# Pulwama district

The Pulwama district is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is located to the south of Srinagar. Its district headquarters are situated in the city of Pulwama. It is located in the central part of the Kashmir Valley.

## Administration

In 1979 Anantnag district split in two, with one part remaining as Anantnag district, and the other part becoming Pulwama district. When created, Pulwama district had 550 villages, grouped in five subdistricts (tehsils): Shopian, Awantipora, Pampore, Pulwama, and Tral. After Shopian district was created in 2007, Pulwama district had 331 villages and four subdistricts. According to the district administration, the area of the district is 420 square miles (1,090 km$^2$).
Pulwama district currently has eight subdistricts, with 327 villages (eight of which are uninhabited):

### Tehsils

The Pulwama district contains eight tehsils:
* Awantipora Tehsil
* Pampore Tehsil
* Pulwama Tehsil
* Tral Tehsil
* Rajpora Tehsil
* Aripal Tehsil
* Shahoora (Litter) Tehsil
* KakaporaTehsil
This district consists of five development blocks: Tral, Keller, Pampore, Pulwama and Kakapora. Each block consists of a number of panchayats.

### District Development Council

* Chairperson: Syed Abdul Bari Andrabi (JKPDP)
* Vice-chairperson: Mukhtar Ahmad Bandh (JKNC)
| S.No | Party | Alliance | No. of Members |
| 1. | INC | UPA | |
| 2. | BJP | NDA | 1 |
| 3. | JKNC | PAGD | 2 |
| 4. | JKPDP | PAGD | 8 |
| 5. | JKAP | | |
| 6. | JKPM | | |
| 7. | Independent | | 4 |
| Totak | Totak | Totak | 14 |

## Demographics

According to the 2011 census Pulwama district has a population of 560,440, roughly equal to the nation of Solomon Islands or the US state of Wyoming. This gives it a ranking of 537th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 598 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,550/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 29.18%. Pulwama has a sex ratio of 912 females for every 1000 males (though this varies with religion), and is lower than the national average of 940, and a literacy rate of 64.3%.
Sex Ratio in Pulwama District in 2011 Census. (no. females per 1,000 males) :
| Religion (and population) | Religion (and population) | Sex Ratio | Sex Ratio |
| Muslim (pop 535,159) | Muslim (pop 535,159) | 952 | 952 |
| Hindu (pop 13,840) | Hindu (pop 13,840) | 106 | 106 |
| Sikh (pop 9,440) | Sikh (pop 9,440) | 847 | 847 |
| Other (pop 2,001) | Other (pop 2,001) | 500 | 500 |
| Total (pop 560,440) | Total (pop 560,440) | 912 | 912 |
Religion in Pulwama district (2011) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Islam | Islam | 95.49% | 95.49% |
| Hinduism | Hinduism | 2.47% | 2.47% |
| Sikhism | Sikhism | 1.68% | 1.68% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 0.36% | 0.36% |
Pulwama district: mother-tongue of population, according to the 2011 Census.
Pulwama district: religion, gender ratio, and % urban of population, according to the 2011 Census. :
| | Hindu | Muslim | Christian | Sikh | Buddhist | Jain | Other | Not stated | Total |
| Total | 13,840 | 535,159 | 1,109 | 9,440 | 35 | 6 | 18 | 833 | 560,440 |
| Total | 2.47% | 95.49% | 0.20% | 1.68% | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.15% | 100.00% |
| Male | 12,515 | 274,104 | 818 | 5,111 | 26 | 4 | 10 | 476 | 293,064 |
| Female | 1,325 | 261,055 | 291 | 4,329 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 357 | 267,376 |
| Gender ratio (% female) | 9.6% | 48.8% | 26.2% | 45.9% | 25.7% | 33.3% | 44.4% | 42.9% | 47.7% |
| Sex ratio (no. of females per 1,000 males) | 106 | 952 | 356 | 847 | – | – | – | 750 | 912 |
| Urban | 7,388 | 72,353 | 223 | 364 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 115 | 80,462 |
| Rural | 6,452 | 462,806 | 886 | 9,076 | 23 | 3 | 14 | 718 | 479,978 |
| % Urban | 53.4% | 13.5% | 20.1% | 3.9% | 34.3% | 50.0% | 22.2% | 13.8% | 14.4% |
At the time of the 2011 census, 91.30% of the population spoke Kashmiri, 3.96% Gojri, 1.38% Punjabi and 1.25% Hindi as their first language.

## Healthcare

District has got one of the best health care system in The State/Union Territory. District has 1 DNB Deemed District Hospital Pulwama, 3 Sub-District Hospitals and numerous other health institutions. One tertiary Healthcare institute is under construction in Awantipora Tehsil of the district. It will be the largest hospital in Kashmir province/division.

## Pencil District

The district is widely recognized as the leading producer of slates in the country. Approximately 70 percent of the slate production in India originates from this district and is subsequently supplied to various pencil manufacturing companies. This distinctive characteristic has earned Pulwama the reputation of being the primary hub for slate production, making a significant contribution to the pencil industry. The village of Oukhoo in Pulwama district has been bestowed with the title of 'Pencil Village' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his "Mann ki Baat" address.

## Transport

District Pulwama is well connected with various transport modes.
National Highway 44 and National Highway 444 pass through Pulwama District.
There are 4 railways stations and 1 halt station located in the district. The district railway Headquarter is located at Awantipora Railway Station.

## Educational institutions

Some of the notable educational institutions of Pulwama district:
* AIIMS Awantipora
* Boys Government Degree College, Pulwama
* Islamic University, Awantipora
* Women's College, Pulwama
* Paramount Institute of Education
* Govt. GNM Nursing College, Pulwama
* Phoenix Paramedical College, Pulwama
* Dolphin Paramedical College, Pulwama

## Kashmir's First Synthetic hockey turf

Pulwama district in the southern Kashmir valley has achieved a significant milestone with the installation of the first synthetic hockey turf in the entire valley. This state-of-the-art stadium has been constructed to meet the growing demand for hockey facilities in the Kashmir division. The stadium has been constructed at Government Boys Higher Secondary School Pulwama, with an investment of Rs 5 crore, as part of the sports facilities enhancement plan by the government of Jammu and Kashmir. This initiative aims to improve the sporting infrastructure in the region and provide better opportunities for athletes to excel in their respective disciplines.

## Anand of Kashmir

The district stands out in milk production, and is the top milk producing district in Jammu and Kashmir, which has earned it the nickname "Anand of Kashmir". According to official data, Pulwama recorded milk production of 31 crore litres in 2020, which was distributed throughout Jammu and Kashmir. In the year 2017-18, Pulwama produced 28.04 crore litres of milk. On a daily basis, Pulwama currently produces 8.5 lakh litres of milk.

## Land use

The "reporting area" is the area for which data on land use classification are available. When Pulwama district was created in 1979 it had a "reporting area" of 380 square miles (980 km$^2$). After the creation of Shopian district in 2007, the "reporting area" of Pulwama district was reduced to 240 square miles (610 km$^2$).
| Classification of use | Area in 2016–2017 | Area in 2016–2017 | % total area |
| Classification of use | sq miles | sq km | % total area |
| Forests | 1.6 | 4 | 0.4% |
| Area under non-agricultural uses (roads, railways, buildings, rivers, canals) | 32.4 | 84 | 8% |
| Barren and un-culturable land (mountains, deserts, etc.) | 9.8 | 25 | 2% |
| Permanent pastures and other grazing lands | 23.0 | 60 | 5% |
| Land under miscellaneous tree crops, etc. | 4.3 | 11 | 1% |
| Culturable waste land (land that could be cultivated, that has not been cultivated in the last five years) | 14.0 | 36 | 3% |
| Fallow lands other than current fallows (fallow for more than one year, which had been cultivated with the past five years) | 0.7 | 2 | 0.2% |
| Current fallows (fallow this year, but cultivated the previous year) | 24.6 | 64 | 6% |
| Net area sown (the total area sown with crops and orchards) | 124.7 | 323 | 30% |
| Reporting area | 234.6 | 608 | 56% |
| No data | 186.1 | 482 | 44% |
| Total area | 420.9 | 1,090 | 100% |
| Definitions of land use classifications are given at: "Nine-fold classification of Land Use", Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, retrieved 22 July 2020 ||||