Bhakkar District

Bhakkar District (Urdu: ضِلع بھكّر), is a district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The district was created out of parts of Mianwali in 1982,^[4] and has the city of Bhakkar as its headquarters. Part of its area consists of a riverine tract along the Indus, called Kaccha, while most of the district area lies in the desolate plain of the Thal Desert.^[5]

Bhakkar بھكّر
District of Punjab
Jamia Masjid, Mankera
Location of Bhakkar District within Punjab.
Coordinates: 31.6230°N 71.0626°E / 31.6230; 71.0626
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Division	Mianwali
Established	1981
Headquarters	Bhakkar
Tehsils (4)	List Bhakkar Darya Khan Kaloorkot Mankera
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	Muhammad Ashraf
Area [1]: 1
• District of Punjab	8,153 km2 (3,148 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[2]
• District of Punjab	1,957,470
• Density	240/km2 (620/sq mi)
• Urban	352,434
• Rural	1,605,036
Literacy [3]
• Literacy rate	Total: (55.68%) Male: (66.81%) Female: (43.87%)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PKT)
Area code	0453
Languages	Saraiki, Punjabi Urdu
Website	bhakkar.punjab.gov.pk

Located in the west of the Punjab province, Bhakkar district is bordered by Layyah to the south, Jhang to the southeast, Dera Ismail Khan to the west, Khushab to the northeast, and Mianwali to the north.

Administration

The district is administratively divided into four Tehsils and 64 Union Councils. The Tehsils are:^[6]

Tehsil[7]	Area (km²)[8]	Pop. (2023)	Density (ppl/km²) (2023)	Literacy rate (2023)[9]	Union Councils
Bhakkar[6]	2,427	809,789	333.66	58.56%	...
Darya Khan[6]	1,719	421,309	245.09	51.09%	...
Kaloorkot[6]	2,239	415,708	185.67	55.43%	...
Mankera[6]	1,768	310,664	175.71	54.83%	...

Khansar Union Council is one of the major Union Councils in Bhakkar. Mari Shah Sakhira Union Council is very close to Bhakkar District boundary.

Demographics

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1951	233,733	—
1961	332,882	+3.60%
1972	500,498	+3.78%
1981	665,884	+3.22%
1998	1,051,456	+2.72%
2017	1,647,852	+2.39%
2023	1,957,470	+2.91%
Sources:[10]

As of the 2023 census, Bhakkar district has 313,311 households and a population of 1,957,470. The district has a sex ratio of 108.00 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 55.68%: 66.81% for males and 43.87% for females.^[11][12] 593,924 (30.35% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age.^[13] 352,434 (18.00%) live in urban areas.^[11]

Religion

Religion in contemporary Bhakkar District

Religious group	1941[14]: 62–63		2017[15]		2023[16]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	169,276	82.16%	1,646,014	99.89%	1,950,820	99.69%
Hinduism [a]	32,740	15.89%	13	0%	17	0%
Sikhism	3,996	1.94%	—	—	30	0%
Christianity	23	0.01%	1,661	0.1%	5,913	0.3%
Ahmadi	—	—	112	0.01%	124	0.01%
Others[b]	0	0%	52	0%	59	0%
Total Population	206,035	100%	1,647,852	100%	1,956,971	100%
Note: 1941 census data is for Bhakkar tehsil of the then Mianwali District, which roughly corresponds to contemporary Bhakkar district. District and tehsil borders have changed since 1941.

Languages

Languages of Bhakkar district (2023)^[17]

1. Saraiki (79.4%)
2. Punjabi (9.73%)
3. Urdu (7.50%)
4. Pashto (2.41%)
5. Others (0.94%)

At the time of the 2023 census, 79.42% of the population spoke Saraiki, 9.73% Punjabi, 7.5% Urdu and 2.41% Pashto as their first language.^[18]

Education

According to the 2017 census, the literacy rate of Bhakkar is about 55%. There are 19 colleges, and 1300 primary, elementary, secondary, and higher secondary schools.

Notable people

• Rasheed Akbar Khan Nawani, member of Pakistan's National Assembly
• P. C. Gupta, writer and professor of English
• Amjad Qureshi, cricket umpire
• Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel, member of Pakistan's National Assembly
• Inamullah Niazi, former member of Pakistan's National Assembly
• Lekh Raj Batra, a distinguished mycologist and linguist
• Asghar Khan Nawani, former policeman and MNA
• Amir Inayat Khan Shahani, MPA from Bhakkar

See also

• Bhakkar
• Sargodha Division
• Bhakkar railway station
• North Western State Railway
• Districts of Pakistan
• Punjab, Pakistan
• Kotri–Attock Line
• Mianwali Division

Notes

1. 1941 census: Including Ad-Dharmis
2. Including Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, or not stated