Census 2011
District population : 2,30,696
Growth : 20.88%
Sex Ratio : 920
Literacy : 56.2

Brief About Kishtwar District
Kishtwar District is a newly formed district of the state of Jammu and Kashmir of India.

Administration
Kishtwar district consists of 8 blocks: Kishtwar, Inderwal, Paddar, Marwah, Warwan, Dachan, Nagsani and Drubshall. Each block consists of a number of panchayats.

Politics
Kishtwar District has 2 assembly constituencies: Inderwal and Kishtwar

History
Kishtwar district in the state of Jammu & Kashmir is positioned at an altitude of 5374 feet. The positional coordinates of Kishtwar district includes a longitude of 75.7667 and a latitude of 33.3167. Jammu, Udhampur, Srinagar and Awantipur are the locations from one can avail of the air services to reach the district of Kishtwar. The key economic activity of Kishtwar district in Jammu & Kashmir is agriculture. The crops are sold in the local markets by the farmers to earn their day-to-day living. Sheep rearing is another major occupation of the population of Kishtwar. The general characteristics traits of the people of Kishtwar comprises of their simplicity and a very hardworking nature. Since Kishtwar is set on considerably high altitude so the common climate of the place variates in the lowest levels of temperature scale.

The handicraft items made by the local people of Kishtwar have a huge demand among those tourists who come to this quaint yet appealing place of Jammu & Kashmir. The natural surrounding of Kishtwar is adorned by majestic mountainous ranges and foliages that collectively makes it a perfect tourist spot of the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
The festivals of Kishtwar primarily reflects the folk traditions of the place. Apart from its own natural splendors, Kishtwar also flaunts many adjacent tour destinations. The names of Kutal, Dul, Keshwan, Mughal Maidan and Kwar are very popular and inevitably comes in the itinerary of tourists.

Kishtwar, with its steady economic state and cultural richness, is consistently proceeding towards becoming one of the prominent Jammu & Kashmir districts.

Pursuant to Government order referred to in Chapter I Kishtwar has beendeclared as one of the new Districts, while Atholi (Paddar) which falls in Kishtwar Sub-Division has been declared as new Tehsil. It may be pertinent to mention that vide Govt.Order No. Rev(5)203 of 2005, dated 09-08-2005 three new Tehsils namely Chhatroo,Marwah and Paddar were created, and in fact these three Tehsils have started functioningindependently after territorial Tehsildars were posted there. But, vide recent Govt. Orderthe Committee has been asked to demarcate boundaries among others in respect of TehsilAtholi (Paddar) as well. Thus, the new District Kishtwar would comprise four Tehsilsincluding Kishtwar and the Committee is to demarcate boundaries of the new DistrictKishtwar and Tehsil Atholi (Paddar).

Kishtwar Sub-Division is bounded by Zanskar on the North, HimachalPardesh on the East, Doda and Bhaderwah on the South, Kishtwar and Banihal on theWest.

Kishtwar in the past used to be an independent hill principality and wasmerged with the State of Jammu and Kashmir in1821, A.D. With the passage of timeKishtwar became a Tehsil of District Udhampur and remained its part till 1948, when itbecame part of newly created District Doda in the wake of first re-organization of thestate during the post-independence period.

Kishtwar branches off in Marwa-Wadwan valley, Paddar valley, Chhatroovalley and is flanked by lofty Himalayas from all sides. The monsoon hardly reaches thispart of the State which makes it a drought prone area and insufficient in food grains inparticular the Marwah-Wardwan area which remains cut off for 5-6 months in a year dueto snowfall in winter. In order to avoid any starvation death sufficient stocks of food grains and other essential commodities are stored well in advance in these areas so thatthe public may not suffer on this account.

Kishtwar is having lot of potential for generation of Hydro Electric Power.One of the major power projects is Dul-Hasti which is at the commissioning stage. Withthe commissioning of this project the economy of the area is sure to boost up and thepace of development of Kishtwar is sure to accelerate in the coming days. The areapopularly known as ‘Land of Sapphire and Saffron’ is also very rich in forest products.The richest forests in Jammu and Kashmir are found on the high mountains and hills of Kishtwar.

Kishtwar is linked with other parts of the state by an all weather road,National Highway 1-B, which remains open throughout the year. Kishtwar is alsoconnected with Kashmir Valley by Chhatroo-Synthan road, which is being upgraded intoNational Highway. With the up gradation of this road it will become an alternate route forthe tourists visiting Kashmir Valley.

For purposes of ascertaining views of the District Administration andpeople’s representatives in respect of fixing geographical boundaries of new DistrictKishtwar, the Demarcation Committee visited various areas of the Sub-Division. A largenumber of representations were presented to the committee, besides verbal suggestionsmade by the sitting and Ex-MLAs/MLCs who met the Committee, during its visit toKishtwar and Doda. Although there were some demands for additions/deletions of certainareas in the existing boundaries of the Sub-Division (now District) Kishtwar, yet on thewhole the consensus opinion was that existing boundaries of Kishtwar Sub-Division bemade boundaries of new District Kishtwar, but for a forceful demand projected by thepeople of Bunjwa for exclusion of their area from Tehsil Kishtwar and its inclusion inTehsil Thathri keeping in view the geographical location and connectivity of the area. Nodoubt, there were some dissenting views also, but the Committee during its visit hadobserved that in view of the following considerations, there is a strong case for exclusionof Patwar Halqa Patnazi comprising five villages namely Patnazi, Kither, Binoon, Nali and Jirwar with a population of 6715 souls, and Patwar Halqa Jawalapur consisting of sixvillages namely Jawalapur, Kewa, Mori, Balagran, Chamoti and Tipri with a populationof 7257 from Kishtwar and their inclusion in Tehsil Thathri:-i.The public of the Bunjwa area is not directly connected even with a fairweather road and people have to travel on foot to reach Thathri-Gandohroad at a point known as Donadi. As such, in order to reach Kishtwar,Doda or Badherwah they have to first reach Thathri and then take avehicle for onward journey to any of these places.ii.While Tehsil headquarter Thathri is located at a distance of 9 kms fromDonadi, Kishtwar and Doda are around 40 to 45 kms away.iii.Although these villages presently form part of Tehsil Kishtwar but forpurposes of community development these villages are already part ofC.D. Block Thathri.iv.The District Development Commissioner, Doda has also stronglyrecommended merger of Bunjwa area with Thathri Tehsil keeping in viewthe administrative convenience, majority public demand, proximity of thearea with Tehsil headquarter Thathri.

Thus, the new District Kishtwar would comprise four Tehsils namelyKishtwar (except two Patwar Halqas namely Patnazi and Jawalapur), with sixteenPatwar Halqas having seventy three villages, Tehsil Marwah with eleven Patwar Halqashaving twenty seven villages, Tehsil Chhatroo with seven Patwar Halqas having thirteenvillages and new Tehsil Atholi (Paddar) with five Patwar Halqas having thirty twovillages. With this the total number of Patwar Halqas and villages in the new Districtcomes to thirty nine & one hundred forty five respectively.

Paddar Valley is the fartherest corner of District Kishtwar on south-easternside touching its borders with Himachal Pradesh, Zanskar Valley of Ladakh and Marwah-Wadwan Valley. Paddar is known for sapphire deposits and other forest products likeZeera and Guchhi. Although vast areas of the Valley are under forest cover yet fewvillages are also known for producing green/dry vegetables/pulses such as Peas andRajmash. Paddar Valley comprises five Patwar Halqas and thirty two villages.