Nowshera District (, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The capital and district headquarter is Nowshera city. Overview and history Nowshera was a tehsil (sub division) of Peshawar until 1988, when it became a district. It is bordered by Peshawar District to the West, Mardan District to the North, Charsadda District to the North West, Swabi District to the North East, Kohat District to the South, Orakzai Agency to the South West & Attock District to the East. Previously it was known as Nowkhaar Province till it was annexed into British India via the Durand Line Agreement. Prior to its establishment as a separate district in 1990, Nowshera was part of Peshawar District. The district was also part of the Peshawar Division until the reforms of The Government of Pakistan. Total area of Nowshera is 1,748 km². The population density is 608 persons per square kilometre. The total agricultural area is 52,540 hectares. The main source of income of the region is agriculture. Demographics At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 1,520,995, of which 783,035 were males and 737,834 females. Rural population was 1,181,460 (77.68%) while the urban population was 339,535 (22.32%). The literacy rate was 58.21% - the male literacy rate was 72.80% while the female literacy rate was 42.73%. 7,096 are from religious minorities, mainly Christians The population of the district over the years is shown in the table below. Languages At the time of the 2017 census, 92.82% of the population spoke Pashto, 3.06% Hindko, 2.04% Punjabi and 1.15% Urdu as their first language. Education Nowshera district is home of many excellent education institutions. The district has a public sector University of Technology, Nowshera and private sector Northern University, Nowshera. It also houses the campus of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan in Pabbi town while it has a campus of University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar in Jalozai town. The district also has a public sector medical college: Nowshera Medical College, Nowshera. It is also home to many degree colleges: Government Post Graduate College Nowshera, Government Home Economics College Nowshera, Government College Akbarpura, Government Degree College Pabbi and Government Girls Degree College Pabbi. According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017, Nowshera district is ranked 71 out of 155 districts in Pakistan in the quality of education while for facilities and infrastructure,