Kohistan (;'' "Land of Mountains"''), also called Indus Kohistan (), was an administrative

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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

within the

Hazara region Hazara (Hindko: هزاره, Urdu: ) is a region in northeastern Pakistan, falling administratively within Hazara Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is dominated mainly by the Hindko-speaking Hindkowan people, who are the native ethni ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Province in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

that was bifurcated into Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan in 2014, and Kolai-Palas in 2017. It covered an area of and had a population of 472,570 at the 1998 Census. Geographically, Kohistan stretched from the border with Gilgit-Baltistan in the north, in the east by

Mansehra District Mansehra District is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It was established as a district in 1976, prior to which it was a tehsil within the former Hazara District. Two former subdivisions of Mansehra we ...

, in the south by

Battagram District Battagram ( ps, بټګرام ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Abaseen Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The headquarter is Battagram, which is about 75-km from Mansehra. Overview and history The district of Battagra ...

, and on the west by

Shangla Shangla District ( ps, شانګله ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The district's headquarter is located at Alpuri, while the largest city and commercial center is Besham. The district ...

and Swat districts.

Geography

The District lied between 34° 54′ and 35° 52′ north latitudes and 72° 43′ and 73° 57′ east longitudes. It was bounded on the north by the

Diamer District The Diamer District ( ur, ), also spelled Diamir District,) is a district in Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan. The headquarters of the district is the town of Chilas. The district is bounded by on the north by the Tangir and the Gilgit dis ...

of Gilgit-Baltistan, on the southeast by Manshera District, while it shared its borders with

Kaghan Valley The Kaghan Valley ( ur, ) is an alpine valley located in the Mansehra District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The valley covers a distance of across northern Pakistan, rising from its lowest elevation of to its highest point at the Babusa ...

of the Mansehra District in the east, on the south by

and on the west by

and Swat Districts. Dassu, Kohistan

Kohistan is where the

Hindukush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in th ...

and Himalayan Mountain systems meet and serve as a natural boundary for environmental regions in the chains of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, Karakoram and

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

mountains. This uniqueness of the mountains system also results in rich flora and fauna and therefore gives home to unique species such as the western tragopan pheasant and the

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

Education

The literacy rate of the District among the population aged 10 years and above is 11.1%: male 17.23% and female 2.95%. The proportion of working or employed population to population aged 10 years and above is 26.47% which is 70.53% of the total labor force. Out of the total employed population, 71.60% are self-employed, 10.68% work as employees, and 17.32% are unpaid family helper. Kohistan's literacy rate is amongst the lowest in Pakistan and hovers around 20%. It has the lowest

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, wh ...

of all districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

References

{{Authority control Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hindu Kush

Geography

Education

See also

References