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{{Short description|City in Punjab, Pakistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{for multi|the district|Mianwali District|other uses}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                            =
| official_name                   = Mianwali
| native_name                     = {{Nastaliq|مِيانوالى}}
| native_name_lang                = pnb
| settlement_type                 = [[City]]
| image_skyline                   = MianwaliBeauty.jpg
| imagesize                       = 
| image_alt                       = 
| image_caption                   = View of Mianwali
| image_map                       = 
| mapsize                         = 100px
| map_alt                         = 
| map_caption                     = 
| coordinates                     = {{Coord|32|35|7|N|71|32|37|E|type:city_region:PK|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map                     = Punjab Pakistan#Pakistan
| pushpin_label_position          = <!-- left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_map_alt                 = 
| pushpin_mapsize                 = 
| pushpin_map_caption             = 
| subdivision_type                = [[Country]]
| subdivision_name                = {{PAK}}
| subdivision_type1               = [[Subdivisions of Pakistan|Province]]
| subdivision_name1               = {{flagicon|Punjab, Pakistan}} [[Punjab (Pakistani province)|Punjab]]
| subdivision_type2               = [[Divisions of Pakistan|Division]]
| subdivision_name2               = [[Sargodha Division|Sargodha]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reporter |first=((News)) |date=14 January 2023 |title=ECP bars Punjab gov from notifying Mianwali as division |pages=1 |work=Duniya News |url=https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/690050-ECP-bars-Punjab-gov-to-notify-Mianwali-as-division- |access-date=14 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Malik |first=Mansoor |date=January 15, 2023 |title=Punjab cabinet approves upgrade of Mianwali as division |pages=1 |work=Dawn News |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1731626/punjab-cabinet-approves-upgrade-of-mianwali-as-division |access-date=January 15, 2023}}</ref>
| subdivision_type3               = [[Subdivisions of Pakistan|District]]
| subdivision_name3               = [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]]
| population_total                = 129500
| population_as_of                = [[2023 Pakistani census|2023]]
| population_est                  = 
| pop_est_as_of                   = 
| population_footnotes            = <ref name=city>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/pakistan/punjab/mianwali/7200104__mianwali|website=Citypopulation.de website|title= Mianwali city population per 2023 Census of Pakistan}}</ref>
| area_total_km2                  = 
| elevation_m                     = 210
| population_density_km2          = 
| leader_title                    = [[Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan|MNA]](s)
| leader_name                     = {{plain list|
* ''Vacant'' ([[NA-89 Mianwali-I]])
* ''Vacant'' ([[NA-90 Mianwali-II]])}}
| leader_title1                   = 
| leader_name1                    = 
| area_code                       = 0459
| area_code_type                  = [[List of dialing codes of Pakistan|Calling code]]
| timezone1                       = [[Pakistan Standard Time|PST]]
| utc_offset1                     = +5
| footnotes                       = {{url|https://mianwali.punjab.gov.pk/}}
}}
'''Mianwali{{efn|[[Urdu]]: {{nq|مِيانوالى}}}}''' is the capital city of [[Mianwali District]] in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nrb.gov.pk/lg_election/union.asp?district=19&dn=Mianwali|url-status=dead|title=Tehsils and Unions in the District of Mianwali (Mianwali city and Mianwali Tehsil)|website=National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan website|archive-date =11 June 2008|access-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611223556/http://www.nrb.gov.pk/lg_election/union.asp?district=19&dn=Mianwali}}</ref> Located to the east of the [[Indus River]], the city is irrigated by the [[Thal Canal]].<ref>{{cite EBO |title=Miānwāli |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mianwali}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The name Mianwali literally means the "Land of the Mian".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Rashid |first=A. |URL=https://repository.lahoreschool.edu.pk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/14690/1961%20District%20Census%20Report%20Mianwali.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=District Census Report: Mianwali |date=1961 |series=[[census of Pakistan|Population Census of Pakistan 1961]] |pages=1-3, 37 |chapter=Chapter I: Geography, History and Administration}}</ref> According to the local tradition, this name was originally given to a hamlet by a [[Sufism|Sufi]] [[Qadiriyya]] saint Shaikh Mian Ali,<ref name=":0" /> who migrated from [[Baghdad]] and settled in the area in the 16th-century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sumbal |first=Saadia |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Islam_and_Religious_Change_in_Pakistan/zF40EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mianwali+sufi+Mian+Ali&pg=PT51&printsec=frontcover |title=Islam and Religious Change in Pakistan: Sufis and Ulema in 20th Century South Asia |date=2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-41504-9 |pages=51 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Iftikhar |first=Muhammad Omar |date=2025-02-09 |title=CULTURE: WHAT’S IN A NAME? |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1890658 |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=Dawn |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Awan |first=Tariq Saeed |date=2024-06-03 |title=The rise and fall of Mianwali’s railways |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2469472/the-rise-and-fall-of-mianwalis-railways |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref> Gradually the town, originally known as Kachchi, came to be known as Mianwali.<ref name=":0" />

== History ==
The city of Mianwali was originally founded in the 16th-century by Shaikh Mian Ali, as a small village. The municipality of Mianwali was created in 1875 , during the [[British Raj|British colonial period]].<ref name=":0" /> The British had made the town of Mianwali as [[tehsil]] headquarters of [[Bannu District]], then part of [[Dera Ismail Khan Division]] of [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab province]]. In 1901 it became headquarters of Mianwali District when it was carved out of Bannu District after the creation of [[North-West Frontier Province|Northwest Frontier Province]]. It had a population of 3,591 according to the 1901 [[census of India]], which rose to 31,398 people in 1961.<ref name=":0" />

== Geography ==
[[File:Thal Canal.JPG|alt=Image of the iconic Thal Canal from main Mianwali City bridge.|thumb|Image of the [[Thal Canal]] from main Mianwali City bridge.]]

The city of Mianwali is located in North-west region of the [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]. The city is located near to the [[Chashma Barrage|Chashma lake]] to south west and [[Namal Lake]] to its north east. The Chasma lake is home to the Chasma Barrage, that houses a 184 MW power station.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-01-23 |title=Pakistan seeks control gear, transformer bay for 184-MW Chashma hydro project |url=https://www.hydroreview.com/world-regions/pakistan-seeks-control-gear-transformer-bay-for-184-mw-chashma-h/|access-date=2023-06-04 |website=Hydro Review website |language=en-US}}</ref> The Chasma lake also houses one of the two nuclear power facilities in Pakistan – the [[Chashma Nuclear Power Plant]]. The city has an airport built near the old [[World War II]] aerodrome and known as [[Mianwali Airbase|M.M.Alam Base Mianwali]]. It is one of the major operational and training air bases of the country. The No. 1 Fighter Conversion Unit of the [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF]] is stationed here. 

== Infrastructure ==
The [[Chashma Nuclear Power Plant]] (or '''CHASNUPP'''), is a large commercial [[nuclear power plant]] located in the vicinities of [[Chashma, Pakistan|Chashma colony]] in Mianwali District [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] in [[Pakistan]]. Officially known as '''Chashma Nuclear Power Complex''', the nuclear power plant is generating energy for industrial usage with four nuclear reactors with one being in planning phase in cooperation with the [[China]]. Supported by the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA) and [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] of the [[United States]].

It was established in 2000, the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant became operational, when it joined the nation's grid system with [[China National Nuclear Corporation]] overseeing the grid connections of the power plant. In 2004, the China National Nuclear Corporation was awarded contract for building a second unit based on the first reactor, followed by contracting for two more reactors in 2011.

[[PAF Base M.M. Alam]] is a [[Pakistan Air Force]] [[Military airbase|airbase]] located at Mianwali, in the [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]] province of [[Pakistan]]. The base is named after [[Muhammad Mahmood Alam]]. It primarily serves as the Fighter converter base for the Pakistan Air Force.

Originally a [[World War II]] airstrip, it was decided that Mianwali would be upgraded into a satellite airbase for [[PAF Base Mushaf]] (then PAF Base Sargodha) during the [[1965 Indo-Pak War]] to act as an alternate recovery airfield. The airbase was again upgraded to a permanent operational airbase in August 1974, although construction of facilities was not completed for another three years.

== Education ==
The [[Namal University]] is a [[private university]] about 20 min drive from the city of Mianwali. The university is located on 30&nbsp;km, [[Talagang]] Mianwali Road near [[Namal Lake]]. Initially it was established as an affiliate college of the [[University of Bradford|University of Bradford, UK]]. In 2019, Namal College acquired degree awarding status and thus became Namal University. There are further plans to turn the small campus into an education city. Construction is already underway.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Namal Institute|url=https://www.namal.edu.pk/|access-date=2021-01-17|website=www.namal.edu.pk}}</ref>

== Demographics ==

=== Population ===
{{Historical populations|1951|23340|1961|31398|1972|48304|1981|59159|1998|80171|2017|118,865|2023|129,500|align=center|percentages=pagr|footnote=Sources:<ref>{{cite web |title=Population by administrative units 1951-1998 |url=https://repository.lahoreschool.edu.pk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/13673/Administrative%20Units.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1 |publisher = [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]]}}</ref>}}According to the 2023 census, Mianwali city has an urban population of 129,500.<ref name="city" /> The literacy rate of urban population of [[Mianwali Tehsil]] in 2023 was 77.9%, considerably less than other urban cities in [[Punjab]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=TABLE 12 : LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/table_12_punjab_districts.pdf}}</ref> 

== See also ==
* [[List of cities in Pakistan by population]]
* [[List of Cities of Punjab, Pakistan by Area|List of cities of Punjab, Pakistan by Area]]

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" responsive="1"></references>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
*{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Mianwali |volume=18 |page=354}}

{{PakistanCities}}
{{Mianwali-Union-Councils}}

[[Category:Populated places in Mianwali District]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Punjab, Pakistan]]