 554,133 425.9 39.09%
4 Haripur Haripur 1,725 1,174,783 681.3 74.88%
5 Kolai Palas Kolai 1,410 280,162 198.7 18.80%
6 Lower Kohistan Pattan 642 340,017 529.5 22.05%
7 Mansehra Mansehra 4,125 1,797,177 435.6 63.79%
8 Torghar Judba 454 200,445 441.6 29.74%
9 Upper Kohistan Dasu 5,440 422,947 77.8 19.05%

List of the Tehsils

The following are a list of tehsils in Hazara Division along with their respective districts.

# Tehsil Area

(km2)[16]

Pop.

(2023)

Density

(ppl/km2)

(2023)

Lit. rate

(2023)

Districts
1 Abbottabad Tehsil 1,285 1,003,339 101.76 Abbottabad District
2 Havelian Tehsil 342 256,754 98.8
3 Lora Tehsil 187 98,717 97.22
4 Lower Tanawal Tehsil 153 60,262 98.88
5 Allai Tehsil 804 218,149 271.33 Batagram District
6 Batagram Tehsil 497 335,984 676.02
7 Ghazi Tehsil 595 151,839 255.19 Haripur District
8 Haripur Tehsil 834 836,058 1,002.47
9 Khanpur Tehsil 296 186,886 631.37
10 Bataira / Kolai 170 142,660 839.18 Kolai-Palas District
11 Palas 1,240 137,502 110.89
12 Bankad Tehsil 331 205,851 621.91 Lower Kohistan District
13 Pattan Tehsil 311 134,166 431.4
14 Baffa Pakhal 640 460,090 718.89 Mansehra District
15 Bala Kot Tehsil 2,376 310,339 130.61
16 Darband 102 51,702 506.88
17 Mansehra Tehsil 700 723,325 1,033.32
18 Oghi Tehsil 307 251,721 819.94
19 Tanawal Tehsil
20 Daur Maira Tehsil 86 50,503 587.24 Torghar District
21 Judba Tehsil 63 63,083 1,001.32
22 Khander Hassanzai Tehsil 305 86,859 284.78
23 Dassu Tehsil 1,958 148,914 76.05 Upper Kohistan District
24 Harban Basha Tehsil
25 Kandia Tehsil 1,926 165,232 85.79
26 Seo Tehsil 258 59,557 230.84

Constituencies

Provincial Assembly Constituency National Assembly Constituency District
PK-31 Kohistan Upper NA-12 Kohistan-cum-Lower Kohistan-cum-Kolai Palas Kohistan Upper Kohistan
PK-32 Kohistan Lower Lower Kohistan
PK-33 Kolai Palas Kolai-Palas
PK-34 Battagram-I NA-13 Battagram Battagram
PK-35 Battagram-II
PK-36 Mansehra-I NA-14 Mansehra Mansehra
PK-37 Mansehra-II
PK-38 Mansehra-III NA-15 Mansehra-cum-Torghar
PK-39 Mansehra-IV
PK-40 Mansehra-V
PK-41 Torghar Torghar
PK-42 Abbottabad-I NA-16 Abbottabad-I Abbottabad
PK-43 Abbottabad-II
PK-44 Abbottabad-III NA-17 Abbottabad-II
PK-45 Abbottabad-IV
PK-46 Haripur-I NA-18 Haripur Haripur
PK-47 Haripur-II
PK-48 Haripur-III

See also

References

  1. ^ "1951 - 1998 POPULATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS (AS ON 1st MARCH 1998)" (PDF). 1951-98 Population of Administrative Units (As on 1 March 1998).pdf. POPULATION CENSUS ORGANIZATION STATISTICS DIVISION GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN. January 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  2. ^ "TABLE 11 : POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  4. ^ "KP govt upgrades status of tehsil Allai to new district". The Nation. The Nation (Pakistan). 22 January 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  5. ^ "About Hazara Division". Commissioner Hazara Division. Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Retrieved 28 October 2025. Note: Website message predates the creation of Allai District.
  6. ^ "About Hazara Division". Commissioner Hazara Division. Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  7. ^ "The Role of Hazaras in the Creation of Pakistan: The Post-Independence Search for Identity". Pakistan Journal of Social Research. June 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  8. ^ "Imperial Gazetteer". Digital South Asia Library. University of Chicago. Retrieved 28 October 2025. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Divisions/Districts of Pakistan Archived 2006-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
    Note: Although divisions as an administrative structure had been abolished, the election commission of Pakistan still continued to group districts under the division names
  10. ^ https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/kp/pcr/table_1.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  11. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2011. Latvia 2,204,708, July 2011 est.
  12. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2011. New Mexico - 2,059,179
  13. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  14. ^ Divisions/Districts of Pakistan Archived 2006-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
    Note: Although divisions as an administrative structure has been abolished, the election commission of Pakistan still groups districts under the division names
  15. ^ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB" (PDF).
  16. ^ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB" (PDF).