Nathia Gali or Nathiagali ( ur, ) is a

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

and

mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or sc ...

town located in the

Abbottabad District Abbottabad District () is a district of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is part of Hazara Division and covers an area of 1,969 km2, with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town. Neighbouring districts are Mansehra to ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located at the centre of the Galyat range, where several hill stations are situated. Nathia Gali is known for its scenic beauty,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

tracks and pleasant weather, which is much cooler than the rest of the Galyat range due to it being at a higher

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

. It is situated approximately away from both

Murree Murree (Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about ...

and

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourt ...

.Nathia Gali - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 18, p. 415
/ref>

History

During

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...

Nathia Gali, then part of Abbottabad tehsil of Hazara District, served as the summer headquarters of the Chief Commissioner of the (then)

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

division of the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. The town along with

Dunga Gali Dunga Gali is one of the towns of the Galyat area of Ayubia National Park, at an altitude of in northern Pakistan. Dunga Gali is located in Nathia Gali Union Council (subdivision) of Abbottabad District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. It ...

constituted a

notified area A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

under the Punjab Municipalities Act, 1891. The income in 1903-4 was Rs. 3,000 chiefly derived from a house tax, whilst expenditure was Rs. 1,900.

Climate

The weather of Nathiagali remains cool, pleasant and foggy in summers (1 May to 31 August). During the

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 ...

season (1 July to 16 September), rain is expected almost every day. Cold winds start to chill the weather in autumn. winters (1 November to 28 February) are very cold and chilly. In December and January, heavy snowfall occurs here. The weather remains cold in spring. Here most comfortable weather is the summer season. Frequent rainfall occurs here annually. Rainfall lies between 1650mm-1850mm annually.in winter temperature can drop to _10*C and in summer it rise to a high of 30*C.

Transportation

The town is connected to

and

by Nathiagali road. Public transport runs daily from

and

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

to Nathiagali. Between December to January, heavy snowfall can occur in this area and the road leading to Nathiagali is sometimes blocked due to heavy snow.

Tourism

Nathia Gali town also serves as the administrative centre of Nathia Gali Union Council. It is today located in what is the

. At an elevation of 2,410 m (8,000 ft), it is a popular tourist resort in the summer months. It is forested with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

, cedar, oak

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

and also oak and maple trees. During the summer, Nathia Gali is relatively popular amongst tourists, but due to its limited area and availability of property, it is not thronged by as many people as the hill-station Murree, which is only an hour away, even though it has more recreation. Nathiagali is known for a beautiful trek that leads to

Thandiani Thandiani (literally meaning "very cold") is a hill station in the Galyat area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Thandiani is located in the northeast of Abbottabad District and is about from Abbottabad in the foothills of the Himal ...

that passes through

Dagri naka Dagri Naka is a mountainous area in Galiyat region Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan located between the trek of Thandiani and Nathiagali at 2720 meters or 8924 feet above sea level. Dagri (also called Dugri) means "The home of leopards" in the loca ...

Ayubia National Park Ayubia National Park ( ur, ), also known as Ayubia ( ur, ), is a protected area of located in Abbottabad District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It was declared a national park in 1984. Ayubia was named after Muhammad Ayub Khan (195 ...

is also one of the spots here that tourists and nature lovers often visit.

Scenery

The natural scenery is highly attractive. Nathia Gali is famous for its lush green meadows, deep forests of oak, cedar and pine, where fog in July/August present a glory. In winter snowfall adds to the scene. Nathia Gali has a church, St. Matthew's, a remnant from the British period and made entirely of wood. It is situated at the edge of the mountain with a nice panorama towards

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. Nathia Gali has a mini bazaar. Mukshpuri and Miranjani are two nearby high peaks. On a clear day, the

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...

can be seen in the distance.

Wildlife

The Nathia Gali region is home to various species of birds, insects, butterflies and other animals such as

rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally ...

s. The

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

has an office in the Galliat and has assisted in the breeding and reintroduction of the species of the near-extinct common hill

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

in the forests of the Ayubia National park, right by Dungagali and Nathia Gali. This area was thought to be a perfect habitat for them but according to local reports they frequently came out of the forest after cattle of the local villagers and were occasionally shot. Packs of pi-dogs which were previously considered to be a night-time menace can no longer be seen anywhere in the Galliat; it is thought that most have been killed by leopards. In the summer of 2006, several women were found dead in the deep valleys of Galliat with wounds from attacks. A large leopard was caught and eventually shot. His body has been stuffed and kept in the Dunga Gali Wildlife Museum, where he has been named the 'Ghost of Galyat'. However, despite their reputation, these leopards are rarely spotted.

Subdivisions

The Union Council of Nathia Gali is divided into the following areas: Bagan, Donga Gali, Jhansa, Keri Sarafali, Keri Raiki, Lassan, Malach, Nathiagali Pasala, and Badhair. Badhair is the central part of the Nathiagali Union Council.Nathia Gali Union Council
/ref>

Ethnic groups

The main tribe of Nathia Gali are the Karlal, and a minority of Dhunds (who now call themselves 'Dhund-Abbasis'). The locals are a kin to the people of other parts of Galyat and speak the

Hindko Hindko (, romanized: , ) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punj ...

language. Until well into the 1960s, most of these tribes and clans were mostly living rather basic and primitive lives, due to lack of educational and employment opportunities''Hazara Divisional Report, 1991-1992'', Pub. Govt. of NWFP, 1993, pp. 45-46 and most of them had to seek jobs and education down in the plains and cities such as

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

, Peshawar and even as far away as

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

; but in more recent times, with economic development, many of them are either employed locally in the tourism industry or in various jobs and businesses in the Abbottabad area. It is monitored by GDA.

Gallery

File:Mukeshpuri.jpg File:Miran jani.jpg File:Road to Nathiagali.JPG File:Ayubia_National_Park_Pipeline_Track_03.jpg, Pipeline Track, Ayubia National Park

References

External links

*
Places to Visit in Abbottabad

Miranjani Trek by Shaikh Muhammad Ali

The Pipe Line Trek by Shaikh Muhammad Ali

Mokshpuri Trek by Shaikh Muhammad Ali
* http://www.nathiagali.com *

Governor's House

Sarhad Tourism Corporation, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
* http://www.nathiagali.com/?page_id=16
Hotels in Nathiagali (reservation)

Hotel in Nathiagali (book your corporate event)

FAQ about Nathiagali (Question Answers about Nathiagali)
{{Authority control Populated places in Abbottabad District Hill stations in Pakistan Union councils of Abbottabad District Galyat of Pakistan Tourist attractions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa