The Muzaffarabad District (Urdu: ضلع مُظفّرآباد) is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. The district is located on the banks of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers and is very hilly. The total area of the Muzaffarabad District is 1,642 square kilometres (634 sq mi). The district is part of the Muzaffarabad Division, and the city of Muzaffarabad serves as the capital of Azad Kashmir. The district is bounded on the north-east by the Neelum District and the Kupwara District of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on the south-east by the Hattian Bala District, on the south by the Bagh District, and on the west by the Mansehra District and the Abbottabad District of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Muzaffarabad District ضلع مُظفّرآباد
District of Azad Kashmir
The city of Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir
Map of Azad Kashmir with the Muzaffarabad District highlighted in red
Country	Pakistan
Territory	Azad Kashmir
Division	Muzaffarabad Division
Headquarters	Muzaffarabad
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	Nadeem Ahmed Janjua
• District Police Officer	N/A
• District Health Officer	N/A
Area
• Total	1,642 km2 (634 sq mi)
Population  (2017)
• Total	650,370
• Density	396/km2 (1,030/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Urdu
• Spoken	Pahari/Hindko Gujari Kashmiri
Number of Tehsils	2

Population and languages

The total population of the district according to the 2017 census is 650,370.[1]

The main language of the district, spoken by about half of its inhabitants,[2] is generally considered to be a variety of Pahari. Though occasionally referred to in the literature as Chibhali [3] or Poonchi,[4] it is locally known as Hindko.[5] Its speakers tend to identify more with the Hindko spoken to the west,[6] even though perceiving their speech to be only slightly different from the Pahari varieties spoken in the Bagh District and further south in Murree.[7] The local dialect has a higher percentage of shared basic vocabulary with the central group of Pahari dialects (83–88%) than with the Hindko of the nearby Mansehra and Abbottabad districts (73–79%).[8]

Another language spoken in the district is Gujari, native to around a third of its population.[2] The local dialect is closely related to the Gujari varieties spoken in Hazara (83–88% similarity in basic vocabulary) and the rest of Azad Kashmir (79–86%).[9] Kashmiri is spoken in the city of Muzaffarabad. It is distinct from, although still intelligible with, the Kashmiri of the Neelam Valley to the north.[10] Other languages spoken include Urdu, Shina and Balti.^{[citation needed]}

Administrative divisions

The district of Muzaffarabad is administratively subdivided into two tehsils, which are subdivided into several union councils.[11]

• Muzaffarabad Tehsil
• Pattika Tehsil

Education

According to Pakistan District Education Ranking 2017, a report released by Alif Ailaan, Muzaffarabad is ranked at number 6 nationally, with an education score of 73.85.

However when it comes to infrastructure, Muzaffarabad ranks at 105, with a school infrastructure score of 34.29. There is a serious lack of electricity, drinking water, and boundary walls, with scores of 11.7, 27.93, and 40.09, respectively. Infrastructurewise, the schools are not conducive to study, as they lack some of the basic facilities which should be present in all schools.

72% of the schools are primary schools, and only 28% are above-primary schools. Therefore, students graduating from primary schools do not have sufficient post- primary schools to attend. This leads to a steady decrease in enrollment, especially for girls. The issues on the Taleem Do app for the area also relate to the complaint of unsatisfactory infrastructure and a lack of furniture in the school buildings.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Abbasi, Muhammad Gulfraz (2010). "Is It a Language Worth Researching?". Language in India. 10 (7).
• Akhtar, Raja Nasim; Rehman, Khawaja A. (2007). "The Languages of the Neelam Valley". Kashmir Journal of Language Research. 10 (1): 65–84. ISSN 1028-6640.
• Grierson, George A. (1919). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. VIII, Part 1, Indo-Aryan family. North-western group. Specimens of Sindhī and Lahndā. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.
• Hallberg, Calinda E.; O'Leary, Clare F. (1992). "Dialect Variation and Multilingualism among Gujars of Pakistan". In O'Leary, Clare F.; Rensch, Calvin R.; Hallberg, Calinda E. (eds.). Hindko and Gujari. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University and Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 91–196. ISBN 969-8023-13-5.
• Lothers, Michael; Lothers, Laura (2010). Pahari and Pothwari: a sociolinguistic survey (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports. Vol. 2010–012.
• Shakil, Mohsin (2012). "Languages of Erstwhile State of Jammu Kashmir (A Preliminary Study)". p. 12.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Muzaffarabad District.

• Information and pictures of Muzaffarabad and adjacent areas

На других языках

[ru] Музаффарабад (округ)