Swabi District (Pashto: سوابۍ ولسوالۍ) is a district in the Mardan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Kabul Rivers. Before becoming a district in 1988, it was a tehsil within the Mardan District. 96% of the population speaks Pashto as their first language.
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Demographics
Population
As of the 2023 census, Swabi district has 278,976 households and a population of 1,894,600. The district has a sex ratio of 102.51 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 58.48%: 72.34% for males and 44.50% for females. 519,863 (27.50% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 339,670 (17.93%) live in urban areas.
Ethnic groups
Yusufzai (Pashtun), Awan and Gujjars are main ethnic groups in the district.
Languages
At the time of the 2023 census, 97.23% of the population spoke Pashto and 2.05% Hindko as their first language. Other minority spoken languages are Gujari and Kohistani. As per 2023 estimates by Tablue Public in Swabi district Gujari along with Kohistani is spoken by 2.13% of the population.
Education
Swabi District is now home to many excellent educational institutes. But there was no public sector university until 2012. The only degree awarding institution then was private sector Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, which was inaugurated in 1993. In 2012, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa established the first public sector university in Swabi, when it upgraded Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Swabi campus into full-flege University of Swabi while Women University Swabi was established in 2016. Swabi district also has a public sector medical college Gajju Khan Medical College Swabi, which was established in 2014.
The district also has 2 public sector Postgraduate degree colleges: Government Postgraduate College Swabi and Govt Girls Post Graduate College Maneri Swabi.
Administration
Swabi District is currently subdivided into four ehsils.
Newspaper in Swabi
Currently there are couple of newspaper publishing in Swabi under the supervision of the Swabi Group of Newspapers.
Swabi Times, a weekly publishing newspaper in Urdu.
Swabi News, a daily publishing newspaper in Urdu.
Notable people
Najib-ud-Daula, a combatant of Third Battle of Panipat
Mir Azam, first-class cricketer of the Abbottabad team, also known as the falcons
Haroon Bacha, Pashtun singer, musician, and composer
Muhammad Fareed, Islamic scholar
Ali Gohar, scholar and restorative justice expert and founder of Just Peace Initiatives
Bushra Gohar, politician and Pashtun human rights activist
Fazal Ali Haqqani, Minister of Education and member of the NWFP Assembly (then) now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from 2002 to 2007
Sardar Ali Haqqani, Islamic scholar
Gulalai Ismail, Pashtun human rights activist
Nigar Johar, the only female general in the history of the Pakistan Army
Abdul Aziz Khan Kaka, Khudai Khidmatgar politician who defeated the Imperial Crown's political agent Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan in the elections of 1936
Gaju Khan, an historic Pashtun rebel chief and general who fought in the rebellions of Sher Shah Suri
Junaid Khan, cricketer
Karnal Sher Khan, military officer
Khan Roshan Khan, historian
Meraj Hamayun Khan, Pashtun social worker and educationist