Abbottabad
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Abbottabad is the principal city of the Abbottabad District in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. It is 4120 feet (1256 m) above sea level, and is located 63 miles (101 km) from Rawalpindi, and is undoubtedly one of the cleanliest, the most beautiful cities of Pakistan. The city is much like a valley with scenic beauty and beautiful romantic weather at its peak.
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Demographics
In 1998 the population of Abbottabad District was 881,000. According to the 1998 census, over 94% of population speak Hindko as a first language, but Urdu and English are also spoken & understood by about 75% of the residents.
Education
The city of Abbottabad is a small, organized and a clean town. Apart from being a city of beautiful landscape and peaceful environment, it is also a source of attraction for the people from all over Pakistan due to its educational services. The city of Abbottabad is rich with a number of schools, colleges and other institutes. As Abbottabad serves as a gateway to education, it is also known as the “City of Schools”. The schools and colleges are promoting a good standard of education in the entire region.
Besides the basic education, the professional education is also not being neglected in the region. Furthermore Abbottabad is a home of numerous professional and educational institutions, several military organizations like PMA (Pakistan Military Academy Kakul), Training establishments,Technical Institutes, Government departments, civil societies and colonies. Abbottabad has got four Medical Colleges(women medical college is also one of them).These produce a large number of doctors every year. An IT university, CIIT {COMSATS Institute of Information Technology},is also established in Abbottabad as a project of Ministry of Science and Technology.The CIIT is the only institution in the country which specializes and concentrates on IT and is a national milestone of establishing the first IT University in NWFP.
Tourism, travel and transportation
The famous Karakoram Highway (KKH), which traces one of the paths of the ancient Silk Road, starts from Havelian in the Abbottabad District, and passes through the city. The KKH has become an attraction for adventure tourists. Abbottabad, with its mild climate in the summers, is a relief from the searing summer heat of the lowlands of Pakistan. By road, Abbottabad is less than half an hour from the Galyat mountain-resort region. Shimla resort is the famous spot for local picnic but the resort needs a lot of improvement, from the local Government, to set as a standard for foreign tourists. The local Government is showing little interest in this matter as well.
History
Abbottabad was a city of British India, the headquarters of Hazara Division (then a district), and named after its founder, Major James Abbott. Abbott settled this district in 1853 after the annexation of the Punjab, and became its first Deputy Commissioner. It was an important military cantonment and sanatorium, being the headquarters of a brigade in the second division of the northern army corps. In 1901 the population of the town and cantonment was 7764.
Contributed by Adnan Javed