Khushab District

Khushab District (Urdu: ضِلع خُوشاب‎) is a district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan, with its administrative capital in Jauharabad. The district is named after the historical city of Khushab located within its boundaries. According to the 1998 census, the population was 905,711 with 24.76% living in urban areas. The district consists of Four tehsils, Khushab, Noorpur Thal, Quaidabad and Naushera. Khushab is home to the Heavy Water and Natural Uranium Research Reactor, part of the Pakistan's Special Weapons Program.

Language

Inhabitants of the Khushab district speak a variety of Punjabi dialects, including:

Pakistan's national language, Urdu, is spoken and understood by the majority of the population, whereas English is understood by people with a higher education background.

Notable people

Khushab

Khushab (Urdu: خُوشاب‎) is a city as well as a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The word Khushab means "sweet water." Khushab city also serves as the headquarters of Khushab Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district Khushab.

The city of Khushab is home to the Khushab Nuclear Complex, a critical part of the Pakistan's Special Weapons Program, which has come under much heated scrutiny.

Demographics

The population according to the 1901 census was 11,403.

Khushab Nuclear Complex

On March 21, 2000, The Christian Science Monitor published an article written by Alexander Colhoun, in which a high-resolution aerial satellite photo revealed a nuclear reactor, Khushab Nuclear Complex, and a missile base in the city of Khushab. These pictures had mixed views, one of the expression of power that could shackle or reshape diplomatic landscapes of a region and another of the ethical question about the usage of satellite imagery in terms of privacy and national sovereignty of a nuclear-capable nation. The report was published at a time when American President Bill Clinton was due to visit India, and it sparked concerns worldwide. According to a more recent ISIS analysis of imaging the Khushab Nuclear Complex has totally 4 heavy water reactors and a heavy water production plant. Moreover, the plutonium produced in this site as reported by a Pakistani official is prepared to build small, short range nuclear weapons such as tactical nuclear-tipped missiles.