Zhob District

Zhob District (ږوب ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the northwestern part of Balochistan province of Pakistan. The population of Zhob District was estimated at 310,544 in 2017. Water from Zhob River is used for irrigation in the district.

Administration
The 1998 census report lists two sub-divisions: Lower Zhob (comprising Zhob tehsil and Sambaza sub-tehsil) and Kakar Khurasan (encompassing the tehsil of Qamar Din Karez and the subtehsil of Ashewat). A government webpage lists these as Ashwat, Qamar Din Karez, Sambaza and Zhob, without indicating if any of them are sub-tehsils.

Demography
At the 2017 census, the district had 44,839 households and a population of 310,354. Zhob had a sex ratio of 845 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 33.44%: 43.12% for males and 22.01% for females. 46,164 (14.87%) lived in urban areas. 118,986 (38.34%) were under 10 years of age. 1,107 (0.36%) people in the district were from religious minorities.

At the 2017 census, 96.03% of the population spoke Pashto and 1.71% Saraiki as their first language.

The majority of the population of Zhob district is Pashtun. The tribes of Zhob district include the Mandokhail, Khosti, Sherani, Kakar, Sulaimankhel, Harifal, Lawoon and Babar. A large number of IDPs were settled within the confines of the district as part of the evacuation from Operation Zarb-e-Azb that took place to the north of Zhob.