Zhob District (Pashto: ږوب ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع ژوب) is a district in the northwestern part of Balochistan province of Pakistan. The population of Zhob District was estimated at 355,692 in 2023.[1] Water from Zhob River is used for irrigation in the district.
Administration
The 1998 census report lists two sub-divisions: Lower Zhob (comprising Zhob tehsil and Sambaza sub-tehsil) and Kakar Khurasan (encompassing the tehsil of Qamar Din Karez and the subtehsil of Ashewat).[2] A government webpage lists these as Ashwat, Qamar Din Karez, Sambaza and Zhob, without indicating if any of them are sub-tehsils.[3]
As of the 2023 census, Zhob district has 47,901 households and a population of 355,692. The district has a sex ratio of 117.57 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 36.62%: 45.24% for males and 26.81% for females.[1][6] 159,100 (44.75% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age.[7] 46,976 (13.21%) live in urban areas.[1] 1,732 (0.49% of the surveyed population) are religious minorities, mainly Christians and some Hindus.[5]
At the time of the 2023 census, 97.65% of the population spoke Pashto and 1.49% Saraiki as their first language.[8]
The majority of the population of Zhob district is Pashtun. The tribes of Zhob district include the Mandokhail, Khosti, Sherani, Kakar, Sulaimankhel, Harifal, Lawoon and Babar. A large number of IDPs were settled within the confines of the district as part of the evacuation from Operation Zarb-e-Azb that took place to the north of Zhob.[citation needed]
Note: British Baluchistan era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.
1998 District Census report of Zhob. Census publication. Vol. 107. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
External links
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