Utman Khel Tehsil ( ps, اتمان خيل تحصیل) is an administrative subdivision ( tehsil) of Bajaur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Utman Khel is the fifth largest of Bajaur District's seven tehsils.

Geography

Utman Khel Tehsil, the fifth largest in Bajaur District, is 194 km² in area and centers around a shallow, 14.28 km mountain valley and the reverses of much of surrounding mountains. Representing Bajaur District's central-eastern shoulder, Utman Khel shares a 19.95 km border with

Barang Tehsil Barang Tehsil is a subdivision located in Bajaur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Geography Adjacent administrative units *Utmankhel Subdivision (North-East) *Timergara Tehsil, Lower Dir District (North-East) * Swat Rani Zai Tehsil, Mala ...

to the south, a 13.30 km border with

Khar Bajaur Tehsil Khar Bajaur Tehsil is a subdivision located in Bajaur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It starts in Jar to Zorbandar (east–west) and Tangai to Inzari (northwest–southwest) and A Inayat kali to Mandalu (northeast–southeast). Main cit ...

to the west, a 18.13 km border with Lower Dir District's

Munda Tehsil Munda is an administrative subdivision (Tehsil) of Lower Dir District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Munda is an administrative Tehsil under the jurisdiction of Samar Bagh, sub-division of Lower Dir District. It is listed among: ...

, and a 19.73 km border with Lower Dir District's

Timergara Tehsil Timergara is an administrative subdivision (Tehsil) of Lower Dir District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is listed among: # Adenzai Tehsil # Balambat Tehsil # Khal Tehsil # Lal Qilla Tehsil # Munda Tehsil # Samar Bagh Tehsi ...

Demographics

Population

As of the 2017 Pakistani national census, Utman Khel Tehsil has a population of 107,248 people, representing a 3.25% population increase from its 1998 census population of 58,348 compared to a +3.23% population growth in the overall Bajaur District. Residents of Utman Khel comprise 9.83% of the Bajaur District population as of 2017. The tehsil is named after the inhabiting Pakthun Utmankhel tribe of the Karlani tribal confederacy.

Language

The vast majority of Utman Khel residents expectedly speak Pashto as their mother tongue, the predominant language of ethnic Pakhtuns (Pashtuns) and of the derivatively-named Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK). As of 2017, 99.03% of Utman Khel residents recorded Pashto as their mother tongue with other residents recording Urdu (408), Sindhi (163), Brahui (120),

Balochi Balochi, sometimes spelt in various other ways, may refer to: * Balochi language, a language of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan * an adjective for something related to the Baloch people, an ethnic group of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan * an adjecti ...

(61),

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

(47), Saraiki (47),

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

(37), and 'other' (155) as mother tongues.

Religion

As of 2017, 99.98% of Utman Khel Tehsil residents reported belonging to the Islamic faith along with 13

Ahmadi Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

residents, 2 Christians, and 2 residents belonging to

caste systems Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

Politics

Utman Khel Tehsil is politically represented in the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

(the lower house of the national parliament) in the NA-40 Bajaur-I constituency and in the

Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of t ...

in the PK-20 Bajaur-II constituency. In both bodies, Utman Khel Tehsil (as well as Bajaur District and most of KPK) historically elects candidates from the

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

(PTI) party established by Pakistani

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and 22nd Prime Minister, Imran Khan, who is seen as a fierce advocate for the nation's Pakhtuns, many of whom feel disenfranchised by Islamabad.

References

Tehsils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Populated places in Bajaur District {{Bajaur-geo-stub