Upper Dir District

Upper Dir District میانہ ڈوگ ڈوگرہ دیر بالا
District
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Established	1996
Headquarters	Dir
Area
• Total	3,699 km^2 (1,428 sq mi)
Population (2014)
• Total	899,000
• Density	194/km^2 (500/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Number of Tehsils	6

Upper Dir (Pashto: دیر بالا‎) is one of the 26^[1] districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At the time of independence, Dir was a princely state ruled by Nawab Shah Jehan Khan. It was merged with Pakistan in 1969 and later on declared as a district in 1970. In 1996, it was bifurcated into Upper and Lower Dir districts. This district is situated in the northern part of Pakistan. It borders Chitral district and Afghanistan on the north and north west and Swat district to the east, and on the south by Lower Dir District.^[2]

Kalkot Kumrat valley, Upper Dir

Towns

Except for Dir and a number of rapidly growing bazaar towns along the main roads, the population is rural, scattered in more than 1200 villages in the deep narrow valleys of the Panjkora and its tributaries.

Of these, notable villages are

• Khas Dir
• Barawal
• Gandigar
• Toormang
• Darorra
• Ganori
• Shalkani
• Bibyawar
• wari

Division of Dir

Dir district was officially split into Upper Dir and Lower Dir in 1996. Until 2000 as funds were not available to provide the accommodation needed at Dir town by government departments at a district headquarters, both districts continued to be administered by a single deputy Commissioner stationed at Timergara in Lower Dir.

Popular places^[3]

• Kumrat Valley
• Ushirai Dara
• Shahi Koto
• Nehag Dara
• Barawal
• Ganori
• Nowra

See also

• Dir town
• Dir (princely state)
• Lower Dir District
• Chitral District
• Swat District

References

1. http://www.dawn.com/news/1080683
2. http://paiman.jsi.com/Resources/Docs/district-health-profile-upperdir.pdf
3. http://www.pdma.gov.pk/documents/District_Tehsil_and_Union_code_Reference_Map_Upper_Dir.pdf

Coordinates: 35°12′15″N 71°52′20″E / 35.20417°N 71.87222°E