Dera Ghazi Khan (, Saraiki: ) is a district in Punjab, Pakistan. Its administrative capital is Dera Ghazi Khan. The district lies to the west of the Indus River. The Sulaiman Mountains rise to a height of 10000 ft in the north of the district. Popular tourist destinations are Fort Munro, Yakbai Hill station and Mubarki Top.

Administration

The district is divided into three tehsils which are divided into a total of sixty Union Councils:

History

The region around Dera Ghazi Khan was inhabited by Mallian people in late antiquity. Then it was part of wide Multan region. 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. After the independence, many of the city's Hindu residents settled in Derawal Nagar colony of Delhi, India. 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.

Demographics

At the 2017 census, Dera Ghazi Khan district had 339,202 households and a population of 2,872,631. Dera Ghazi Khan had a sex ratio of 979 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 46.67% - 59.15% for males and 34.26% for females. 546,221 (19.01%) lived in urban areas. 979,674 (34.10%) were under 10 years of age. In 2023, the district had 454,711 households and a population of 3,393,705.

Religion

As per the 2023 census, the vast majority of the population was Muslim and made up nearly the entire population with 99.67%. Christians made up the largest minority (0.27%), followed by Ahmadis (0.05%) with Hindus and Sikhs making up the rest.

Languages

At the time of the 2023 census, 81.55% of the population spoke Saraiki, while 14.94% mentioned Balochi, 2.4% Urdu, and 0.63% Pashto as their first language.

Notable people