Bhimber District

Bhimber ضلع بھمبر
District of Azad Kashmir
Map of Azad Kashmir with Bhimber highlighted
Coordinates: 32.58°N 74.04°E / 32.58; 74.04
Country	Pakistan
Established	1996
Area
• Total	1,516 km2 (585 sq mi)
Population  (1998)
• Total	343,000
• Density	232/km2 (600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Number of Tehsils	3
Website	http://www.bhimber.com

Bhimber (Urdu: ضلع بھمبر) is the southernmost of the eight districts of Azad Kashmir, the district is between Latitude: 32-48 to 33-34 and Longitude: 73.55 to 74-45, and has an area of 1516 km². The chief town is Bhimber.

History

The area is very rich in archaeological remains because of its location. The Mughal Emperors used to travel through the area quite a lot to visit the Kashmir Valley.

Until 1995 Bhimber was a sub-division (tehsil) of Mirpur District. In 1996 the tehsil of Bhimber was removed from Mirpur and made into a separate district.

Location

The district is bounded by Mirpur District to the northwest (and is 50 km from Mirpur city), and Punjab province in the west and south. It also shares borders with Indian Kashmir to the east.

Administration

The total area of the district is 1516 square kilometres and is divided into three tehsils.

• Barnala Tehsil
• Bhimber Tehsil
• Samahni Tehsil

People

According to the 1998 census, 297,000 people lived there. According to a 1999 estimate, it was 303,000. Latest figures show that 350,000 people live there. The Jaats are the biggest tribe in the region. The main language is Mirpuri.