# Attock District

Attock District ( Punjabi/Urduضلع اٹک:), known as Campbellpur District during British Raj, is a district, located on the Pothohar Plateau, in Punjab, Pakistan; created in April 1904. According to 2023 Pakistani census population of Attock District is 2,133,005 (2.1 million).

## History

The district was established in April 1904 as Campbellpur District during the British Raj through the merging of tehsils from neighbouring districts. Today the district consists of 6 tehsils: Attock, Fateh Jang, Hazro, Hassan Abdal, Jand and Pindi Gheb.
It is located in the north of the Punjab province, bordered by Chakwal to the south, Mianwali to the southwest, Rawalpindi to the east, Kohat to the west, Nowshera to the northwest, and Swabi and Haripur to the north.
The original name of Attock District was Attock. It was changed to Campbellpur after the Commander-in-Chief of British forces Sir Colin Campbell, who rebuilt the city of Campbellpur. The name Attock was restored in 1978.

## Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Attock district has 353,973 households and a population of 2,170,423. The district has a sex ratio of 100.83 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 70.22%: 79.69% for males and 60.66% for females. 473,463 (22.2% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 623,984 (28.75%) live in urban areas.

### Religion

Religion in Attock district (2023)
Religion
Percent
Islam
99.3%
Christianity
0.62%
Other
0.08% :
As per the 2023 census Islam is the predominant religion with 99.3% of the population.
Religion in Attock District :
| Religious group | 1941 | 1941 | 2017 | 2017 | 2023 | 2023 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 484,616 | 89.85% | 1,877,221 | 99.51% | 2,118,159 | 99.30% |
| Hinduism | 35,593 | 6.60% | 575 | 0.03% | 501 | 0.02% |
| Sikhism | 16,740 | 3.10% | — | — | 769 | 0.04% |
| Christianity | 500 | 0.09% | 7,699 | 0.41% | 13,286 | 0.62% |
| Others | 1,910 | 0.36% | 883 | 0.05% | 290 | 0.01% |
| Total Population | 539,359 | 100% | 1,886,378 | 100% | 2,133,005 | 100% |
Religious groups in Attock District (British Punjab province era) :
| Religious group | 1911 | 1911 | 1921 | 1921 | 1931 | 1931 | 1941 | 1941 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 471,890 | 90.88% | 465,694 | 90.91% | 531,793 | 91.07% | 611,128 | 90.42% |
| Sikhism | 26,914 | 5.18% | 19,809 | 3.87% | 19,522 | 3.34% | 20,120 | 2.98% |
| Hinduism | 19,741 | 3.8% | 26,184 | 5.11% | 31,932 | 5.47% | 43,209 | 6.39% |
| Christianity | 707 | 0.14% | 557 | 0.11% | 710 | 0.12% | 504 | 0.07% |
| Zoroastrianism | 11 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0% |
| Jainism | 9 | 0% | 5 | 0% | 2 | 0% | 13 | 0% |
| Buddhism | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 7 | 0% |
| Others | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 891 | 0.13% |
| Total population | 519,273 | 100% | 512,249 | 100% | 583,960 | 100% | 675,875 | 100% |
| Note1: British Punjab province 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 historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. Note2: District created in 1904 by taking Talagang Tehsil from Jhelum District and Pindi Gheb, Fateh Jang and Attock Tehsils from Rawalpindi District. |||||||||
Religion in the Tehsils of Attock District (1921) :
| Tehsil | Islam | Islam | Hinduism | Hinduism | Sikhism | Sikhism | Christianity | Christianity | Jainism | Jainism | Others | Others | Total | Total |
| Tehsil | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Attock Tehsil | 158,313 | 91.26% | 11,203 | 6.46% | 3,428 | 1.98% | 523 | 0.3% | 5 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 173,472 | 100% |
| Pindigheb Tehsil | 108,356 | 90.22% | 6,131 | 5.11% | 5,582 | 4.65% | 28 | 0.02% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 120,097 | 100% |
| Talagong Tehsil | 98,887 | 91.14% | 5,233 | 4.82% | 4,379 | 4.04% | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 108,501 | 100% |
| Fatehjang Tehsil | 100,138 | 90.89% | 3,617 | 3.28% | 6,420 | 5.83% | 4 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 110,179 | 100% |
| Note: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. |||||||||||||||
Religion in the Tehsils of Attock District (1941) :
| Tehsil | Islam | Islam | Hinduism | Hinduism | Sikhism | Sikhism | Christianity | Christianity | Jainism | Jainism | Others | Others | Total | Total |
| Tehsil | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Attock Tehsil | 207,557 | 88.6% | 19,346 | 8.26% | 6,047 | 2.58% | 455 | 0.19% | 13 | 0.01% | 846 | 0.36% | 234,264 | 100% |
| Pindigheb Tehsil | 150,458 | 90.09% | 13,112 | 7.85% | 3,347 | 2% | 40 | 0.02% | 0 | 0% | 50 | 0.03% | 167,007 | 100% |
| Talagong Tehsil | 125,512 | 91.94% | 7,616 | 5.58% | 3,380 | 2.48% | 4 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 0% | 136,516 | 100% |
| Fatehjang Tehsil | 127,601 | 92.41% | 3,135 | 2.27% | 7,346 | 5.32% | 5 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 138,088 | 100% |
| Note1: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. Note2: Tehsil religious breakdown figures for Christianity only includes local Christians, labeled as "Indian Christians" on census. Does not include Anglo-Indian Christians or British Christians, who were classified under "Other" category. |||||||||||||||

### Languages

* Punjabi (65.23%)
* Pashto (15.59%)
* Hindko (14.45%)
* Urdu (2.68%)
* Others (2.05%)
In the 2023 census, 65.23% of the population identified their first language as Punjabi, 14.45% as Hindko, 15.59% as Pashto and 2.68% as Urdu. In the previous census of 1998, the multiple-choice question did not have an option for Hindko; the percentages were 87% for Punjabi, 8.3% for Pashto and 1.1% Urdu.
The Punjabi dialect of the eastern Fateh Jang Tehsil is called Sohāī̃ and belongs to the Dhani dialect group. The dialects of Pindi Gheb Tehsil (called Ghebi) and of Attock (sometimes called Chhachi) have been classified as a sub-dialect of Hindko dialect.

## Administration

The district of Attock is divided into following six tehsils:
| Tehsil | Area (km²) | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Literacy rate (2023) | Union Councils |
| Attock | 1,002 | 516,277 | 515.25 | 74.80% | ... |
| Fateh Jang | 1,249 | 374,726 | 300.02 | 66.94% | ... |
| Hassan Abdal | 350 | 253,670 | 724.77 | 70.22% | ... |
| Hazro | 348 | 386,544 | 1,110.76 | 66.45% | ... |
| Jand | 2,043 | 330,328 | 161.69 | 71.59% | ... |
| Pindi Gheb | 1,865 | 308,878 | 165.62 | 70.36% | ... |

## Union Councils

The District contains a total of 72 Union Councils.

## Education

Attock has a total of 1,287 government schools out of which 51 percent (657 schools) are for female students. The district has an enrolment of 224,487 in public sector schools.