Dera Ghazi Khan District

Dera Ghazi Khan (Urdu: ضلع ڈيره غازى خان, Punjabi: ضلع دیرہ غازی خان) is a district in Punjab, Pakistan. Its administrative capital is Dera Ghazi Khan.

Dera Ghazi Khan District ضلع ڈيره غازى خان ضلع دیرہ غازی خان
District of Punjab
Top to bottom: Shrine of Mullah Qaid Shah, Hills of Fort Munro.
Map of Dera Ghazi Khan District
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Division	Dera Ghazi Khan
Headquarters	Dera Ghazi Khan
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	Sardar Abdullah Dasti
• District Police Officer	N/A
• District Health Officer	N/A
Area [1]
• District of Punjab	3,814 km2 (1,473 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[2]
• District of Punjab	2,348,245
• Density	620/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
• Urban	585,875 (24.95%)
• Rural	1,762,370 (75.05%)
Literacy [3]
• Literacy rate	Total: (43.98%) Male: (47.78%) Female: (35.64%)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Area code	064
Number of Tehsils	3
Website	dgkhan.punjab.gov.pk

The district lies to the west of the Indus River. The Sulaiman Mountains rise to a height of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the north of the district. Popular tourist destinations are Fort Munro, Yakbai Hill station and Mubarki Top.

Administration

The district is divided into two tehsils^[4][5] which are divided into a total of sixty Union Councils:^[6]

Tehsil[7]	Area (km²)[8]	Pop. (2023)	Density (ppl/km²) (2023)	Literacy rate (2023)[9]	Union Councils
Dera Ghazi Khan	2,012	1,443,409	717.40	47.25%	41
Kot Chutta	1,802	904,836	502.13	38.61%	24

History

Dera Ghazi Khan International Airport

The region around Dera Ghazi Khan was inhabited by Mallian people in late antiquity. Then it was part of the wider Multan region.^[10] Buddhist artifacts dating to the 1st to 3rd centuries CE have been found in Dillu Roy in Kot Chhutta tehsil.^[11]

The town of Dera Ghazi Khan was founded at the close of the 15th century and named after Nawab Ghazi Khan Mirani, son of Nawab Haji Khan Mirani, the city was founded when Shah Hussain of the Langah Sultanate of Multan invited the Baloch people to settle the region. Together with two other Deras i.e. settlements, Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Fateh Khan, it gave its name to Derajat. Derajat eventually came into the possession of the British after the Sikh War in 1849 and was divided into two districts: Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan.^[12] Dera Ghazi Khan district was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–1849.^[13] After the independence, many of the city's Hindu residents settled in Derawal Nagar colony of Delhi, India.^[14] The district of Rajanpur was later carved out of the Dera Ghazi Khan district.

Based on the surveys of 2004–2005, Dera Ghazi Khan district is considered one of the 20 poorest districts of Pakistan with about 51% of its population living under the poverty line.^[15]

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1951	380,393	—
1961	472,600	+2.19%
1972	686,057	+3.45%
1981	943,663	+3.61%
1998	1,643,118	+3.32%
2017	2,872,631	+2.98%
2023	3,393,705	+2.82%
Sources:[16] Note: Includes present Taunsa district, which has since become a separate district

As of the 2023 census, residual Dera Ghazi Khan district has 292,658 households and a population of 2,348,245.^[17] The district has a sex ratio of 100.71 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 43.98%: 47.78% for males and 35.64% for females.^[2][3] 797,634 (34.06% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age.^[18] 649,290 (27.65%) live in urban areas.^[2]

Religion

As per the 2023 census, the vast majority of the population was Muslim and made up nearly the entire population with 99.62%. Christians made up the largest minority (0.30%), followed by Ahmadis (0.07%) with Hindus and Sikhs making up the rest.^[19]

Religion in Dera Ghazi Khan District

Religious group	1941[20][a]		2017[21]		2023[19]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	192,278	85.94%	1,979,213	99.85%	2,332,785	99.62%
Hinduism	31,052	13.88%	198	0.01%	138	~0%
Christianity	37	0.02%	310	0.02%	6,946	0.30%
Ahmadiyya	—	—	2,371	0.12%	1,607	0.07%
Others	368	0.16%	102	~0%	162	0.01%
Total Population	223,735	100%	1,982,194	100%	2,341,638	100%

Religious groups in Dera Ghazi Khan District (British Punjab province era)

Religious group	1881[22][23][24]		1891[25]		1901[26]		1911[27][28]		1921[29]		1931[30]		1941[20]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	315,240	86.76%	349,587	86.52%	412,012	87.45%	442,234	88.47%	411,431	87.72%	432,911	88.16%	512,678	88.19%
Hinduism [b]	46,697	12.85%	52,903	13.09%	57,815	12.27%	56,485	11.3%	56,346	12.01%	57,217	11.65%	67,407	11.59%
Sikhism	1,326	0.36%	1,424	0.35%	1,027	0.22%	1,042	0.21%	932	0.2%	760	0.15%	1,072	0.18%
Christianity	82	0.02%	117	0.03%	152	0.03%	76	0.02%	47	0.01%	31	0.01%	87	0.01%
Jainism	0	0%	0	0%	143	0.03%	23	0%	296	0.06%	125	0.03%	106	0.02%
Zoroastrianism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	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	1	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Total population	363,346	100%	404,031	100%	471,149	100%	499,860	100%	469,052	100%	491,044	100%	581,350	100%
Note: 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.

Religion in the Tehsils of Dera Ghazi Khan District (1921)^[29]

Tehsil	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others[c]		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil	167,687	86.53%	25,272	13.04%	507	0.26%	27	0.01%	296	0.15%	0	0%	193,789	100%
Sanghar Tehsil	74,548	87.95%	10,207	12.04%	4	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	84,759	100%
Rajanpura Tehsil	94,148	89.66%	10,444	9.95%	415	0.4%	1	0%	0	0%	0	0%	105,008	100%
Jampur Tehsil	75,048	87.78%	10,423	12.19%	6	0.01%	19	0.02%	0	0%	0	0%	85,496	100%
Note: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Religion in the Tehsils of Dera Ghazi Khan District (1941)^[20]

Tehsil	Islam		Hinduism [b]		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others[d]		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil	192,278	85.94%	31,052	13.88%	221	0.1%	37	0.02%	106	0.05%	41	0.02%	223,735	100%
Sanghar Tehsil	97,234	89.08%	11,875	10.88%	34	0.03%	6	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	109,149	100%
Rajanpura Tehsil	122,849	90.18%	12,591	9.24%	791	0.58%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	136,231	100%
Jampur Tehsil	100,317	89.38%	11,889	10.59%	26	0.02%	3	0%	0	0%	0	0%	112,235	100%
Note1: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. Note2: Tehsil religious breakdown figures for Christianity only includes local Christians, labeled as "Indian Christians" on census. Does not include Anglo-Indian Christians or British Christians, who were classified under "Other" category.

Languages

Languages of Dera Ghazi Khan district (2023)^[31]

1. Saraiki (87.9%)
2. Balochi (7.68%)
3. Urdu (3.4%)
4. Others (1.02%)

At the time of the 2023 census, 87.90% of the population spoke Saraiki, 7.68% Balochi and 3.40% Urdu as their first language.^[31]

Notable people

• Farooq Leghari, former President of Pakistan
• Usman Buzdar, former Chief Minister of Punjab

See also

• Dera Ghazi Khan
• Dera Ghazi Khan Division
• Ghazi University
• Dera Ghazi Khan railway station
• Sulaiman Mountains
• Districts of Pakistan
• Punjab, Pakistan
• Kotri–Attock Line
• Basti Azeem
• Payala Lake Ghazi Ghat