Talagang District (Urdu/Punjabi: ضلع تلہ گنگ) is an administrative district of Punjab province of Pakistan. Formerly it was Talagang Tehsil within the Chakwal District; its status was raised to District in October 2022 by the government.[2][3]
It is part of the Potohar plateau and lies on the north of Salt Range and east of the Kala Chitta range. Talagang is 45 km from Chakwal. The motorway M2 is located 30 km from Talagang. It is bordered by Khushab to its South, Attock to its North, Chakwal to its East, and Mianwali to its West.[2]
History and Culture
It was declared as District on 14 October 2022 by Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi on the request of former Provincial Minister and MPA Hafiz Ammar Yasir.[4][5] Former Talagang Tehsil was part of District Campbellpur (now Attock District) until 1985, when District Chakwal was created. Tehsil Talagang was merged with Chakwal. There are two Municipal Committees (Lawa, Talagang) in District Talagang . District Council Talagang has also been notified in the official Gazzette of the Punjab. In the over 150 families of Talagang pottery manufacturing is the primary source of income, continuing the centuries-old tradition of creating handmade clay wares.[6]
The culture of Talagang is a mix largely rural lifestyle with a blend of suburban lifestyle in the city. Since the region was classified as a martial area by the colonial governments, its inhabitants are largely in service of military alongside agriculture sector is dominant business in Talagang. People have simple and pure lifestyles which was twice exhibited in an art exhibition at Somerset House in an international photography contest by World Photography Organisation by a Talagang based young photographer Zohaib Tariq[7][8][1]
As of the 2023 census, Talagang district has 101,362 households and a population of 602,246.[10] The district has a sex ratio of 100.53 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 74.63%: 86.34% for males and 63.02% for females.[1][11] 131,597 (21.85% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age.[12] 100,050 (16.61%) live in urban areas.[1]
^Divisions/Districts of PakistanArchived 2006-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Note: Although divisions as an administrative structure has been abolished, the election commission of Pakistan still groups districts under the division names