Bahawalpur District (Punjabi,Urdu: ضلع بہاول پور‎) is one of the districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Its capital is Bahawalpur city. According to the 1998 Census of Pakistan it had a population of 2,433,091 of which 27.01% were urban Bahawalpur district covers 24,830 km². Approximately two-thirds of the district (16,000 km²) is covered by the Cholistan Desert, which extends into the Thar Desert of India.