Kurram District

Kurram District
ضلع کرم
District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Top: View of Kurram from Paktia Border
Bottom: Mountains near Parachinar
Kurram District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Kurram District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Country Pakistan
Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
DivisionKohat
HeadquarterParachinar
Number of Tehsils3
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • District Health OfficerN/A
Area
[1]
 • District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa3,380 km2 (1,310 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)[2]
 • District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa785,434
 • Density230/km2 (600/sq mi)
 • Urban
45,471
 • Rural
739,963
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Main languagePashto (98.6%) (1998 census)[1]: 20 
Websitekurram.kp.gov.pk

Kurram District (Urdu: ضلع کرم) is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The name Kurram comes from the river Kwarma (Pashto: کورمه) in Pashto which itself derives from the Sanskrit word Krumu (Sanskrit: क्रुमुः).[3][4][5]

Until 2018, it functioned as an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. However, with the merger of the FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it attained the status of a district. Geographically, it covers the Kurram Valley region which is a valley in the northwestern of Pakistan.[6] Most of the population is Pashtun and the main religion is Islam (Shia and Sunni) in Kurram. Major tribes living in the Kurram District are Bangash, Turi, Orakzai, Wazir, Mamozai, Muqbil, Zazai, Mandan(Banusi), Paracha(non Pashtuns), Mangal, Ghilzai, Para Chamkani, Hazara and Khoshi tribe (Persian speaking tribe).

Up until the year 2000, when the previous administrative divisions were abolished, the Kurram District was part of the Peshawar Division in the North-West Frontier Province (Now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) of Pakistan.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b 1998 Census report of Kurram Agency. Census publication. Vol. 140. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2023 census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Rigvida. "The Northwestern Rivers". The Geography of the Rigveda-Chapter 4. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  4. ^ Morgenstierne, Georg (2003). A New Etymological Vocabulary of Pashto. Reichert. p. 39. ISBN 978-3-89500-364-6. Kuram'a f. - "the river Kurram". Early Loanword < Indo-Aryan, Rig-Veda krumu - f.
  5. ^ "Sanskritdictionary.com: Definition of krumuḥ". sanskritdictionary.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  6. ^ The Kurram Valley Archived 2013-10-20 at the Wayback Machine.