Shangla District

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.[3]

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

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, primarily owing to the efforts of Haji Badiu Zaman, a political leader and community figure, 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.[4] [5]

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

Shangla district consists of small valleys and is situated between the hillocks and 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.[3] The highest point (3,440 m) is near Kuz Ganrshal in the north of the district.[3]

At the time of the 2017 census the district had 88,386 households and a population of 759,609. Shangla had a sex ratio of 967 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 33.13% - 51.67% for males and 14.50% for females. The entire population was rural. 35.81% of the population was under 10 years of age. 230 (0.03%) people in the district were from religious minorities.[1]

Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 96.76% of the population. 2.69% of the population spoke languages classified as 'Others', mainly Kohistani languages.[1]

The district was hit by the 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake in which more than 18 people killed.[7]

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 contribute more than 253000+ of 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.[8]

In November 2022, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan, inaugurated University of Shangla.[9] The university was earlier a campus of University of Swat.[10]

This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-31.[11]

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