Northern Areas (Pakistan)
Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : Northern Areas (Pakistan)
| Northern Areas | |
 Northern Areas of Pakistan | |
| Regional Capital | Gilgit |
| Languages | Urdu Shina Balti Wakhi Burushaski |
| Area | 72,496 km² |
| Population | 1,500,000 (estimated) |
| Revenue & NFC - National revenue share - Received share | % (contribution) % (from federal gov't) |
| Time zone | PST, UTC +5 |
| Number of Districts | 6 |
| Number of Towns | 7 |
| Administration | Federal Minister of States and Frontier Regions |
| [Northern Areas Official Website] | |
The Northern Areas (Urdu: شمالی علاقے ) or Gilgit-Baltistan is the northernmost region of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. The name 'Balawaristan' is given to the area by a regional nationalist party centred in Gilgit. The area west of the Indus river was known as the Gilgit Agency until October 1947. Though under Pakistani administration, the Northern Areas alongwith Azad Kashmir are claimed by India as a part of its territory.
Subdivisions
The Northern Areas comprise six districts in three regions: the two Baltistan districts of Skardu and Ghangche, the two Gilgit districts of Ghizer, Gilgit and the two Diamer Districts of Diamer and Astore. The main political centres are the towns of Gilgit, Skardu and Chillas.Geography
The Northern Areas border the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest, the Xinjiang territory of China to the northeast, the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir to the southeast, the region of Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir to the southeast and the North-West Frontier Province to the west.The region is home to some of the world's highest mountain ranges — the main ranges are the Karakoram and the western Himalayas. The Pamir mountains are to the north, and the Hindu Kush lies to the west. Amongst the highest mountains are K2 and Nanga Parbat, one of the most feared mountains in the world.
Climate
The climate of the Northern Areas varies from region to region. There are towns like Gilgit and Chilas that are very hot during the day in summers, yet cold at nights, and valleys like Astore,Khaplu, Yasin,Hunza and Nagar where the temperatures are cold even in summers.Sites of Interest
The Northern Areas are a major destination for foreign tourists especially for serious mountaineers because it is home to five of the eight-thousanders and more than fifty peaks above 7000m. Gilgit and Skardu are the two main hubs for all expeditions to these mountains.Mountains and glaciers
-->Five of the Eight-thousander (above 8,000m) peaks of the world are in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Some of the world's largest glaciers outside the polar regions are also in Northern Areas, such as Baltoro Glacier, Biafo Glacier and Hispar Glacier.
Some of the notable peaks include:
- K2, 2nd highest of the world at 8,611m.
- Nanga Parbat, 9th highest of the world at 8,125m
- Gasherbrum I, 11th highest of the world at 8,080m.
- Broad Peak, 12th highest of the world at 8,047m.
- Gasherbrum II-IV, 13th-17th highest of the world at 8,035m-7,932m
- Masherbrum (K1), 22nd highest of the world at 7,821m.
- Rakaposhi, 27th highest of the world at 7,788m.
Lakes
There are several high altitude lakes in the Northern Areas.
- Sheosar Lake in Deosai Plains
- Satpara Lake in Skardu
- Shangrila Lake in Skardu
- Borith Lake in upper Hunza
- Rama Lake near Astore
Deosai Plains
Deosai Plains is located above the tree line, the second highest plains of the world at 4,115 m (13,500 feet) are in the South of Skardu and in the East of the Astore Valley. The area was declared as a National Park in 1993. The Deosai Plains cover an area of almost 3,000 square kilometers. For just over half the year (between November and May), Deosai is snow-bound.
Rock art and petroglyphs
There are more than 20,000 pieces of rock art and petroglyphs all along the Karakoram Highway in Northern Areas of Pakistan that are conentrated at ten major sites between Hunza and Shatial. The carvings were left by various invaders, traders and pilgrims who passed along the trade route, as well as by locals. The earliest date back to between 5000 and 1000 BC, showing single animals, triangular men and hunting sccenes in which the animals are larger than the hunters. These carvings were pecked into the rock with stone tools and are covered with a thick patina that proves their age. The archaeologist Karl Jettmar has pieced together the history of the area from various inscriptions and recorded his findings in Rockcarvings and Inscriptions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan and the later released Between Gandhara and the Silk Roads - Rock carvings Along the Karakoram Highway.#redirect
Transportation
Road transport
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) connects Islamabad to Gilgit and Skardu, which are the two major hubs for mountaineering expeditions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The journey from Islamabad to Gilgit takes approximately 20-24 hours. Landslides on Karakoram Highway are not uncommon, but bulldozers usually clear the road in little time. KKH connects Gilgit to Taxkurgan and Kashghar in Xinjiang, China via Sust (the customs and health inspection post on Pakistan side) and Khunjerab Pass, the highest paved international border crossing in the world at 4,693 metres (15,397 feet).NATCO (Northern Areas Transport Corporation) offers bus and jeep transport service to the two hubs and several other popular destinations, lakes and glaciers in the area.
Commuter service between
An overview map of Karakoram Highway
In March 2006, the respective governments announced that, commencing on June 1, 2006, a thrice-a-week bus service would begin across the boundary from Gilgit, Pakistan to Kashghar, China and road widening work would begin on 600 kilometers of the highway. Former plan was to operate one bus each on a daily basis via Sust and Tashkorgan border areas of the two countries. [link]
Air transport
Pakistan International Airlines flies a Fokker F27 daily between Gilgit Airport and Islamabad International Airport. The flying time is approximately 50 minutes and the flight is one of the most scenic flights of the world as its route passes over Nanga Parbat and the mountain's peak is higher than the aircraft's cruising altitude. PIA also offers regular flights of Boeing 737 and Fokker F27 between Skardu and Islamabad.
These flights, however, are subject to the clearance of weather and in winters, flights are often delayed by several days.
Demographics
The population consists of many diverse linguistic, ethnic and religious groups due in part to the many isolated valleys separated by some of the world's highest mountains. Urdu is the lingua franca of the region, understood by most inhabitants. The Shina language (with several dialects) is the language of 40% of the population, spoken mainly in Gilgit, throughout Diamer, and some parts of Ghizer. The Balti language with a similar accent, is spoken or understood by most of the population of Baltistan. Minor languages spoken in the area include Wakhi spoken in upper Hunza and some villages in Ghizer, while Khowar is the major language of Ghizer. Burushaski is an isolated language spoken in Hunza, Nagir, Yasin (where Khowar is also spoken), some parts of Gilgit and some villages of Punyal. Another interesting language is Domaaki, spoken by the musician clans of the region.Recent history
The region comprised many small states, ruled by hereditary Mirs in Hunza and Raas in Gilgit. Some parts of the region were invaded by Kashmir and nominally the states were governed as a part of Kashmir for many years. Locally, this association with Kashmir is disputed by some who regard themselves as being distinct from Kashmiris. There is also some support for the region to become a province of Pakistan, separately from Kashmiri regions. The region's lack of representation in the Pakistani Parliament has placed it outside the mainstream politics of the country and is a major cause of frustration to the local population. Unlike Azad Kashmir, the Northern Areas are governed directly by Pakistan as a de facto federal dependency.Ancient history
The southern route of the ancient Silk Road passes through the area, travelled by merchants from many far-off places who may have stopped here and inter-married with the locals. It had long been speculated that the relatively fair-skinned and, in places, light-haired people of the area were descendants of the Greeks who, beginning with the soldiers of Alexander the Great, and continuing in the Greco-Buddhist period, settled in the region (see Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek). However, recent DNA analysis has failed to find any evidence of Greek ancestry. It is now thought that much of the population is descended from various aboriginal peoples as well as the descendants of Indo-Iranian tribes and the possible Tocharian-speaking Yuezhi people from Gansu, who ruled the region during the Kushan era.
The Kashmir dispute
- Main articles: Indo-Pakistani Wars, Azad Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state with a Muslim majority ruled by a Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh until 1947. In 1947, when the Indian subcontinent achieved independence from United Kingdom, Hari Singh could not decide whether to join India or Pakistan. Soon after the independence, Pathan tribesman from Pakistan's North Western Frontier backed by the Pakistani Army, invaded the state because of the rumours that the Hindu Maharaja was going to cede a Muslim Kashmir to the Union of India. With no defence forces and a detoriating human rights condition, the Maharaja was compelled to ask India for military assistance. India's then Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten, favored the state's accession to India, to which the Maharaja agreed. After the Instrument of Accession was signed, the National Conference's Shiekh Abdullah became the head of the Kashmir State government. By January 1948, Indian troops landed in the region and claimed the territory as a part of the Union of India. Pakistan, immediately contested the accession and invaded Kashmir. After months of intense fighting, both the nations agreed on a cease-fire, separating the region into two: Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. In 1961, China invaded India and occupied the north-eastern region of the country known as Aksai Chin, which India claims to be its integral part.
Ever since, a bitter enmity has been developed between India and Pakistan. The two countries have been to war twice over Kashmir (1947-1949, 1965), and clashed there again during the Kargil Conflict of 1999. The region remains one of the most heavily militarised zones in the world. The de facto situation, as of 2005, is that Pakistan controls the western third, India controls much of the rest apart from two small regions occupied by China.
Notes
- Pakistan Trekking Guide, by Isobel and Ben Shaw, 1993.
See also
- Karakoram
- Karakoram Highway
- Indus River
- List of mountains in Pakistan
- Kargil War
- Northern Light Infantry
- Balawaristan
Image Gallery
Mountains
Towns
Lakes
Transport
External links
- Official
- [Northern Areas Development Gateway]
- [Northern Areas tourism]
- [Kashmir Quake of 2005's impact on the Northern Areas]
- [Mountain Areas Conservancy Project]
- [Snow Leopard Conservancy]
- Articles
- [Photographs by Waqas Usman]
- [BBC article entitled 'Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma']
- [Dawn.com article entitled 'And when the tourists come']
- [Dawn.com article entitled 'In search of identity']
- [Daily Times article entitled 'Not 'Mir of Hunza'']
- [Paknews.com article entitled 'Pakistan's Northern Areas']
- [Monitor.net article entitled 'Northern Pakistan's Karakoram & Hindu Kush Mountains']
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