| Shopian district | |
| — district — | |
| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
Shopian District (Kashmiri: शोपियां ज़िला, شوپیاں ضلع) is one of the districts of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its headquarters are located at Shopian.
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• The District Shopian derives its name from its Town SHOPIAN, about which Frederic Drew , while justifying the basis of its nomenclature, states that it is the distortion of word “SHAH-PAYAN”, i.e., Royal Stay. Shopian has been an ancient Town of Kashmir, which among other factors has a certain historical importance since it is situated on the ancient imperial route commonly known as Mughal Road which connects Lahore and Srinagar. Shopian was one out of six Wazarat Headquarters in Kashmir from 1872-1892 A.D. Shopian Town - the District Headquarter is situated at a distance of 51 Km from Srinagar and 20 Km from Pulwama on 2146 Mts above the sea level. It has decades old road connectivity with Anantnag as well as Kulgam. Currently under Construction Mughal Road is expected to link District Shopian with the district of Poonch and Rajouri. In the event of its completion this road would be an alternate link between the two Administrative Divisions of the state and is likely to boost the economy of this district. It was in 1979 that Late Pandit Swaroop Nath Saraf headed an all-parties action committee to achieve district status for Shopian. He was a veteran leader of National Conference of Jammu and Kashmir and one of the first social and political activists from Shopian. The agitation was wide spread and one pandit youth, Suresh Qandhari lost his life in the subsequent police crackdown. Pt. Saraf was bestowed by the people of Shopian with the title of " Baba-e-Shopian" (Father of Shopian). • Located in the South and South – West extremity of Kashmir Valley, Shopian lies in close proximity of Peerpanchal Mountain Range. It is bound by District Kulgam on its East and District Budgam on its North- West and is flanked by District Pulwama in the North and Districts of Rajouri and Poonch on its South and South-West respectively. • Most of the area in Shopian District is Hilly gifted with agro-climatic conditions, large areas of Shopian are covered by Orchards especially those of Apple and Walnut. As such the district is known as Apple Bowl of the State particularly for the production of famous variety of Apple named as Ambri. • Presently the District Shopian having two Assembly Constituencies consists of One Tehsil, One CD Block Shopian & a part of Block Keller, One Municipal Committee with 13 Wards, 43 Patwar Halqas and 231 inhabited villages. • The District is dominated by Muslim Kashmiri’s speaking Kashmiri. The other languages like Pahari, Gojjri, Dogri, Pastoo etc. are also spoken by certain population of the District. • As per census-2011, the total population of the District is 2.66 lac including 0.15 lac of ST Population. About 95% of the population lives in its rural areas. Only 5% population falls in its urban area. About 62.49 % census 2011 of the population was found literate. The literacy rate among male and female has been recorded as 71.86 % and 52.77% respectively as per census 2011. • The District has the privilege of having the “Holy Relic” of Prophet Mohammad (SAW) at Khankah Pinjoora. • The District has a number of springs and streams, of which Hemal Nagrai and Dobijen Spring are very famous. • The District with lush green forests especially in the areas like Sedow, Hirpora and Keller is rich in scenic beauty. Development of these villages/areas as tourist villages if undertaken will boost the tourism in the District for economic development of the people.
(created by..Malik Waris Khursheed, R/o: Shahlatoo shopian & Muzamil Hamid Lone , R/o: Manzimpara Shopian)
Shopian District has 2 Assembly constituencies: Wachi and Shopian.[1] Abdul Razaq Wagay of Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is MLA from Shopian constituency and Mehbooba Mufti of PDP represents Wachi constituency.[2]
According to the 2011 census Shopian district has a population of 265,960 ,[3] roughly equal to the nation of Barbados.[4] This gives it a ranking of 577th in India (out of a total of 640).[3] The district has a population density of 852 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,210 /sq mi) .[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 25.85 %.[3] Shupiyan has a sex ratio of 951 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 62.49 %.[3]
Top educational institutions:
'Computer Institute''''''
District Hospital, Shopian. PHC Sedow, Sub-district zainapora, Sub-district Keller .
Shopian district has many places with tourism potential: the waterfalls of Aharbhal, Kounsernag, Kongiwatan, Lahanthour, Sedow, Herpora etc. The Jamia Masjid in Shopian is one of the famous historical monuments built during the Mughal reign resembling that of jamia masjid srinagar. The famous Aasar-i-Sharief Dargah at Pinjura, attracts thousands of devotees on the occasion of Eid-i-Milad-un- Nabi and Shab-i-Mehraj.
The major roads connecting Shopian with neighbouring places are:
Unfortunately there is no railway link with main town.
| Badgam district | Pulwama district | |||
| Shopian district | ||||
| Kulgam district |