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Dina is an emerging trading city, which has developed into a modern town in time, in the Jhelum District of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Known also as gate of Kashmir, Dina is about 200 kilometres northwest of Lahore, and around 100 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, at the junction of roads to Mangla Dam and Mirpur, Azad Kashmir and also to Rohtas Fort and Tilla Jogian Mountain. The historic Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) National Highway / Network passes through the centre of the town.

A small industry exists in the city including wood, iron and marble industry. The main source of income for the residents of the city is remittances from abroad, as a large number of residents are working in UK and Gulf states. The other popular occupation of the residents is service in the Pakistan Army. Agriculture is equally popular hobby of the rest of the residents and villagers grow wheat and pulses as major crops.

History

Dina is named after a saint Baba Dina Shaheed whose tomb lies near GT road in the Domeli Mohalla of Dina city. It is the bordering town of the terrain called Pothohar Plateau. There are many archaeological sites in Dina where the discovery of fossils, tools, coins showed remains of ancient Sohanian culture.

For the first time, researchers have found a pair of intact fossilised tusks that dates back approximately three million years. This discovery from Padri village near Dina is a grand prize. We have never found a pair of tusks, intact with upper and some part of the lower jaws, said Prof. M. Akhtar from the zoology department of the Punjab University, Lahore. Over six feet long, the pair belongs to anancus, an extinct species from the elephant family that walked on the earth roughly three to 1.5 million years ago.

Culture

The Pothohari dialect of Punjabi language is main local language in the city apart from the national language whereas, due to higher literacy and once a tourist destination English is widely understood by the residents of the Dina city.

Administration

Dina Tehsil is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Jhelum District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city of Dina is the headquarters of the tehsil. The city of Dina is administered by Municipal Committee.

Education

There are two colleges and two higher secondary schools in the city.

Transport

Dina is hardly an hour drive away from the Islamabad and 2.5 hour drive from Lahore. It can also be reached by Pakistan Railways

Famous people

Pakistani poet Zamir Jafri and Indian Poet Gulzar were born in Dina.