# Narowal District

Narowal District (Punjabi and Urdu: ضِلع نارووال), is a district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Narowal city is the capital of the district. During the British rule, Narowal was the town of Raya Khas tehsil of Sialkot District. Narowal District formed in 1991, when the two tehsils of Narowal and Shakargarh were split off from Sialkot District.

## Administration

The district is administratively divided into the following three tehsils (subdivisions), which contain a total of 74 Union Councils:
| Tehsil | Area (km²) | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Literacy rate (2023) | Union Councils |
| Shakargarh | 835 | 769,339 | 921.36 | 76.28% | 28 |
| Narowal | 1,065 | 680,402 | 638.88 | 76.78% | 28 |
| Zafarwal | 437 | 501,213 | 1,146.94 | 71.72% | 26 |

## Urban areas

The district has six urban areas.
| City | Area (km²) | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Literacy rate (2023) |
| Narowal | 200 | 130,692 | ... | ... |
| Shakargarh | ... | 126,742 | ... | ... |
| Zafarwal | 10 | 52,639 | ... | ... |
| Qila Sobha Singh | ... | 19,671 | ... | ... |
| Baddomalhi | ... | 19,351 | ... | ... |
| Talwandi Bhindran | ... | 13,000 | ... | ... |

## Geography

The district is bounded by on the northwest by Sialkot, by India on the north by Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, on the southeast by the Gurdaspur district and Pathankot district, on the south by Amritsar district, and on the southwest by Sheikhupura district in Pakistan.
The total area of the district is approximately 2,337 square kilometres. Prior to the creation of Zafarwal Tehsil in July 2009, Narowal Tehsil occupied 1,065 square kilometres while the remaining area (1,272 square kilometres) fell in Shakargarh Tehsil. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, Narowal District's population was 1,256,097, of which only 12.11% were urbans. According to the 2017 census, total population of District Narowal is 1.709 million. Male population is 0.853 m (49.96%) and Female population is 0.855 m (50.04%).

## Demography
### Population

As of the 2023 census, Narowal district has 281,536 households and a population of 1,950,954. The district has a sex ratio of 104.40 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 75.28%: 79.89% for males and 70.49% for females. 494,799 (25.36% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 349,095 (17.89%) live in urban areas.

### Religion

Religion in Narowal district (2023) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Islam | Islam | 97.48% | 97.48% |
| Christianity | Christianity | 2.23% | 2.23% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 0.29% | 0.29% |
In 2023, 97.48% of population adheres to Islam whereas 2.22% adheres to Christianity. There is still a small Hindu population in the district.
Religion in Narowal District :
| Religion | 1941$^{:60}$ | 1941$^{:60}$ | 2017 | 2017 | 2023 | 2023 |
| Religion | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 296,582 | 53.05% | 1,663,508 | 97.42% | 1,901,645 | 97.48% |
| Hinduism | 170,883 | 30.56% | 657 | 0.04% | 833 | 0.04% |
| Sikhism | 67,267 | 12.03% | — | — | 125 | 0.01% |
| Christianity | 24,127 | 4.32% | 37,910 | 2.22% | 43,421 | 2.23% |
| Ahmadiyya | — | — | 5,430 | 0.32% | 4,491 | 0.23% |
| Others | 244 | 0.04% | 70 | ~0% | 254 | 0.01% |
| Total Population | 559,103 | 100% | 1,707,575 | 100% | 1,950,769 | 100% |

### Language

* Punjabi (94.29%)
* Urdu (3.05%)
* Mewati (2.28%)
* Others (0.38%)
At the time of the 2023 census, 94.29% of the population spoke Punjabi, 3.05% Urdu and 2.28% Mewati as their first language.

## Education

Here is the list of universities & medical colleges in Narowal:
| University/Campus | Established | Specialization | Type |
| University of Narowal | 2018 | General | Public |
| University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Narowal campus | 2012 | General | Public |
| University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Narowal campus | 2017 | General | Public |
| Narowal Medical College | 2024 | Medical | Public |
| Virtual University of Pakistan, Narowal virtual campus | | General | Private |
| Sahara Medical College Narowal | 2015 | Medical | Private |
**University of Gujrat(UOG), Narowal campus.University of Narowal used to be called as University of Gujrat(UOG)but later on UON got independent and now there is not a single Campus of University of Gujrat in Narowal.

## Notable people

* Dev Anand, Bollywood actor, director & producer
* Muhammad Tariq Anis : Ex MPA and MNA
* Daniyal Aziz, State Minister of Broadcasting
* Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Punjabi poet
* Anwar Aziz Chaudhry, politician
* Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, justice
* Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Pakistani revolutionary poet.
* Abrar-ul-Haq, singer-songwriter, philanthropist, politician
* Syed Saeed ul Hassan, Minister of Punjab for Auqaf and Religious Affairs
* Adnan Ilyas, cricketer
* Ahsan Iqbal, Interior Minister of Pakistan
* Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Khan, longest serving Parliamentarian in the history of Pakistan.
* Rajendra Kumar, film actor, director, producer, recipient of Padma Shri (1969)
* Naseer Ahmad Malhi, one of the founding fathers of Pakistan and the first education minister of Pakistan
* Chaudhry Abdul Rahim, politician
* Des Raj, cricket umpire
* Afzal Ahsan Randhawa, writer
* Gurbachan Singh Salaria, Indian Army Officer
* Kidar Sharma, Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and Lyricist of Hindi films.
* Z. A. Suleri, political journalist