Swat (ˈsʋaːt̪, Pashto

Pashto language

Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...

: سوات) is a valley and an administrative 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 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located close to the Afghan-Pakistan border

Durand Line

The Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...

. It is the upper valley of the Swat River

Swat River

The Swat River is a river in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Its source is in the Hindukush Mountains, from where it flows through the Kalam Valley and Swat District...

, which rises in the Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

 range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif

Saidu Sharif

-Saidu Sharif:Saidu Sharif is the capital city of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°45'0N 72°21'0E with an altitude of 939 metres Saidu sharif is traditional seat of government, remains the administrative headquarters of Malakand division .Saidu...

, but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora

Mingora

Mingora is the largest city in Swat District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at an altitude of and lies on the banks of River Swat about from Saidu Sharif, the present capital of Swat. As of 1998, the population of Mingora was about 175,000...

. It was a princely state

Princely state

A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

 (see Swat (princely state)) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until it was dissolved in 1969. The valley is almost entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns

Pashtun people

Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...

 .