Mirpur

Mirpur (Urdu: میر پور, Hindi: मीर पुर) is the largest city in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the capital of Mirpur District. Mirpur is located at the extreme south of Azad Kashmir at a elevation of 459 metres (1509ft). It is 161 kilometre's (100 miles) east of Islamabad via the Grand Trunk Road and 295 kilometre's (183 miles) south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.


Mirpur district comprises partly plain and partly hilly areas. Its hot climate and other geographical conditions closely resemble those of Jhelum and Gujrat, the adjoining districts of Pakistan. The people of this area are basically farmers. Since the 1960s, a large number of people from this district have gone abroad , especially to the United Kingdom and the Middle East, for economic reasons. As such they are today the major foreign exchange earning source for Azad Kashmir and Pakistan. Around 50,000 people were moved from this district in the mid-sixties to make way for the construction of Mangla Dam. Most of these people settled in new Mirpur whilst some moved to Pakistan and the UK.