Bahawalpur Division

Bahawalpur Division (Punjabi: بہاولپور ڈویژن; Urdu: بہاول پور ڈویژن) is an administrative division of the Punjab Province, Pakistan. The reforms of 2000 abolished the third tier of government but division system was restored again in 2008.^[3][4]

Bahawalpur Division بہاولپور ڈویژن بہاول پور ڈویژن
Division
Map of Bahawalpur Division
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Headquarters	Bahawalpur
Government
• Type	Divisional Administration
• Commissioner	N/A
• Regional Police Officer	N/A
Area
• Division	45,588 km2 (17,602 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[1]
• Division	13,400,009
• Density	293.94/km2 (761.3/sq mi)
• Urban	3,935,691 (29.37%)
• Rural	9,464,318 (70.63%)
Literacy [2]
• Literacy rate	Total: (52.13%) Male: (58.78%) Female: (45.04%)
Website	bahawalpurdivision.punjab.gov.pk

Districts

#	District[5]	Capital	Area (km²)[6]	Pop. (2023)	Density (ppl/km²) (2023)[6]	Lit. rate (2023)
1	Rahim Yar Khan	Rahim Yar Khan	11,880	5,564,703	468.2	47.94%
2	Bahawalnagar	Bahawalnagar	8,878	3,550,342	399.6	57.01%
3	Bahawalpur	Bahawalpur	24,830	4,284,964	172.3	53.35%

List of the Tehsils

#	Tehsil	Area (km²)	Pop. (2023)[6]	Density (ppl/km²) (2023)[6]	Lit. rate (2023)[6]	District
1	Bahawalnagar	1,729	976,049	564.52	53.5%	Bahawalnagar
2	Chishtian	1,500	845,439	563.63	60.49%
3	Fort Abbas	2,536	510,253	201.20	61.36%
4	Haroonabad	1,295	615,476	475.27	66.28%
5	Minchinabad	1,818	603,125	331.75	44.05%
6	Ahmadpur East	1,738	1,307,578	752.35	39.68%	Bahawalpur
7	Bahawalpur City	1,490	815,202	547.12	71.67%
8	Bahawalpur Saddar	745	675,950	907.32	52.56%
9	Hasilpur	1,490	508,415	341.22	59.64%
10	Khairpur Tamewali	993	290,582	292.63	45.82%
11	Yazman	18,374	687,237	37.40	53.55%
12	Khanpur	3,190	1,169,138	366.50	50.08%	Rahim Yar Khan
13	Liaqatpur	3,262	1,235,264	378.68	38.35%
14	Rahim Yar Khan	2,464	1,778,542	721.81	53.66%
15	Sadiqabad	2,964	1,381,759	466.18	47.04%

Demographics

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1951	N/A	—
1961	N/A	—
1972	N/A	—
1981	N/A	—
1998	7,635,591	—
2017	11,464,031	+2.16%
2023	13,400,009	+2.63%
Sources:[7]

According to the 2023 census, Bahawalpur division has a population of 13,400,009^[8] roughly equal to the nation of Senegal^[9] or the US state of Pennsylvania.^[10]

Language

Languages of Bahawalpur Division (2023)^[11]

1. Saraiki (49.1%)
2. Punjabi (42.6%)
3. Urdu (3.85%)
4. Others (4.45%)

According to 2023 census, Saraiki and Punjabi are the most commonly spoken languages in the division, with 49.1% and 42.60% of the population respectively.

Religion

Islam is the most commonly practiced religion in the division.

Religious groups in Bahawalpur State (British Punjab province era)

Religious group	1881[12][13][14]		1891[15]		1901[16]		1911[17][18]		1921[19]		1931[20]		1941[21][22]: 42
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	480,274	83.75%	546,680	84.1%	598,139	82.97%	654,247	83.81%	647,207	82.85%	799,176	81.17%	1,098,814	81.93%
Hinduism [a]	91,272	15.92%	90,013	13.85%	114,670	15.91%	109,548	14.03%	114,621	14.67%	149,454	15.18%	174,408	13%
Sikhism	1,678	0.29%	13,321	2.05%	7,985	1.11%	16,630	2.13%	19,071	2.44%	34,896	3.54%	46,945	3.5%
Jainism	254	0.04%	17	0%	0	0%	15	0%	1	0%	12	0%	351	0.03%
Christianity	13	0%	11	0%	83	0.01%	199	0.03%	283	0.04%	1,054	0.11%	3,048	0.23%
Zoroastrianism	3	0%	0	0%	0	0%	2	0%	8	0%	20	0%	0	0%
Buddhism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Judaism	—	—	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Others	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	17,643	1.32%
Total population	573,494	100%	650,042	100%	720,877	100%	780,641	100%	781,191	100%	984,612	100%	1,341,209	100%
Note1: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. Note2: British Punjab province era figures are for the princely state, as the contemporary division borders roughly mirror the historic colonial-era state borders.

Constituencies

Provincial Assembly Constituency	National Assembly Constituency	District
PP-237 Bahawalnagar-I	NA-160 Bahawalnagar-I	Bahawalnagar
PP-238 Bahawalnagar-II
PP-239 Bahawalnagar-III	NA-161 Bahawalnagar-II
PP-240 Bahawalnagar-IV
PP-243 Bahawalnagar-VII	NA-162 Bahawalnagar-III
PP-244 Bahawalnagar-VIII
PP-241 Bahawalnagar-V	NA-163 Bahawalnagar-IV
PP-242 Bahawalnagar-VI
PP-245 Bahawalpur-I	NA-164 Bahawalpur-I	Bahawalpur
PP-246 Bahawalpur-II
PP-247 Bahawalpur-III	NA-165 Bahawalpur-II
PP-248 Bahawalpur-IV
PP-249 Bahawalpur-V	NA-166 Bahawalpur-III
PP-250 Bahawalpur-VI
PP-251 Bahawalpur-VII	NA-167 Bahawalpur-IV
PP-252 Bahawalpur-VIII
PP-253 Bahawalpur-IX	NA-168 Bahawalpur-V
PP-254 Bahawalpur-X
PP-255 Rahim Yar Khan-I	NA-169 Rahim Yar Khan-I	Rahim Yar Khan
PP-256 Rahim Yar Khan-II
PP-257 Rahim Yar Khan-III	NA-170 Rahim Yar Khan-II
PP-258 Rahim Yar Khan-IV
PP-259 Rahim Yar Khan-V	NA-171 Rahim Yar Khan-III
PP-260 Rahim Yar Khan-VI
PP-261 Rahim Yar Khan-VII	NA-172 Rahim Yar Khan-IV
PP-264 Rahim Yar Khan-X
PP-267 Rahim Yar Khan-XIII
PP-262 Rahim Yar Khan-VIII	NA-173 Rahim Yar Khan-V
PP-263 Rahim Yar Khan-IX
PP-265 Rahim Yar Khan-XI	NA-174 Rahim Yar Khan-VI
PP-266 Rahim Yar Khan-XII

See also

• Divisions of Pakistan
  • Divisions of Balochistan, Pakistan
  • Divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Divisions of Sindh, Pakistan
  • Divisions of Azad Kashmir
  • Divisions of Gilgit-Baltistan
• Districts of Pakistan
  • Districts of Punjab, Pakistan
  • Districts of Sindh
  • Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan
  • Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Districts of Azad Kashmir
  • Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan
• List of Tehsils of Punjab
• Kala Dhari Mandir

Notes

1. 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis