Upper Dir District
Upper Dir District ( ps, بر دير ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The city of Dir is the district headquarters. Badogai Pass connects it to Utror.
At the time of independ ...
,
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
province,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
at an elevation of 1420 m. It is sometimes known as Dir Khas ("Proper Dir") to distinguish it from the district. It lies at the foot of the Lowarai Pass, the main motor road to
Chitral
Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
, on the Dir River, a tributary of the Panjkora River.
Dir was founded in the 17th century. It was the capital of the former princely state of Dir, until its abolition in 1969. The former royal palace is on a hill above the city. Dir was then the capital of Dir District, but was replaced as capital by
Timergara
Timergara ( ps, تيمرګره, ur, ) is a city and also the district headquarters of Lower Dir District in Pakistan. Timergara City is located on the east bank of the Panjkora River. It lies at an altitude of . The town is the site of excavate ...
, before the district was divided in 1996.
Language and Tribes
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
is the main language spoken in the city.
Climate
Like most of the southern slopes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dir has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
( Köppen ''Cfa''). Owing to the city's exposed location, rainfall from frontal cyclones from the west is heavier than in any other part of Pakistan, and their passage, as well as very penetrative
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
al periods, are usually accompanied by heavy
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s.
See also
*
Upper Dir District
Upper Dir District ( ps, بر دير ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The city of Dir is the district headquarters. Badogai Pass connects it to Utror.
At the time of independ ...