# Layyah District

Layyah District (Saraiki: ضلع ليّہ, Urdu: ضلع ليہ), is a district in the Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the southern part of the province. The city of Layyah is the administrative headquarters of Layyah district. Layyah has a hot, semi-arid climate.

## Geography

It lies between 30–45 to 31–24 degree north latitudes and 70–44 to 71–50 degree east longitudes. The area consists of a semi-rectangular block of sandy land between the Indus River and the Chenab River in Sindh Sagar Doab. The total area covered by the district is 6,291 km$^{2,}$ with a width from east to west of 88 kilometres (55 mi) and a length from north to south of 72 kilometres (45 mi).

## History

The area around Layyah was part of Multan region when it was conquered by Umayyad Arabs, spreading Islam in the region. The town was founded around 1550 by Kamal Khan, who laid the foundation of Dera Ghazi Khan. Around 1610, the town was taken from the rulers, who held it until 1787. Abdun Nabi Sarai was appointed Governor by Timur Shah Durrani, but three years later it was included in the Governorship of Muhammad Khan Sadozai, who transferred his seat of Government to Mankera.
In 1794, Humayun Shah, the rival claimant to the throne of Kabul, was captured near Layyah and brought into the town, where his eyes were gouged out on the command of Zaman Shah. Under the Sikh Government, the town once more became the centre of administration for the neighbouring tract, and after the British occupation in 1849, was for a time the headquarters of a Civil Administrative Division.
This administrative status of Layyah was short-lived and the British reduced it to the level of Tehsil headquarters, making it a part of Dera Ismail Khan. In 1901, Layyah was transferred to the new District of Mianwali. Later on, it was made part of the Muzaffargarh District. In 1982, Layyah Tehsil was upgraded to District headquarters comprising three Tehsils: Layyah, Karor and Chaubara. The municipality was created in 1875.

## Administrative divisions

The district of Layyah is made up of three tehsils:
| Tehsil | Area (km²) | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Literacy rate (2023) |
| Karor Lal Esan | 1,823 | 684,729 | 375.61 | 62.43% |
| Chaubara | 2,754 | 299,082 | 108.60 | 58.42% |
| Layyah | 1,712 | 1,118,575 | 653.37 | 62.34% |

## Main Towns

There are seven main towns of District Layyah:
* Chowk Azam
* Fateh Pur
* Kot Sultan
* Pahar Pur Thal
* Choubara (Tehsil)
* Peer Jaggi
* Ladhana
* Karor Lal Esan (Tehsil)

## Villages

* Chak 90 ML
* Choubara
* Lashari wala
* Metlawala
* Sobha Singhwala
* Udhowala

## Education

According to Pakistan District Education Ranking, a report released by Alif Ailaan, Layyah is ranked at number 38 out of 155 districts nationally with an education score of 66.76. The learning score of Layyah is 70.8. The readiness score of Layyah is 65.13, ranking the district at number 31. Furthermore, the school infrastructure score of Layyah is 94.38, placing it a national rank of 18. The score reflects that most schools in Layyah have all basic facilities e.g. electricity, drinking water and functional toilets.
The issues reported in TaleemDo! App by the residents of Layyah suggest that students of government schools have low confidence as compared to private schools, but the students are unable to attend private schools because of high fees. Complaints about quality of teachers and a few basic facilities are also the issues reported in the app.

## Higher Education

In education Layyah is improving day by day.

### Public Sector Colleges

There are 20 colleges available for the education of males and females of Layyah.
* Boys 06
* Girls 09
* Commerce 05
    Total 20

### Private Sector Colleges

* Boys 08
* Girls 03
* Commerce & Business 03
    Total 14

### Public Sector Universities

* University of Layyah

#### Departments

* Department of Business Administration
* Department of English
* Department of Economics
* Department of Psychology
* Department of Sociology
* Department of Education
* Department of Information Technology
* Department of Computer Science

#### Colleges

* College of Veterinary Sciences
* College of Agriculture

### Private Sector Universities

* Govt. College University Faisalabad (Layyah Campus)
* University of Education, Lahore (Layyah Campus)
* Govt. College University, Lahore (Layyah Campus)
* National College of Business Administration & Economics Lahore (Layyah Campus)

## Small Dams

There are 17 small dams in the district to provide water for irrigation.
* Khokher Zer Dam
* Surlah Dam
* Dhok Talian Dam
* Kot Raja Dam
* Dhoke Qutab Din Dam
* Nikka Dam
* Walana Dam
* Khai Gurabh Dam
* Pira Fatehal Dam
* Bhagtal Dam
* Dhurnal Dam
* Mial Dam
* Kanwal Dam
* Dhrabi Dam
* Khai Dam
* Chowkhandi Dam
* Minwal Dam

## Industries

There are multiple industries in Layyah.
* Sugar Mill 01
* Rice Factories 15
* Cotton Ginning Factories 25
* Ice Factories 18
* Pharmaceutical Company 01
* Vegetable Ghee Factory 0
* Cold Storage 05
* Flour Mills 13
    Total 79

## Land Statistics

Land of Layyah is categorized in 6 parts.
* Cultivated Area 10,12,828 Acres
* Irrigated Area 8,32,306 Acres
* Barani Area 1,80,522 Acres
* Uncultivated Area 5, 39,820 Acres
* Culture able Waste 59,600 Acres
* Un-Culture able Area 4,80,220 Acres

### Types of irrigation

Irrigation of layyah is divided in 3 types.
* Revierian Area 2,01,572 Acres
* Thal Irrigated Area 6,70,633 Acres
* Thal Barani Area 6,80,433 Acres

## Transportation

There are 2 main means of transportation used in layyah listed below.

### Road Network

Road Network of the district is linked as:
Layyah toward Kot Addu-Muzaffargarh, D.G.Khan, Rajanpur and so on to Karachi Layyah to Bhakhar-Mianwali and so on to Islamabad Layyah to Multan Layyah to Jhang-Toba Tek Singh-Faisalabad-Sahiwal and so on to Lahore

### Rail Network

Rail Network of the district is linked as:
Rail Network also available for Layyah to Muzaffargarh & Multan and Layyah to Bhakkar - Mianwali to Rawalpindi / Islamabad

## Floods

Sehar village residents of flood-prone Layyah district, had seen their homes repeatedly inundated and they finally took matters into their own hands and rebuilt their homes on raised dirt platforms five to six feet high, shored up with eucalyptus trees planted around the edges.

## Demography

As of the 2023 census, Layyah district has 341,131 households and a population of 2,102,386. The district has a sex ratio of 106.23 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 61.83%: 70.91% for males and 52.21% for females. 604,722 (28.76% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 386,282 (18.37%) live in urban areas.
Religion in Layyah district (2023) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Islam | Islam | 99.23% | 99.23% |
| Christianity | Christianity | 0.69% | 0.69% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 0.08% | 0.08% |
Religion in Layyah District :
| Religion | 1941$^{:62–63}$ | 1941$^{:62–63}$ | 2017 | 2017 | 2023 | 2023 |
| Religion | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 138,201 | 85.8% | 1,812,173 | 99.35% | 2,086,076 | 99.23% |
| Hinduism | 21,882 | 13.59% | 553 | 0.03% | 242 | 0.01% |
| Sikhism | 882 | 0.55% | — | — | 27 | 0% |
| Christianity | 4 | 0% | 9,673 | 0.53% | 14,427 | 0.69% |
| Ahmadi | — | — | 1,481 | 0.08% | 1,393 | 0.07% |
| Others | 101 | 0.06% | 115 | 0.01% | 186 | 0.01% |
| Total Population | 161,070 | 100% | 1,823,995 | 100% | 2,102,361 | 100% |
Languages of Layyah district (2023)
At the time of the 2023 census, 66.89% of the population spoke Saraiki, 27.57% Punjabi, 2.75% Urdu and 2.26% Pashto as their first language. The dialect spoken here is Thali, which blends into Multani in the south.

## Gallery

* Railway Station ریلوے اسٹیشن Layyah
* Sadar Bazaar صدر بازار Layyah
* Vegetable and Fruit Market سبزی منڈی of Layyah at twilight
* D.H.Q Hospital Layyah, By: Ashiq Hussian Saggu Kot Sultan