Name, Location, Boundary and Area

The District drives its name from the district headquarters town. Which is also the headquarters of the administrative division. It is said that in 1469 Sultan Hussain The Governor of Multan, made over the Indus frontier to a Baloch Malik Sohrab Khan who founded the towns of Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Fateh Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan and named them on the names of his three sons. According to another account, it was founded by Ismail Khan himself.

Dera Ismail Khan is the southern most district of NWFP lying between 31 15 and 32 32 north latitudes 70 11 and 71 20 east longitudes. The district is bounded on the north by Tank and Lakki Marwat districts, on the east by Mianwali and Bhakkar districts of the Punjab province, on the south by Dera Ghazi Khan districts of Punjab Province and on the west by Tribal Area adjoining Dera Ismail Khan district (Shirani), South Waziristan agency and Tank district .The total area of the district is 7326 square Kilometers.