Battagram District


Battagram District is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The headquarter is Battagram town, which is about 75-km from Mansehra.

Overview and history

The district of Battagram is located at the latitude of 34.41 and longitude 73.1. It is surrounded by Kohistan District to the north, Mansehra District to the east, Kala Dhaka to the south and Shangla District to the west.
It has a total land area of 1301 square kilometres. Battagram obtained the status of district in July 1993 when it was upgraded from a Tehsil and separated from Mansehra District.

Demographics

The population of Battagram district, according to the 2017 census, is 476,612. The population of the district over the years is shown in the table below.
Census YearPopulationRural AreaUrban Area
196194,35794,357-
1972174,009174,009-
1981339,119339,119-
1998307,278307,278-
2017476,612N/AN/A

The population counted in the 1998 census was. The predominant language is Pashto, which according to the census of 1981 was the language of communication within % of households, whereas Hindko accounted for %.

Administration

The district has geographical borders with the districts of Kohistan to the north, Mansehra to the east and southeast, Torghar to the south and Shangla to the west. The district consists of two sub-divisions or Tehsils, containing 20 in total. Union Councils:
TehsilNo. of UnionsName of Unions
Allai Tehsil8Banna, Bateela, Batkul‚ Biari, Jambera, Pashto, Rashang and Sakargah
Batagram Tehsil12Ajmera, Banian, Battagram, Batamori, Gijbori, Kuza Banda, Paimal Sharif, Peshora, Rajdhari, Shumlai, Thakot and Trand

The district is represented in the provincial assembly by two MPAs from its constituencies PF-59 and PF-60.

2005 earthquake

Battagram was one of the areas affected by the Pakistan earthquake of October 8, 2005 when more than 4,500 people were killed and approximately 35,000 were injured. Many residents of the area were rendered homeless and without shelter. Since October 8, 2005, the NGOs and the governmental organization Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority have been engaged in reconstruction work but as of 2009, the reconstruction work is not completed. In some cases residents have rebuilt houses themselves.