Mianwali is a district

Districts of Pakistan

The Districts of Pakistan are the second order administrative divisions of Pakistan. Districts were the third order of administrative divisions, below provinces and "divisions", until the reforms of August 2000, when "divisions" were abolished...

 in the northwest of Punjab province

Punjab (Pakistan)

Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. It borders eight districts: Attock District

Attock District

Attock District is a district in the north-west Punjab Province of Pakistan.The district was created in April 1904 by the merger of Talagang Tehsil in the Jhelum District with the Pindigheb, Fatehjang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi District of the Punjab province of British India.Attock...

 in the north, Chakwal District

Chakwal District

Chakwal is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Chakwal district was created in 1985; until the year 2000 when divisions were abolished, it was part of Rawalpindi Division.-Administration:...

 in the northeast, Khushab District

Khushab District

Khushab District is a rural tribal district located in Punjab, Pakistan. According to the 1998 census, the population was 905,711 with 24.76% living in urban areas. The district consists of 3 tehsils: Khushab, Nurpur, and Quaidabad, as well as a sub-tehsil Naushera...

 in the east, and Bhakkar District

Bhakkar District

Bhakkar is a District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The district was created in 1981 with Bhakkar city as the capital. It is located between 31° 10' and 32° 22' N. and 70° 47' and 72° E. with an area of , most of it lies in the desolate plain of the Thal, but the Kachhi or strip of...

 in the south, while Lakki Marwat

Lakki Marwat District

Lakki Marwat is one of the Southern Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. It was created as an administrative district on July 1, 1992, prior to which it was a Tehsil of Bannu District.-Etymology:...

 lies to the west, Kohat

Kohat District

Kohat is a district of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, Kohat city is the capital of the district. It is inhabited by various Pashtun tribes such as Afridi,Khattaks, Bangash and the Orakzaies. The main language of the district is Pashto....

 and Karak

Karak District

Karak is a district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is situated to the south of Kohat District and on the north side of Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts on the main Indus Highway between Peshawar and Karachi - it is 123 km from the provincial capital Peshawar...

 districts to the northwest and Dera Ismail Khan District

Dera Ismail Khan District

Dera Ismail Khan is one of the 24 districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The capital of the district is the town of Dera Ismail Khan...

 to the southwest.

In November 1901, the North-West Frontier Province

North-West Frontier Province

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...

 was carved out of Punjab and the present-day towns of Mianwali, Isa Khel, Kalabagh, and Kundian were separated from Bannu District (NWFP); hence a new district was made with the headquarters in Mianwali city and placed in Punjab province.
According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the district had a population of 1,056,620, out of which 20.39% (i.e., 85,000 inhabitants) lived in the district capital Mianwali.
The Niazi (Pathan) tribe is the most dominant tribe of this district, with an estimated 70% of the total population.