It is located at 31°20'0N 73°26'0E with an altitude of 184 meters (606 feet). It is located 35 km southeast of Faisalabad and 110 km from Lahore. The city serves as the headquarters of Jaranwala Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district.[2]
Etymology
Jaranwala'a name originates from a Bohar, Bargad Banyan tree known as Jaranwala Bohar. Jaranwala is combination of two Punjabi words: Jaran and Wala, where Jaran means "roots" and "Wala" means place.
History
The existing city was founded by the British government in 1908.[3] Deputy commissioner Micheal Ferrar of Faisalabad inaugurated the town in 1909 and Sir Ganga Ram designed the city.[4]
Pakistani Gate
The Pakistani Gate is a central point and historical monument in Jaranwala. In January 1917, Harbel Singh a well-known mill owner, factory owner and landlord, maternal grandfather of Khushwant Singh and father-in-law of Sir Sobha Singh,[5] notified the area committee of Jaranwala to construct a wooden gate to welcome the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer, in Jaranwala. After his visit, the gate was named O'Dwyer Gate. However, after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the people demanded to rename the gate, the name of O'Dwyer was removed from the gate and it was renamed the Railway Gate.
On the visit of Nehru on 1 June 1936, it was renamed the Nehru Gate, and the president of Municipal Committee Jaranawala Lala Harnam Das approved the name on 30 March 1937. The name was changed again after the independence of Pakistan, when the first president of the Municipal Committee of Jaranawala, Syed Altaf Hussain, renamed it the Pakistani Gate. The Pakistani Gate was reconstructed in 1956, 1967 and 2009.[6][7][8]
According to 2023 census, Jaranwala had a population of 170,872. According to the 2017 Census of Pakistan, the population of the Jaranwala MC (Municipal Committee) is 150,380.[1]
Jaranwala produces crops including rice, wheat, sugarcane, vegetables, and fruits. Its grain market is one of the busiest markets in Punjab. It is also the biggest consumer of fertilizers by volume in Pakistan.[19]
