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Shangla District ضلع شانگلہ شنګله ولسوالۍ‎
District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Top: Shangla Top Bottom: Road near Besham
Shangla District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Division	Malakand
Headquarters	Alpuri
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	N/A
• District Police Officer	N/A
• District Health Officer	N/A
Area
• District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	1,586 km (612 sq mi)
Population
• District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	891,252
• Density	560/km (1,500/sq mi)
• Urban	0
• Rural	891,252
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
District Council	28 seats
Number of Tehsils	5
Website	shangla.kp.gov.pk

Shangla District (Pashto: شنګله ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع شانگلہ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The district's headquarters are located at Alpuri, while the largest city and commercial center is Besham. The district was established in 1995, having previously been a subdivision of Swat District. The total area of the district is 1,586 square kilometers. Shangla comprises five subdivisions, Alpuri, Puran, Chakesar, Martung and Besham tehsils. Shangla is famous for its touring spot, Yakhtangay

Location

The district is bounded in the north by Kohistan District, in the east by Battagram District and Torghar District, in the west by Swat District, and in the south by Buner District.

Administrative divisions

• Alpuri (Urdu: تحصیل الپوری)(Pashto: الپوري تحصیل‎)
• Bisham (Urdu: تحصیل بشام)(Pashto: بشام تحصیل‎)
• Chakesar (Urdu: تحصیل چکیسر)(Pashto: چکېسر تحصیل‎)
• Martung (Urdu: تحصیل مارتونگ)(Pashto: مارتونګ تحصیل‎)
• Puran (Urdu: تحصیل پورَن)(Pashto: پورَن تحصیل‎)

History

Shangla was a sub-division of the Swat district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan until it was granted the status of a separate district in 1995. This was primarily due to the efforts of Haji Badi uz Zaman, a political leader and community figure who was assassinated in 1994, and his son, Afsar ul Mulk.

There are relics of the ancient Greek period at Pirsar, Chakesar and Daut. It is believed that Alexander the Great camped at Pirsar for a few days. There are also relics of the Hindu Shahi in Olandar-Ajmair.

A number of Buddha sculptures are also found in Shangla district which indicate that Shangla was also a part of the previous Buddhist civilization.

The district was hit by the 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake in which more than 18 people were killed.

Geography

Shangla district consists of small valleys and is situated between the hillocks and is surrounded by high mountains full of forests comprising Pindrow Fir, Morinda Spruce, Blue Pine (Kail), Chir Pine and Deodar Cedar trees. The average elevation of the district is 2000 to 3000 meters above sea level. The highest point (3,440 m) is near Kuz Ganrshal in the north of the district. Shangla District is connected to the Swat District by the Shangla Pass.

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Shangla district has 125,540 households and a population of 891,252. The district has a sex ratio of 106.65 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 33.74%: 48.82% for males and 17.82% for females. 307,444 (34.51% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas. 2,410 (0.27%) people in the district are from religious minorities, mainly Christians.

Languages of Shangla district (2023)

Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 95.40% of the population. 1.03% of the population spoke Kohistani languages.

The main tribe of Shangla is Yusufzai, that contribute more than half of the district population, the dense and well populated area of Shangla is Alpuri tehsil (Gwarband) that contributes to more than 253000+ of the district population. Shangla is one of the unique districts of Pakistan that contains more than 80% of forest land. The youngest noble laurate Malala Yousafzai's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, was born in Shangla, however, she herself was born in Mingora, Swat.

Education

In November 2022, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan, inaugurated University of Shangla. The university was earlier a campus of University of Swat.

National and provincial assembly

This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-31.

Since 2002: NA-11 (Shangla)

2024 Amir muqam pakistan muslim league N

Provincial Assembly

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Animal diversity

Shangla is highly diverse in terms of animal fauna. Various studies have been carried out for documentation of Animal fauna in Shangla.

Birds

A study was carried out by Ahmad et al (2023) and reported 38 birds species from Chakesar Valley.

Insect

In recent research article, new distribution record for Idricerus decrepitus from Chakesar Shangla. It was a provincial record for the said species.

Fish fauna

References

1. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
2. PCO 1998, p. 8.
3. ^ PCO 1998, p. 1.
4. Zahir, Muhammad (2018-12-28). "Alexander the Great at Aornos (Mount Pir-Sar), District Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan: Report on Historical and Archaeological Field Investigations (2017 – 2018)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
5. Kunwar, Ripu M.; Sher, Hassan; Bussmann, Rainer W. (2021-07-29). Ethnobotany of the Himalayas. Springer Nature. p. 1645. ISBN 978-3-030-57408-6.
6. Pakistan Quarterly. Pakistan Publications. 1965. p. 62.
7. Shangla – Government of Pakistan tourism site
9. "Attempt to steal Shangla Buddhist sculpture fails". The Express Tribune. 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
10. Bacha, Umar (2018-11-16). "Stone-carved Buddha defaced by Shangla people". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
11. Pakistan Affairs. Information Division, Embassy of Pakistan. 1980.
12. "Earthquake death toll rises to 363 in Pakistan - SAMAA".
13. "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
14. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
15. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
16. "Malala Fund".
17. "CM inaugurates university in Shangla". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
18. "Shangla Campus (Alpuri) – UNIVERSITY OF SWAT". Retrieved 2022-12-22.
19. "Election Commission of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
20. Ahmad, Waqas; Khan, Jalal Hayat; Ullah, Qudrat; Qasim, Muhammad; Rafi, Muhammad Ather (2023-10-05). "Exploring the Avian Diversity of Chakesar Valley, Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan". University of Sindh Journal of Animal Sciences. 7 (3). doi:10.57038/usjas.v7i03.6503. ISSN 2523-6067.
21. Ahmad, Waqas (2023-11-01). "New Distributional Record of Idricerus decreptius (Myrmeleontidae, Neuroptera) from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan". Indian Journal of Entomology: 1–3. doi:10.55446/IJE.2023.1488. ISSN 0974-8172.

Bibliography

• 1998 District Census report of Shangla. Census publication. Vol. 106. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.

v t e Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Provincial capital: Peshawar
Bannu	Bannu Lakki Marwat North Waziristan
Dera Ismail Khan	Dera Ismail Khan Tank Lower South Waziristan Upper South Waziristan
Hazara	Abbottabad Allai Battagram Haripur Kolai-Palas Upper Kohistan Lower Kohistan Mansehra Torghar
Kohat	Hangu Karak Kohat Kurram Orakzai
Malakand	Bajaur Buner Central Dir Lower Chitral Lower Dir Malakand Shangla Swat Upper Dir Upper Chitral
Mardan	Mardan Swabi
Peshawar	Charsadda Nowshera Peshawar Khyber Mohmand
Former	Chitral South Waziristan

v t e Populated places in Shangla District
Tehsils	Alpuri Bisham Chakesar Martung Puran
Cities and towns	Aloch Alpuri Bengalai Besham Bilkanai Chagam Chakesar Manwan Mian Kalay Shangla Nimkalay Sandovi Sanila Shahtut Sundavi Titwalan
Villages	Chowga Kabalgram Karindara Kotkay Lilownai Makhuzai Martung

• Shangla District
• Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa