Chitral Valley

Chitral چترال
—  District  —
Counter-clockwise from top left: The Oldest utencil of Chitral, A valley of Chitral, Map of Chitral, Chitral’s traditional cap, Flag of Chitral State, Chitral Vision Newspaper
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Chitral or Chetrar (Urdu: چترال) (Khowar:چھترار) (Persian: چیترال‎), translated as field in the native language Khowar, is the capital of the Chitral District, situated on the western bank of the Kunar River (also called Chitral River), in Pakistan. The town is at the foot of Tirich Mir, the highest peak of the Hindu Kush, 25,289 ft (7,708 m) high. It has a population of 20,000, while the district (of 14,833 km² or 5,727 sq mi), has a population of 300,000. The altitude of the valley is 3,700 ft (1,100 m).

 Geography

The easiest access to Chitral is in the southwest along the Chitral or Kunar Valley towards Jalalabad. This route is open all year and provides direct access to Kabul. However the Pakistan–Afghanistan border (Durand Line) prevents this being used as an internal route to Peshawar and the south. The other routes are over mountain passes. To the south, the Lowari Pass (3,200 m or 10,499 ft) leads 365 km (227 mi) to Peshawar. In the north, the easiest route during summer runs over the Broghol Pass (3,798 m or 12,460 ft) to Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor, however during winter this route is usually closed. To the east, there is a 405 kilometres (252 mi) route to Gilgit over the 3,719 metres (12,201 ft) Shandur Pass. In the west, the 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) Dorah Pass provides an additional route to Afghanistan. The territory is home to rare falcons and the snow leopard, and is cut off by snow from the rest of the country for six months a year, a problem soon to be relieved by the completion of the Lowari Tunnel which will reduce transit time to Chitral as well as allow the district to be connected to the rest of the country even during the cold winter months.

 Climate

In contrast to more southerly valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chitral has a dry Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) with almost no rainfall during the very hot summers. Precipitation occurs mainly from spring thunderstorms brought about by western frontal systems. In the winter the night time temperature occasionally drops to −10 C. Winter snowfall in the town can be quite heavy with an accumulation of up to two feet being quite common, at higher elevations snowfall can reach as high as 20 metres (70 ft).

Chitral (Pashto: چترال) is one the 24 districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The district was formed in 1969.

Location

Chitral district is situated in Malakand Division, lying along the Afghanistan border. It is connected with the Dir District via the Lowari Pass.

People

The majority of the population in this area are Khoshey while the ruling class is Katurey ancient Chitrali tribe speaking Khowar.

Administration

The district is administratively subdivided into six sub tehsils which contain a total of 24 Union Councils:^[5] Chitral is represented in the National Assembly^[6] and Provincial Assembly by one elected MNA and two elected MPAs respectively who represent the following constituencies:^[7]

Towns

Except for Chitral town and a number of rapidly growing bazaar towns along the main roads, the population is rural, scattered in more than 1200 villages in the deep narrow valleys of the Booni, Drosh and its tributaries.

Division of Malakand

Chitral district was officially split into Malakand Division in 1969. Until 2000 as funds were not available to provide the accommodation needed at Chitral town by government departments at a district headquarters, both districts continued to he administered by a single deputy Commissioner stationed at Chitral in Chitral Town.

Languages

The main languages spoken in this area of Pakistan are Khowar and about 13 other dialects. The people of the Kalash Valley speak the Kalash language. Urdu is widely spoken and understood in major towns and to some extent Pashto is also spoken.

Population

The main tribe, the Khow, speak Khowar (or Chitrali), one of the Dardic languages, which is also spoken in parts of Yasin, Gilgit, Ghizer and Swat. Pashto language is also spoken and understood by some in the city. Chitral is known for the famous Kalash tribe polytheist native inhabitants that ruled the region for centuries later invaded by "Khow". The Kalasha reside in an enclave of three remote valleys west of Ayun, which is ten miles (16 km) down from Chitral town. The Chitral culture is Islamic and contrasts considerably with the urban cities of Pakistan as well as the adjacent district of Gilgit. Women are nearly invisible except to their male relatives and other women. They avoid walking the streets of the town, so men or children do most of the shopping. Travel requires the company of a close male relative and sometimes the wearing of a burqa.There is also a sizeable population of Nuristanis, Tajiks and Uzbeks most of whom arrived from Afghanistan in the late 1980s.

 Sport

Unlike the rest of Pakistan where cricket dominates, polo is the most watched sport and soccer the most played sport.^{[citation needed]} A number of sport festivals and tournaments are held throughout the year, including the Shandur polo tournament held at the highest polo ground in the world. Around 15,000 people travel to Shandur for the tournament, which lasts around a week
Chitral has also produced some national players such as Muhammad Rasool who plays for the national football team. There are many football clubs in Chitral.