Gilgit Baltistan

Gilgit-Baltistan Overview

Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Territory, is an administrative region administered by Pakistan and has been the subject of disputes between India and Pakistan and between India and China since 1947. The northern part forms the greater region of Kashmir. one later This country is bordered by Azad and Kashmir in the south, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa state in the west, Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor in the north, China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the east and northeast, and the Federal Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh under Indian control. , it’s the neighbour. To the southeast

The region, along with Azad and Kashmir in the southwest, is grouped by the United Nations and other international organizations and referred to as “Pakistani-administered Kashmir”. Gilgit-Baltistan is six times larger in terms of geographical area than Azad and Kashmir.

The territory of present-day Gilgit-Baltistan became an independent administrative unit under the name “Northern Region” in 1970. It was formed by the amalgamation of several smaller former kingdoms, including the former Gilgit administration, Baltistan district, and the largest of these, Hunza and Nagar. In 2009, the region was renamed “Gilgit-Baltistan” and granted limited autonomy through the Autonomy Ordinance signed by former Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. But researchers say the real power rests with the governor, not the prime minister or an elected assembly. According to reports, a large section of the population of Gilgit-Baltistan wants the territory to merge with mainland Pakistan as a fifth province and opposes the merger with the rest of the Kashmir region.

The government of Pakistan has rejected the request for statehood of the territory on the grounds that granting such a request would jeopardize Pakistan’s request to resolve the entire Kashmir conflict in accordance with all relevant UN resolutions, but in November 2020, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Gilgit-Baltistan will achieve a provisional state status after the 2020 Gilgit-Baltistan parliamentary elections.

Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of ​​72,971 square kilometers (28,174 sq mi) and is highly mountainous. Its population in 2013 was about 1.249 million people (the estimated population of Shahid Javaid Burki was 1.8 million people in 2015). The state capital is Gilgit (estimated population 216,760). The region has 5 of the 148,000 mountains, including K2, and more than 50 peaks above 7,000 meters (23,000 ft). Three of the world’s longest natural glaciers outside the Earth’s polar regions are located in Gilgit-Baltistan. The main tourist activity is nature tourism and mountaineering, and this industry is gaining importance throughout the region.

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