Poonch district, popularly known as mini Kashmir is the smallest and remotest district of Jammu and Kashmir state. It is bounded by the Actual Line of Control (ALC) from three sides. The ALC is about 103 km from Tarkundi in Balakote to Sawjian in Mandi block. Poonch has witnessed many historical events and has been ruled by outsiders and locals at different junctures till it became a part of independent India. In the 6th Century AD Chinese traveler Huien Tsang passed through Poonch. He wrote that Poonch was famous for graphics, fine tea (Musloom) and good horses. Around 850 AD, Poonch became a sovereign state when Mr. Nar, a horse trader declared himself Raja of Poonch. In 1596 AD Mughal King Jehangir nominated Siraj-ud-din of village Kahuta as Raja of Poonch. In 1798 AD a Gujjar leader Rooh-ullah-Sangu became the ruler of this area.

From 1819 to 1850 Poonch remained a part of Khalsa Darbar, Lahore. In 1850 Dogra Raja Moti Singh laid foundation of Dogra Raj in Poonch. On the death of Raja Jagat Dev Singh in 1940, Sardar Abdul Qayoom Khan became administrator of Poonch under the orders of Kashmir Government. In 1947 two and half tehsils of Poonch principality went under the illegal occupation of Pakistan, while the rest became a constituent of Rajouri Poonch district. In 1967 for administrative convenience this district was further divided into two parts, viz district Rajouri and district Poonch. Presently Poonch district consists of 178 villages, 115 panchayats, 51 patwar halqas, 8 Niabats, 6 Blocks, 3 Tehsils, and 1 Sub-division.

The people of different faiths, caste and creed are living peacefully in the district. Races like Gujjars, Bakerwals, Punjabis, Kashmiris and Rajputs-mostly muslims are living in harmony nourishing their composite culture lavishly. Gujjars are mostly residing on the slopes of mountains. They are having small pieces of land for cultivation, and cattle for supplementing their economy. Bakerwals are nomadic tribes. Most of them rear herds of goats and flocks of sheep. Gujjars and Bakerwals speaks Gojri whereas rest of the population (excluding Kashmiris) speak Pahari/Poonchi. The mother tongue is a great cementing factor of Pahari speaking people because they remain so closely associated with each other that cultural ethos transcend all that of distinct beliefs and faiths.

The economic condition of people of Poonch district is not satisfactory. Industrial environment is totally absent and commercial activity exists on a very low scale. The poverty tells adversely upon the life style of the general population which cripples their purchasing power and renders most of them fragile to withstand the abnormalities of consumer market. There are many unemployed youths in the district and the people usually try to go for the government jobs as the potential in the private sector is bare minimal. Unemployment problem among youth, both skilled and unskilled workers is quite large when compared to other districts of the State. The Government is trying its level best to eradicate the problem by implementation of different employment generation schemes by providing loans to the beneficiaries through different Banks. The new policy of the Govt. to recruit Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers from respective villages/areas is also helping the unemployed youths of rural areas of the district.

The total area of the district is 1,13,675 hectare, out of which cultivable area is 27,765 and net area sown is 27,459 hectare. The forest area is 34,050 hectare, while area under double cropping is 11,000 approximately. The average size of land holding is 1.28 hectare.

Before partition, district Poonch consisted of four tehsils, namely Bagh, Sadhnuti, Mendhar and Haveli. After traumatic experience of 1947 two and a half tehsils went under the illegal occupation of Pakistan while tehsil Mendhar and half of tehsil Haveli continued being a part of the country. From 1947 to 1967 district Poonch was named as Rajouri-Poonch district. In 1967, Rajouri- Poonch district was again bifurcated into two parts namely, Rajouri and Poonch districts.