Chitral (Khowar: چھترار, romanized: ćhitrār, lit. 'field'; Urdu: چترال, romanized: ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral princely state that encompassed the region until its direct incorporation into West Pakistan on 14 August 1947. It has a population of 49,780 per the 2017 census.[5]