List of districts in Sindh explained

Districts of Sindh
Map:	Pakistan Sindh districts map.svg
Caption:	Districts of Sindh, colour-coded by division
Territory:	Sindh, Pakistan
Current Number:	30
Number Date:	2021
Government:	District Government
Government1:	City District Government
Government2:	Zilla Council
Subdivision:	Tehsils

There are thirty districts in the Pakistan province of Sindh. These districts together contain 150 tehsils 2023.

1100 Union Councils and 66,923 human settlements, as per the 1998 census.^[1] Each district has a headquarter, often referred to as a capital of the district.

Karachi, the capital of Sindh, is the most populous city district, as well as the most densely populated. It was initially a single district, now has been further subdivided into East, West, South, Central, Malir, Keamari and Korangi districts.^[2]

In 2023, The Sindh government has opted to rename four districts in the Karachi Division, East District to Gulshan, West District to Orangi, South District to simplified Karachi, Central District to Nazimabad while other three Malir, Keamari and Korangi will be same as.^[3]

History

1839-1936

In 1839, British Invaded the Sind.

On 1843's annexation Sind was merged into Bombay Presidency and form a division of Bombay Presidency.

Districts and Divisions were both introduced in Sind as administrative units by the British when Sind became a part of British India, and ever since then, they have formed an integral part in the civil administration of the Sind. At the time in 1843, the Sind was divided into 3 districts, under 1 division (Khairpur state can't included);

The administration given below:

Sind DivisionHyderabad DistrictKarachi DistrictShikarpur District

In 1846-47 Upper Sind Frontier district headquarter was Khangarh (Jacobabad) carved out of Shikarpur district.

The administration given below:

Sind DivisionHyderabad DistrictKarachi DistrictShikarpur DistrictUpper Sind Frontier District

In 1882, British government create a new district named Thar and Parkar by bifurcation of Hyderabad district and In 1883, Headquarter of Shikarpur district was shifted from Shikarpur to Sukkur.

The administration given below:

Sind DivisionHyderabad DistrictKarachi DistrictShikarpur DistrictUpper Sind Frontier DistrictThar and Parkar District

On 1 August 1901, British government split Shikarpur and Karachi district to create Larkana district and district status of Shikarpur also shifted to Sukkur.

The administration given below:

Sind DivisionHyderabad DistrictKarachi DistrictSukkur District (Formally Shikarpur)Upper Sind Frontier DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictLarkana District On 1 November 1912, Hyderabad district again split to create Nawabshah district.

The administration given below:

Sind DivisionHyderabad DistrictKarachi DistrictSukkur District (Formally Shikarpur)Upper Sind Frontier DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah District

In 1931, British government divided Karachi and Larkana district to create Dadu district.

The administration given below:

Sind DivisionHyderabad DistrictKarachi DistrictSukkur District (Formally Shikarpur)Upper Sind Frontier DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictDadu District

1936-1947

On April 1, 1936, Sind was separated from Bombay Presidency to form a separate province of British India. At that time Sind division changed to form Hyderabad division.

The administration given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictKarachi DistrictSukkur District (Formally Shikarpur)Upper Sind Frontier DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictDadu District

1947-1955

In 1947's partition, Sind joined Pakistan.

In 1948, Karachi district split into two districts to create Thatta district and Karachi district separated from Sind province to New Country's Capital Territory.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictSukkur DistrictUpper Sind Frontier DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictDadu DistrictThatta District

In 1952, Upper Sind Frontier district renamed to Jacobabad district

In 1953, Thar and parkar and Nawabshah district also split into two districts to create Sanghar district.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictSukkur DistrictJacobabad District Thar and Parkar DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar District

On 14 October 1955, Khairpur state merged into Sind province and gave the status of district or divisional headquarter.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictKhairpur DivisionKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictJacobabad DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah District

1955-1970

On 30 September 1955, To diminish the differences between the two regions, claimed the government, the 'One Unit' programme merged the four provinces of West Pakistan into a single province to parallel the province of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

1970-2000

On 1 July 1970, West Pakistan was abolished and all four provinces of Pakistan were restored as 1947.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictKhairpur DivisionKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictJacobabad DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictKarachi-Bela Division (In 1959, the capital region was merged with West Pakistan and in 1960, Karachi Bela Division was formed comprising Karachi and Las Bela District)Karachi DistrictLasbela District

In 1972, the Lasbela district transferred to Kalat division of Balochistan Province and Karachi district divided into three districts(Karachi-Bela Division also renamed to Karachi Division).

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictKhairpur DivisionKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictJacobabad DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictKarachi Division South Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi District

In 1975, a new district was formed – Badin district carved out of Hyderabad district and Abolish Khairpur Division and replace it with Sukkur Division۔

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division (Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictJacobabad DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi District

In 1977, Shikarpur district again was re-maintained.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division (Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictJacobabad DistrictLarkana DistrictNawabshah DistrictShikarpur DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi District

In 1980s, Larkana Division established by bifurcation of Sukkur Division.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division (Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur District

In 1983, Sukkur district again spitting out to form Ghotki district.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division (Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur District

In 1989, Naushahro Feroze district carved out of Nawabshah district.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictThar and Parkar DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictSanghar DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division (Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur District

On 31 October 1990, Mirpurkhas district carved out of Tharparkar district and Spelt Hyderabad Division to established Mirpur khas Division.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division (Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictMirpur Khas DivisionMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar District

On 17 April 1993, Tharparkar district again spilt out to form Umerkot district.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division (Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictMirpur Khas DivisionMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot District

In 1996, two more (02) districts created in the Karachi division;Central and Malir district.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictSukkur Division(Formally Khairpur Division)Khairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictCentral Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictMalir DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictMirpur Khas DivisionMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot District

2000-2011

On 2000, During Pervaiz Musharraf rule five districts of Karachi division was merged and create Karachi city district the government of Pakistan abolished divisions.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi City DistrictLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot District

In 2004, 3 new districts were formed - Qambar Shahdadkot district carved out of Larkana district; Jamshoro district out of the Dadu district and Kashmore district out of Jacobabad district.^[4]

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi City DistrictLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot DistrictQambar Shahdadkot DistrictJamshoro DistrictKashmore District

In 2005, Hyderabad district was carved out to form three new districts of Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari and Tando Allahyar.^[5]

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictNawabshah DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi City DistrictLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot DistrictQambar Shahdadkot DistrictJamshoro DistrictKashmore DistrictTando Muhammad Khan DistrictTando Allahyar DistrictMatiari District

In September 2008, Sindh Cabinet renamed the Nawabshah district to Shaheed Benazirabad.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictShaheed Benazirabad DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi City DistrictLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot DistrictQambar Shahdadkot DistrictJamshoro DistrictKashmore DistrictTando Muhammad Khan DistrictTando Allahyar DistrictMatiari District

On 11 July 2011, Government restored Administration division.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictJamshoro DistrictTando Muhammad Khan DistrictTando Allahyar DistrictMatiari DistrictSukkur DivisionKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictShaheed Benazirabad DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictCentral Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictMalir DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictQambar Shahdadkot DistrictKashmore DistrictMirpur Khas DivisionMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot District

On 7 August 2011, Shaheed Benazirabad district transferred from Sukkur to Hyderabad division.

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictJamshoro DistrictTando Muhammad Khan DistrictTando Allahyar DistrictMatiari DistrictShaheed Benazirabad DistrictSukkur DivisionKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictCentral Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictMalir DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictQambar Shahdadkot DistrictKashmore DistrictMirpur Khas DivisionMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot District

In Oct 2013, two new districts were formed- Sujawal District was carved out of Thatta District and Korangi district was carved out of East district.^[6]

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictJamshoro DistrictTando Muhammad Khan DistrictTando Allahyar DistrictMatiari DistrictSujawal DistrictShaheed Benazirabad DistrictSukkur DivisionKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictGhotki DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictCentral Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictMalir DistrictKorangi DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictQambar Shahdadkot DistrictKashmore DistrictMirpur Khas DivisionMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictSanghar DistrictUmerkot District

In 2020, Keamari District was created after splitting Karachi West District.^[7]

The administration as given below:

Hyderabad DivisionHyderabad DistrictDadu DistrictThatta DistrictBadin DistrictJamshoro DistrictTando Muhammad Khan DistrictTando Allahyar DistrictMatiari DistrictSujawal DistrictShaheed Benazirabad DistrictSukkur DivisionKhairpur DistrictSukkur DistrictGhotki DistrictKarachi DivisionSouth Karachi DistrictCentral Karachi DistrictEast Karachi DistrictWest Karachi DistrictMalir DistrictKorangi DistrictKeamari DistrictLarkana DivisionLarkana DistrictJacobabad DistrictShikarpur DistrictQambar Shahdadkot DistrictKashmore DistrictMirpur Khas DivisionMirpur Khas DistrictTharparkar DistrictUmerkot DistrictBanbhore DivisionThatta DistrictBadin DistrictSujawal DistrictShaheed Benazirabad DivisionShaheed Benazirabad DistrictNaushahro Feroze DistrictSanghar District

Currently the Sindh government is planning to divide the Tharparkar district into Tharparkar and Chhachro district, Khairpur district into Khairpur and Thari Mirwah district and Sanghar district into Sanghar and Shahdadpur district.^[8]

List of Divisions

Division Name (English)	Division Name (Sindhi)	Headquarter	Districts	Area(km^2)	Population (1998)	Population (2017)	Population (2023)^[9]	Pop. Density (1998)	Pop. Density (2017)	Map	Tehsils
Hyderabad Division	حيدرآباد	Hyderabad	Dadu District Hyderabad Jamshoro District Matiari District Tando Allahyar District Tando Muhammad Khan District Badin District Sujawal District Thatta District	48,670	4,610,071	7,026,335	11,659,246	137.503/km^2	209.572/km^2
Karachi Division	ڪراچي	Karachi	Gulshan Karachi^[10] Keamari Korangi Malir Nazimabad Orangi	3,528	9,856,318	16,051,521	20,382,881	2,793.741/km^2	4,549.751/km^2
Larkana Division	لاڙڪاڻو	Larkana	Jacobabad District Kashmore District Larkana District Qambar Shahdadkot District Shikarpur District	15,213	N/A	6,190,926	7,093,706	N/A	406.950/km^2
Mirpur Khas Division	ميرپورخاص	Mirpur Khas	Mirpur Khas District Tharparkar District Umerkot District	28,171	2,585,417	4,228,683	4,619,624	91.776/km^2	150.108/km^2
Shaheed Benazirabad Division	شهيد بينظير آباد	Nawabshah	Naushahro Feroze District Shaheed Benazir Abad District Sanghar District	18,175	3,510,036	5,282,277	5,930,649	193.124/km^2	290.634/km^2
Sukkur Division	سکر	Sukkur	Ghotki District Khairpur District Sukkur District	24,505	3,447,935	5,538,555	6,010,041	140.703/km^2	226.017/km^2

List of Districts

Sr. No.	District	Headquarters	data-sort-type="number"	Area (km^2)^[11]	data-sort-type="number"	Population (2017)	data-sort-type="number"	Density (/km^2)	Division
1	Badin	Badin	6,858	1,804,958	263	Hyderabad
2	Dadu	Dadu	7,866	1,550,390	197	Hyderabad
3	Ghotki	Ghotki	6,083	1,648,708	271	Sukkur
4	Gulshan^[12]	Gulshan-e-Iqbal	139	2,875,315	20,686	Karachi
5	Hyderabad	Hyderabad	993	2,199,928	2,215	Hyderabad
6	Jacobabad	Jacobabad	2,698	1,007,009	373	Larkana
7	Jamshoro	Jamshoro	11,204	993,908	89	Hyderabad
8	Karachi^[13]	Saddar Town	122	1,769,230	14,502	Karachi
9	Kashmore (formerly Kandhkot)	Kashmore	2,580	1,090,336	423	Larkana
10	Keamari	Keamari Town	559	1,829,837	3,273	Karachi
11	Khairpur	Khairpur	15,910	2,405,190	151	Sukkur
12	Korangi	Korangi Town	108	2,577,556	23,866	Karachi
13	Larkana	Larkana	1,948	1,521,786	781	Larkana
14	Malir	Malir Town	2,160	1,924,346	891	Karachi
15	Matiari	Matiari	1,417	770,040	543	Hyderabad
16	Mirpur Khas	Mirpur Khas	2,925	1,504,440	514	Mirpur Khas
17	Naushahro Feroze	Naushahro Feroze	2,946	1,612,047	547	Shaheed Benazir Abad
18	Nazimabad^[14]	North Nazimabad	69	2,971,382	43,064	Karachi
19	Orangi^[15]	Orangi Town	370	2,077,228	5,614	Karachi
20	Qambar Shahdadkot	Qambar	5,475	1,338,035	244	Larkana
21	Sanghar	Sanghar	10,728	2,049,873	191	Shaheed Benazir Abad
22	Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah)	Benazirabad	4,502	1,613,506	358	Shaheed Benazir Abad
23	Shikarpur	Shikarpur	2,512	1,233,760	491	Larkana
24	Sujawal	Sujawal	8,785	779,062	89	Hyderabad
25	Sukkur		5,165	1,488,372	288	Sukkur
26	Tando Allahyar	Tando Allahyar	1,554	838,527	540	Hyderabad
27	Tando Muhammad Khan	Tando Muhammad Khan	1,423	677,098	476	Hyderabad
28	Tharparkar	Mithi	19,637	1,647,036	84	Mirpur Khas
29	Thatta	Thatta	8,570	982,138	115	Hyderabad
30	Umerkot	Umerkot	5,608	1,073,469	191	Mirpur Khas

See also

• List of tehsils of Sindh
• Districts of Pakistan
  • Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Districts of Punjab (Pakistan)
  • Districts of Balochistan (Pakistan)
  • Districts of Azad Kashmir
  • Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan

Notes and References

1. Web site: Contingency Plan 2012 . Sindhi Government . 15 April 2021 . 6.
2. Web site: Karachi fits seventh district into its mix – Keamari . Samaa . 15 April 2021.
3. Web site: 2024-03-29 . Four Karachi districts to be renamed . 2024-04-04 . en-US.
4. Web site: Four new districts created in Sindh. 2004. 31 July 2021.
5. News: Three new districts carved out of Hyderabad. 5 April 2005. TheDawn. 31 July 2021.
6. Web site: Thatta Split to Make Sujawal 28th district of Sindh . Dawn News . 31 July 2021.
7. News: Sindh Cabinet approves division of Karachi into seven districts. nation.com.pk. ABDULLAH ZAFAR. 21 August 2020. 31 July 2021.
8. News: Sindh govt to divide Tharparkar in two districts. 31 July 2021.
9. https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/sindh/pcr/table_1.pdf
10. Web site: 2024-03-29 . Four Karachi districts to be renamed . 2024-04-04 . en-US.
11. Web site: Final Results (Census-2017) - Sindh. pbs.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
12. Web site: 2024-03-29 . Four Karachi districts to be renamed . 2024-04-04 . en-US.
13. Web site: 2024-03-29 . Four Karachi districts to be renamed . 2024-04-04 . en-US.
14. Web site: 2024-03-29 . Four Karachi districts to be renamed . 2024-04-04 . en-US.
15. Web site: 2024-03-29 . Four Karachi districts to be renamed . 2024-04-04 . en-US.