Dera Ismail Khan District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dera Ismail Khan is a district in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan that contains the town of Dera Ismail Khan. The district has an area of 7,326 sq km and a population of about 853,000 people. It is bounded on the east by Punjab Province, to the southwest by South Waziristan district, and to the northwest by Tank and Lakki Marwat districts.

It was created as an administrative unit of British India, part of the Derajat division of the North-West Frontier Province. It was formerly divided into two almost equal portions by the Indus, which intersected it from north to south. To the west of the Indus the characteristics of the country resembled those of Dera Ghazi Khan. To the east of the present bed of the river there is a wide tract known as the Kachi, exposed to river action. Beyond this, the country rises abruptly, and a barren, almost desert plain stretches eastwards, sparsely cultivated, and inhabited by nomadic tribes of herdsmen. In 1901 the trans-Indus tract was allotted to the newly formed North-West Frontier Province, the cis-Indus tract remaining in the Punjab jurisdiction. The cis-Indus portions of the Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu districts now comprise the new Punjab district of Mianwali. Wheat and wool were exported. In 1901 it contained an area of 3403 sq. mi. and a population of 252,379, chiefly Pashtun and Baluch Muslims. In 1947 it became part of the newly-independent Pakistan.

Dera Ismail Khan is a very backward area of Pakistan and most of the people live below poverty line. Despite being situated on the bank of Indus River, the area is dry and very hot. It is famous for "Dhakki" (A village nearby) dates and embroidery work by womenfolk. However inadequate marketing leaves workers with very little income(less than 50 cents a day on rough average).

Dera Ismail Khan is full of religious sentiments and a number of Islamic Madrassas (religious schools)operate in the neighbourhood and they saw a mushroom growth during Afghan War and Taliban era.

The city lacks basic urban infrastructure like potable water, fuel gas, railroads and adeaquate health care. It is located on the Indus Highway which links Pakistan from North to South along West Bank of River Indus. There is very little agriculture and virtually no industries. However it is home to Gomal University and Gomal Medical College.