Headquarters Khar · Former agency, now a settled district · Seven tehsils · 2023 population 1,287,960, all counted as rural
Bajaur District is one of the 38 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with its headquarters at Khar. It has 7 tehsils: Bar Chamer Kand, Barang, Khar Bajaur, Mamund, Nawagai, Salarzai and Utman Khel. The 2023 census counted 1,287,960 people on 1,290 km², and 26.26% of residents aged 10 and over were literate.
| Name | Type | Population | Area (km²) | Urban | Literacy (10+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bar Chamer Kand | Tehsil | 3,574 | 13 | – | 23.81% |
| Barang | Tehsil | 90,082 | 159 | – | 23.39% |
| Khar Bajaur | Tehsil | 301,778 | 238 | – | 33.28% |
| Mamund | Tehsil | 358,190 | 250 | – | 24.48% |
| Nawagai | Tehsil | 93,850 | 216 | – | 27.39% |
| Salarzai | Tehsil | 316,767 | 220 | – | 19.9% |
| Utman Khel | Tehsil | 123,719 | 194 | – | 31.5% |
Bajaur is the north-west corner of Malakand Division, against the Afghan border. Until 2018 it was an agency of FATA. The headquarters is Khar. The 2023 census still lists the whole district as rural: Khar is a large settlement, not a municipal corporation in that table.
PBS 2023: 1,287,960 people, 181,699 households, area about 1,290 km². Literacy 26.26 percent overall — 39.89 percent for men, 12.29 percent for women. More than a third of the counted population is under ten. Pashto is the mother tongue of almost everyone. Those four numbers are the spine of any honest Bajaur page.
Nawagai, Utman Khel and Barang are the names that come next. Bar Chamarkand is a tiny western tip (3,574 people on 13 km²).
Public notes speak of a large number of union councils (one compilation says 127). That is councils, not a printed list of every kally. Named places that already appear on maps and administration papers:
Khar Bajaur: Khar (district headquarters), Inayat Kalay and the bazaar villages of the central bowl.
Mamund: Mamund valley settlements toward the border.
Salarzai: Salarzai valley villages north of Khar.
Nawagai: Nawagai town / tehsil headquarters on the western side.
Utman Khel: Utman Khel villages on the east toward Mohmand.
Barang: Barang on the south-east.
Add a kally name when you live there. Rows are not padded to look complete.
Degree colleges in Khar have been expanded since the merger. Many students still leave for Peshawar or Timergara for professional seats. DHQ Bajaur in the headquarters tehsil is the first public hospital. Specialist care often means a road to Peshawar. The female literacy figure — 12.29 percent — is why school pages for Bajaur should talk about girls’ enrolment before they talk about scenery.
The 25th Amendment ended the old agency system. Bajaur is now a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like Buner or Swat. Police, courts and the education department are supposed to run on provincial rules. Building that in practice — teachers posted, a DHQ that holds serious cases, a girls’ high school that stays open — is the live story of the district.
Sources: PBS 2023; KP district administration lists; tehsil tables used in the public record. Last checked August 2026.
Bajaur District has 7 tehsils: Bar Chamer Kand, Barang, Khar Bajaur, Mamund, Nawagai, Salarzai and Utman Khel.
The 2023 census counted 1,287,960 people in Bajaur District, up from 1,090,987 in 2017 (annual growth 2.81%). 0% of the population lived in urban areas.
Bajaur District covers 1,290 km² according to the 2023 census, a density of 998.42 people per km².
Entirely rural: the 2023 census counted no urban population in Bajaur District, so all 1,287,960 residents were enumerated in rural areas.
26.26% of people aged 10 and over were literate in the 2023 census (male 39.89%, female 12.29%).
The most common mother tongue in the 2023 census was Pashto (99.85% of the 1,283,113 people in the mother-tongue table).
Bajaur District is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Its headquarters is Khar.
Bajaur was a FATA tribal agency until the 25th Constitutional Amendment, signed on 31 May 2018, merged FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is now a district of Malakand Division. (Dawn)