Sahiwal


Sahiwal, formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in central Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. It is the 19th most populous city of Pakistan, according to the 2023 census. Sahiwal is located approximately 180 km from the major city Lahore and 100 km from Faisalabad and lies between Lahore and Multan. Sahiwal is approximately 152 meters above the sea level. The ancient city of Harappa, one of the major Indus Valley Civilisation sites, is located just 24 kilometers west of Sahiwal.
The city lies in a densely populated region between the Sutlej and Ravi rivers. The principal crops are wheat, cotton, tobacco, legumes, potato and oil seeds. Cotton goods and lacquered woodwork are manufactured.
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History

The modern-day city of Sahiwal was founded in 1865 when a train station was built at the site of a small village on the Karachi-Lahore railway line. The site was named Montgomery for Sir Robert Montgomery, then lieutenant governor of the Punjab and it replaced Gogera as the capital of the recently created Montgomery district. Two years later in 1867, it was constituted a municipality.
In 1914 construction began of the Lower Bari Doab Canal which now irrigates both the city and the wider region.
During the Partition of India in 1947 the city, being part of Montgomery district, was allocated to Pakistan by the Punjab Boundary Commission. This was on the basis of being a Muslim-majority area, despite claims from the Indian National Congress and Sikh groups on the basis of greater property ownership and revenues paid to the state.

Climate

The climate of Sahiwal district is hot semi arid, reaching 47 °C in summer, and down to 5 °C in winter. The soil of the district is very fertile. The average rainfall is about 685 mm, peaking during the summer monsoon season.

Demography

Population

According to the 2023 census, Sahiwal city had a population of 538,344.

Language

According to the 2023 Census of Pakistan, Urban Sahiwal has an overwhelmingly Punjabi-speaking population, spoken by 94.01% of residents. Urdu forms the largest minority language, accounting for 4.99% of the population. This is followed by Pashto at 0.66%, while the remaining 0.34% consists of speakers of other languages of Pakistan.

Education

Notable educational institutes of the city include:

Twin city

Sahiwal is twinned with the town of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. Approximately eight per cent of Rochdale's population is of Asian origin, most of whom have links with Pakistan. The twinning arrangement was agreed between Rochdale and Sahiwal in 1998.

Notable people