Mianwali

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Mianwali
مِيانوالى
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Mianwali
Pakistan location map.svg
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Mianwali
Coordinates: 32°35′7″N71°32′37″E / 32.58528°N 71.54361°E / 32.58528; 71.54361
Country Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Province Flag of Punjab.svg Punjab
Division Sargodha [1] [2]
District Mianwali
Government
   MNA(s)
Elevation
210 m (690 ft)
Population
 (2023 census) [3]
  Total
129,500
Time zone UTC+5 (PST)
Calling code 0459
mianwali.punjab.gov.pk

Mianwali [a] is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan. [4] It is the 94th most populous city of Pakistan.

Contents

Etymology

The name Mianwali literally means the "Land of the Mian". [5] According to the local tradition, this name was originally given to a hamlet by a Sufi Qadiriyya saint Shaikh Mian Ali, [5] who migrated from Baghdad and settled in the area in the 16th-century. [6] [7] [8] Gradually the town, originally known as Kachchi, came to be known as Mianwali. [5]

History

The city of Mianwali was originally founded in the 16th-century by Shaikh Mian Ali, as a small village. The municipality of Mianwali was created in 1875 , during the British colonial period. [5] The British had made the town of Mianwali as tehsil headquarters of Bannu District, then part of Dera Ismail Khan Division of Punjab province. In 1901 it became headquarters of Mianwali District when it was carved out of Bannu District after the creation of Northwest Frontier Province. It had a population of 3,591 according to the 1901 census of India, which rose to 31,398 people in 1961. [5]

Geography

Image of the Thal Canal from main Mianwali City bridge. Thal Canal.JPG
Image of the Thal Canal from main Mianwali City bridge.

The city of Mianwali is located in North-west region of the Punjab. The city is located near to the Chashma lake to south west and Namal Lake to its north east. The Chasma lake is home to the Chasma Barrage, that houses a 184 MW power station. [9] The Chasma lake also houses one of the two nuclear power facilities in Pakistan – the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant. The city has an airport built near the old World War II aerodrome and known as M.M.Alam Base Mianwali. It is one of the major operational and training air bases of the country. The No. 1 Fighter Conversion Unit of the PAF is stationed here.

Infrastructure

The Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (or CHASNUPP), is a large commercial nuclear power plant located in the vicinities of Chashma colony in Mianwali District Punjab in Pakistan. Officially known as Chashma Nuclear Power Complex, the nuclear power plant is generating energy for industrial usage with four nuclear reactors with one being in planning phase in cooperation with the China. Supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Department of Energy of the United States.

It was established in 2000, the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant became operational, when it joined the nation's grid system with China National Nuclear Corporation overseeing the grid connections of the power plant. In 2004, the China National Nuclear Corporation was awarded contract for building a second unit based on the first reactor, followed by contracting for two more reactors in 2011.

PAF Base M.M. Alam is a Pakistan Air Force airbase located at Mianwali, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The base is named after Muhammad Mahmood Alam. It primarily serves as the Fighter converter base for the Pakistan Air Force.

Originally a World War II airstrip, it was decided that Mianwali would be upgraded into a satellite airbase for PAF Base Mushaf (then PAF Base Sargodha) during the 1965 Indo-Pak War to act as an alternate recovery airfield. The airbase was again upgraded to a permanent operational airbase in August 1974, although construction of facilities was not completed for another three years.

Education

The Namal University is a private university about 20 min drive from the city of Mianwali. The university is located on 30 km, Talagang Mianwali Road near Namal Lake. Initially it was established as an affiliate college of the University of Bradford, UK. In 2019, Namal College acquired degree awarding status and thus became Namal University. There are further plans to turn the small campus into an education city. Construction is already underway. [10]

Demographics

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
195123,340    
196131,398+3.01%
197248,304+3.99%
198159,159+2.28%
199880,171+1.80%
2017118,865+2.09%
2023129,500+1.44%
Sources: [11]

According to the 2023 census, Mianwali city has an urban population of 129,500. [3] The literacy rate of urban population of Mianwali Tehsil in 2023 was 77.9%, considerably less than other urban cities in Punjab. [12]

See also

Notes

  1. Urdu: مِيانوالى

References

  1. Reporter, News (14 January 2023). "ECP bars Punjab gov from notifying Mianwali as division". Duniya News. p. 1. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  2. Malik, Mansoor (15 January 2023). "Punjab cabinet approves upgrade of Mianwali as division". Dawn News. p. 1. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Mianwali city population per 2023 Census of Pakistan". Citypopulation.de website.
  4. "Tehsils and Unions in the District of Mianwali (Mianwali city and Mianwali Tehsil)". National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan website. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Rashid, A. (1961). "Chapter I: Geography, History and Administration". District Census Report: Mianwali (PDF). Population Census of Pakistan 1961. pp. 1–3, 37.
  6. Sumbal, Saadia (2021). Islam and Religious Change in Pakistan: Sufis and Ulema in 20th Century South Asia. Routledge. p. 51. ISBN   978-1-000-41504-9.
  7. Iftikhar, Muhammad Omar (9 February 2025). "CULTURE: WHAT'S IN A NAME?". Dawn. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  8. Awan, Tariq Saeed (3 June 2024). "The rise and fall of Mianwali's railways". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  9. "Pakistan seeks control gear, transformer bay for 184-MW Chashma hydro project". Hydro Review website. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  10. "Namal Institute". www.namal.edu.pk. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  11. "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  12. "TABLE 12 : LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB" (PDF).