Harnai ( bal, ہرنائ, ps, هرنای, ur, ) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

in the north-east of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

province of

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 ...

. Harnai is the principal town of this district and serves as its capital. The predominant

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother to ...

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 langua ...

Wanetsi Waṇetsi ( wne, وڼېڅي), commonly called Tarīno ( wne, links=no, ترينو), and sometimes Tsalgari ( wne, links=no, څلګري), is a distinct variety of Pashto and is considered by some to be a different language. In some cases, Wanet ...

Tarino Waṇetsi ( wne, وڼېڅي), commonly called Tarīno ( wne, links=no, ترينو), and sometimes Tsalgari ( wne, links=no, څلګري), is a distinct variety of Pashto and is considered by some to be a different language. In some cases, Wanet ...

, a unique and archaic dialect of

, is spoken in the district.Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. ''Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri''. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4.

History

The name Harnai refers to an influential Hindu personality, Harnam Das, supposed founder of Harnai town, the capital of Harnai District. The town is quite close to Loralai, Ziarat, Sibi, and Quetta. Harnai is surrounded by imposing hills on all sides. The encircling hill ranges have the resounding names of 'Khalifat' and 'Zarghun'. Harnai proper has a population of about 200,000. The majority of the population of Harnai are Tareens and they mostly speak a unique dialect, or language,

(

), which is quite different from the Pushto spoken in other parts of Baluchistan and NWFP provinces, and is probably a mixture of Pushto, Urdu and other languages developed as a 'lingua franca' sometime during the 18th and 19th centuries, when a variety of people of different ethnic origins lived here. There seems to be no earlier historical record or trace of it. Until 2007 Harnai had been a tehsil of Sibi District, in August the Balochistan Government announced the Harnai district would be created by splitting the Sibi district and forming the new district from Harnai and Shahrag tehsils and the sub-tehsil of Khost.

Geography and climate

Harnai is surrounded by mountainous ranges. The minimum and maximum winter temperature of the area is −2˚C to 20˚C. The summer is extreme in the area and the minimum and maximum temperature fall between 20˚C to 48˚C. Harnai has a fertile rainy season during monsoon time. In general, Harnai has pleasant weather in the winter season. Harnai is one of the most beautiful cities of the Balochistan Province with plenty of water available in the streams. It is the only area of the production of fresh vegetables and fruits with fresh and clean water in the whole of Balochistan.

Demographics

At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 97,052, of which 51,964 were males and 45,069 females. Rural population was 72,490 (74.69%) while the urban population was 24,562 (25.31%). The literacy rate was 36.24% - the male literacy rate was 49.86% while the female literacy rate was 20.28%. 611 people in the district were from religious minorities. At the time of the 2017 census, 83.48% of the population spoke

, 12.65% Balochi and 1.37%

Sindhi Sindhi may refer to: *something from, or related to Sindh, a province of Pakistan * Sindhi people, an ethnic group from the Sindh region * Sindhi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them People with the name * Sarkash Sindhi (1940–2012 ...

as their first language.

Villages

1Sazoo 2.Sunari 3.spentangi 4.shenkhuch 5.kilimerza 6.kachari 7.pir 8.dub 9.kurazawara etc

References

Bibliography

External links

Harnai District
a
www.balochistan.gov.pkHarnai District Development Profile 2011

Harnai
a

Harnai District, Districts of Pakistan Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan {{Balochistan-geo-stub