Layyah District

Layyah District ضلع لیّہ
District of Punjab
Layyah
Top: Old Layyah City Shrine in Karor Lal Esan
Map of Layyah District (highlighted in red)
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Division	Dera Ghazi Khan
Headquarters	Layyah
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	Ameera Baidar
• District Health Officer	N/A
• District Naib Nazim نائب ناظم	N/A
Area
• District of Punjab	6,289 km2 (2,428 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[1]
• District of Punjab	2,102,386
• Density	330/km2 (870/sq mi)
• Urban	386,282
• Rural	1,716,104
Literacy [2]
• Literacy rate	Total: (61.83%) Male: (70.91%) Female: (52.21%)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Area code	0606
Number of Tehsils	3
Website	layyah.punjab.gov.pk

Layyah District (Saraiki: ضلع ليّہ, Urdu: ضلع ليہ), is a district in the Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the southern part of the province. The city of Layyah is the administrative headquarters of Layyah district. Layyah has a hot semi-arid climate.^[3][4]

It lies between 30–45 to 31–24 degree north latitudes and 70–44 to 71–50 degree east longitudes. The area consists of a semi-rectangular block of sandy land between the Indus River and the Chenab River in Sindh Sagar Doab. The total area covered by the district is 6,291 km² with a width from east to west of 88 kilometres (55 mi) and a length from north to south of 72 kilometres (45 mi).

The area around Layyah was part of Multan region when Umayyad Arabs conquered the area, spreading Islam in the region. The town was founded around 1550 by Kamal Khan, who laid foundation of Dera Ghazi Khan. Around 1610, the town was taken from the rulers, who held it until 1787. Abdun Nabi Sarai was appointed Governor by Timur Shah Durrani, but three years later it was included in the Governorship of Muhammad Khan Sadozai, who transferred his seat of Government to Mankera.

In 1794, Humayun Shah, the rival claimant to the throne of Kabul, was captured near Layyah and brought into the town, where his eyes were gouged out on the command of Zaman Shah. Under the Sikh Government, the town once more became the centre of administration for the neighbouring tract, and after the British occupation in 1849, was for a time the headquarters of a Civil Administrative Division.

This administrative status of Layyah was short-lived and the British reduced it to the level of Tehsil headquarters, making it a part of Dera Ismail Khan. In 1901, Layyah was transferred to the new District of Mianwali. Later on, it was made part of the Muzaffargarh District. In 1982, Layyah Tehsil was upgraded to District headquarters comprising three Tehsils: Layyah, Karor and Chaubara. The municipality was created in 1875.^[3]

The district of Layyah is made up of three tehsils:^[5][6]

There are seven main towns of District Layyah are:^[9]

1. Chowk Azam
2. Fatehpur
3. Kot Sultan
4. Pahar Pur Thal
5. Choubara(Tehsil)
6. Peer jaggi
7. Ladhana
8. Karor Lal Esan(Tehsil)

• Chak 90 ML
• Choubara
• Lashari wala
• Metlawala
• Sobha Singhwala
• Udhowala

According to Pakistan District Education Ranking, a report released by Alif Ailaan, Layyah is ranked at number 38 out of 155 districts nationally with an education score of 66.76. The learning score of Layyah is 70.8.^[10] The readiness score of Layyah is 65.13, ranking the district at number 31. Furthermore, the school infrastructure score of Layyah is 94.38, placing it a national rank of 18.^[10] The score reflects that most schools in Layyah have all basic facilities e.g. electricity, drinking water and functional toilets.

The issues reported in TaleemDo! App by the residents of Layyah suggest that students of government schools have low confidence as compared to private schools, but the students are unable to attend private schools because of high fees. Complaints about quality of teachers and a few basic facilities are also the issues reported in the app.

In education Layyah is improving day by day.^[11]

There are 20 colleges available for the education of males and females of Layyah.^[12]

1. Boys 06
2. Girls 09
3. Commerce 05

Total 20

1. Boys 08
2. Girls 03
3. Commerce & Business 03

Total 14

1. University of Layyah

• Department of Business Administration
• Department of English
• Department of Economics
• Department of Psychology
• Department of Sociology
• Department of Education
• Department of Information Technology
• Department of Computer Science

• College of Veterinary Sciences
• College of Agriculture

1. Govt. College University Faisalabad (Layyah Campus)
2. University of Education, Lahore (Layyah Campus)
3. Govt. College University, Lahore (Layyah Campus)
4. National College of Business Administration & Economics Lahore (Layyah Campus)

There are 17 small dams in the district to provide water for irrigation.^[13]

1. Khokher Zer Dam
2. Surlah Dam
3. Dhok Talian Dam
4. Kot Raja Dam
5. Dhoke Qutab Din Dam
6. Nikka Dam
7. Walana Dam
8. Khai Gurabh Dam
9. Pira Fatehal Dam
10. Bhagtal Dam
11. Dhurnal Dam
12. Mial Dam
13. Kanwal Dam
14. Dhrabi Dam
15. Khai Dam
16. Chowkhandi Dam
17. Minwal Dam

There are multiple industries in Layyah.^[11]

• Sugar Mill 01
• Rice Factories 15
• Cotton Ginning Factories 25
• Ice Factories 18
• Pharmaceutical Company 01
• Vegetable Ghee Factory 0
• Cold Storage 05
• Flour Mills 13

Total 79

Land of Layyah is categorized in 6 parts.^[11]

• Cultivated Area 10,12,828 Acres
• Irrigated Area 8,32,306 Acres
• Barani Area 1,80,522 Acres
• Uncultivated Area 5, 39,820 Acres
• Culture able Waste 59,600 Acres
• Un-Culture able Area 4,80,220 Acres

Irrigation of layyah is divided in 3 types.^[11]

• Revierian Area 2,01,572 Acres
• Thal Irrigated Area 6,70,633 Acres
• Thal Barani Area 6,80,433 Acres

There are 2 main means of transportation used in layyah listed below.^[14]

Road Network of the district is linked as:

Layyah toward Kot Addu-Muzaffargarh,
D.G.Khan, Rajanpur and so on to Karachi
Layyah to Bhakhar-Mianwali and so on to Islamabad
Layyah to Multan
Layyah to Jhang-Toba Tek Singh-Faisalabad-Sahiwal and so on to Lahore

Rail Network of the district is linked as:

Rail Network also available for Layyah to Muzaffargarh & Multan and Layyah to Bhakkar - Mianwali to Rawalpindi / Islamabad

Sehar village residents of flood-prone Layyah district, had seen their homes repeatedly inundated and they finally took matters into their own hands and rebuilt their homes on raised dirt platforms five to six feet high, shored up with eucalyptus trees planted around the edges.^[15][16][17]

As of the 2023 census, Layyah district has 341,131 households and a population of 2,102,386. The district has a sex ratio of 106.23 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 61.83%: 70.91% for males and 52.21% for females.^[1][2] 604,722 (28.76% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age.^[19] 386,282 (18.37%) live in urban areas.^[1]

Religion in Layyah District

Religion	1941[21]: 62–63 [a]		2017[22]		2023[20]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	138,201	85.8%	1,812,173	99.35%	2,086,076	99.23%
Hinduism [b]	21,882	13.59%	553	0.03%	242	0.01%
Sikhism	882	0.55%	—	—	27	0%
Christianity	4	0%	9,673	0.53%	14,427	0.69%
Ahmadi	—	—	1,481	0.08%	1,393	0.07%
Others [c]	101	0.06%	115	0.01%	186	0.01%
Total Population	161,070	100%	1,823,995	100%	2,102,361	100%

At the time of the 2023 census, 66.89% of the population spoke Saraiki, 27.57% Punjabi, 2.75% Urdu and 2.26% Pashto as their first language.^[23] The dialect spoken here is Thali, which blends into Multani in the south.

• 
  Railway Station ریلوے اسٹیشن Layyah
• 
  Sadar Bazaar صدر بازار Layyah
• 
  Vegetable and Fruit Market سبزی منڈی of Layyah at twilight
• 
  D.H.Q Hospital Layyah, By: Ashiq Hussian Saggu Kot Sultan

30°57′37″N 70°56′32″E / 30.9602°N 70.9423°E / 30.9602; 70.9423