Rawalakot ( ur, ) is the capital of Poonch district in

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

, Pakistan. It is located in the Pir Panjal Range.

History

Along with Pallandri, Rawalakot was the focal point of the

1955 Poonch uprising __NOTOC__ The 1955 Poonch revolt, also known as the 1955 Poonch uprising, was a Civil revolt in Azad Jammu and Kashmir against the State of Pakistan. The uprising broke out in February 1955 and was provoked largely by the dismissal of Sardar I ...

. It was led by the local Sudhans who disapproved of

Sher Ahmed Khan Colonel Sher Ahmed Khan (1902 at Pallandri, Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir - 1972) (Now in Sudhnuti, Azad Kashmir), was one of the guerrilla commanders of the Azad Kashmir Movement and also served as the President of Azad Kashmir. He was know ...

and wanted Sardar Ibrahim Khan, as well as democratic reforms.

2005 Kashmir earthquake

On Saturday, 8 October 2005 a 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed 73,338 people and left up to three million homeless in Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir. The city of Rawalakot, the capital of the Poonch, suffered significant damage from the

2005 Kashmir earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu and ...

; although most of the buildings were left standing, many of them were rendered uninhabitable, and some of the population was left homeless. Most of the buildings have been reconstructed. 2005 Earthquake damage, Rawalakot

Location

Rawalakot is located at Latitude 33°51'32.18"N, Longitude 73° 45'34.93"E and an Elevation of 5374 feet. Rawalakot is approximately from Kahuta and about from the city of

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's ...

, Pakistan. It is linked with Rawalpindi and Islamabad via Goyain Nala and

Tain Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...

roads. Via Kotli Satiyan and Kahuta. It is also linked with Rawalpindi via

Sudhnuti The Sudhanoti District (also spelled Sudhanuti District) ( ur, ), meaning the "heartland of Sudhans" or "Sudhan heartland"), is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. The Sudhanoti District is bounded on th ...

Transport

Travel routes

Construction of the Ghazi-e-Millat road (also known as Guoien Nala road) between Rawalakot and

Azad Pattan Azad Pattan ( ur, ), previously Lachman Pattan, is a village near Palandri in the Sudhanoti District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located on border of Punjab and Azad Kashmir on bank of Guoien stream. The Azad Pattan bridge on the Jhelum R ...

has considerably reduced travel time, it is main road which is connecting Islamabad/Rawalpindi to Rawalakot city.

Road links

The road passing through Pakgali-Paniola connects Rawalakot to

Bagh Bagh ( fa, باغ, link=no, meaning "garden") may refer to: Places India * Bagh Caves in Madhya Pradesh, India * Bagh, Dhar, a town in Madhya Pradesh, India Iran * Bagh, Ardabil, a village in Ardabil Province * Bagh, Larestan, a village ...

and Muzaffarabad. The alternative road that passes through Mohri Farman Shah, Shuja Abad is the shortest possible road link that connects Rawalakot city with Bagh. Murree, Islamabad and Rawalpindi are situated in a southward direction from Rawalakot. The town has another road link with

Kotli Kotli ( ur}) is a city in Kotli District of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It lies on the Poonch River, and the river contains several notable waterfalls including the Lala Waterfall near the town of Kotli and the Gulpur Waterfalls at the village of ...

. Rawalakot Airport is non-operational and it has been closed since 1998.

Climate

Rawalakot features a subtropical highland climate under the Köppen climate classification due to high altitude. The weather of Rawalakot is quite erratic. However, the climate of Rawalakot can be divided into four seasons, namely spring, summer, autumn and winter. Rawalakot has mild to warm temperatures during the spring and autumn, humid temperatures during the summer and cold to snowy during the winter. The temperature can rise as high as during the mid-summer months and drop below during the winter months. Snowfall occurs in December and January, while most rainfall occurs during the monsoon season stretching from July to September.Pakistan Meteorological Department Kaleem Abbasi, 15 Aug, 2014

Demography

Rawalakot has an urban population of 56,006 people according to the 2017 census which rose to 56,590 in 2018.

Notes

References

External links

*
Britannica – Azad Kashmir
{{Tehsils of Azad Kashmir 2005 Kashmir earthquake Populated places in Poonch District, Pakistan Tehsils of Poonch District