Gilgit

Autonomous status and present-day Gilgit-Baltistan

On 29 August 2009, The Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009 WAS Passed By The Pakistani cabinet and later Signed By The country's President. The self-rule order GRANTED To The People of the form Northern Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan Renamed now, by Creating, Among Other Things, Elected Annually Legislative Assembly. There has-been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement-while rejecting The New Demanded That year package-independent and Autonomous Legislative Assembly for Gilgit-Baltistan Should Be Formed With The Installation of Local Government Authorities as per The UNCIP resolutions, Where the people of Gilgit-Baltistan elect Their Will The Prime Minister and President.
In early September 2009, Pakistan year agreement Signed With The People's Republic of China for a mega energy project in Gilgit-Baltistan Which Includes the construction of a 7,000-megawatt dam at Bunji In The Astore District. This also resulted in protest from India, although Indian Concerns Immediately Were Rejected by Pakistan, Which Claimed Thats the Government of India has no locus standi in the Matter.
On 29 September 2009 The Pakistan Prime Minister, while Addressing a huge gathering in Gilgit-Baltistan Announced a multi-billion rupee development package Aimed At The Socio-Economic uplifting of People in the area. Development projects include The Will Areas of education, health, agriculture, tourism & the Basic Needs of life.The Prime Minister Further Went There to Say:
"You are getting your identity today. It is your right and your demand has-been, and today we are Fulfilling it.

Subdivisions:

Map of Gilgit-Baltistan, Showing The Boundaries Of The previous six districts and Their tehsils. The Boundary Between The Recently Created Hunza-Nagar District and the now Gilgit District Small Is The Same As The northern boundary line of Gilgit Tehsil The train, Which Is The southernmost area Division Of The Above Shown in light blue. Sikanderabad, The Administrative Center of the New Hunza-Nagar district, yet is Not Shown On this map.
Gilgit-Baltistan IS Divided Into Two Divisions Administratively Which, in turn, are Divided Into Seven Districts, Including The Two Baltistan districts of Skardu and Ghanche, & the five districts of Gilgit Gilgit, Ghizer, Diamer, Astore, Hunza and Nagar. The centers are hand policy The Town of Gilgit and Skardu.

Geography and climate:

Gilgit-Baltistan borders the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan to the north-west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in north-eastern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to the south and southeast, the Pakistani state under control of Azad Jammu and Kashmir to the south, and Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province to the west.
Gilgit-Baltistan is home to five of the "eight thousanders" and more than fifty peaks over 7000 meters. Gilgit and Skardu are the two main centers for expeditions to the mountains. The region is home to some of the beaches in the world's highest mountain the main ranges are the Karakoram and western Himalayas. Pamir Mountains are north and the Hindu Kush to the west. Among the highest mountains are K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen) and Nanga Parbat The latter is one of the most feared mountains in the world.
Three of the world's longest glaciers outside the polar regions are located in Gilgit-Baltistan - Biafo Glacier, the Baltoro Glacier and the Batura Glacier. There are also several mountain lakes in Gilgit-Baltistan:

• Sheosar Lake in Deosai Plains - Astore region
• Satpara Tso Lake in Skardu - Baltistan
• Katzura Tso Lake in Skardu - Baltistan
• Zharba Tso Lake in Shigar - Baltistan
• Phoroq Tso Lake in Skardu - Baltistan
• Bara Tso Lake in Gangche - Baltistan
• Byarsa Tso Lake in Gultari - Baltistan
• Borith Lake in Gojal upper Hunza - Gilgit
• Rama Lake near Astore
• Rush Lake near Nagar - Gilgit
• Kromber Lake In Kromber Pass - Ishkoman Valley, Ghizer District
• Barodaroksh lake in Bar valley Nagar

Deosai plains are located above the tree line, and are the second highest plateau in the world at 4,115 meters (14,500 feet) after Tibet. The plateau lies east of Astore, Skardu and south west of Ladakh. The area was declared a national park in 1993. Deosai plains cover an area of nearly 5,000 square kilometers. For more than half of the year (between September and May), is Deosai snow-bound and cut off from the rest of Astore & Baltistan in winters. The village is close Deosai chokki Chilum and is connected with the Kargil district of Ladakh by an all-weather road.
Climate
The climate of Gilgit-Baltistan varies from region to region, the surrounding mountain ranges creates large variations in temperature. The eastern part of the wetland has the western Himalayas, but by going to the Karakoram and Hindu Kush dry climate considerably.
There are towns like Gilgit and Chilas are very hot during the day in summer, but cold at night, and valleys as Astore, Khaplu, Yasin, Hunza and Nagar, where temperatures are cold even in summer.

Economy and resources:

The economy of region is basically based on traditional route of trade through Silk Road. China Trade organization was the leading economic forum through which most of barter trade activity made a phenomenal change in the general economical outlook of the area which being the remotest region of Pakistan was neglected for over quarter of century. This forum led the people of the area to actively invest and learn the modern trade know how from its neighbor Xingkiang. The participation of the all ethnic groups and active force behind this activity, legendary economist of the area Ashraf Khan brought a great change in the region. Later the establishment of Chamber of commerce and SOst dry port(in Gojal Hunza) are milestones. Rest of the economy is shouldered by mainly agriculture and tourism. Agriculture such as: wheat, corn (maize), barley, fruits; Tourism is mostly in trekking and mountaineering and this industry is 'growing in importance.

Sports:

Polo is the favourite game of the people of Gilgit, Chilas, Astore, Hunza, Nagar and the surrounding areas.Every year, many tourists visit to enjoy polo in Gilgit-Baltistan.Other games such as cricket, Tuksori of Nagar, gulli danda, kabbadi, and volleyball are also played.

Transport:

Prior to 1978, Gilgit-Baltistan was cut off from Pakistan and rest of the world due to the harsh terrain and the lack of accessible roads. All of the roads to the south opened towards the Pakistani-controlled state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AKJ) and to the southeast towards the present-day Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir. During the summer, people could walk across the mountain passes to travel to Rawalpindi. The fastest way to travel, however, was by air, but air travel was accessible only to a few privileged local people and to Pakistani military and civilian officials. Then, with the assistance of the Chinese government, Pakistan began construction of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), which was completed in 1978. The Karakoram Highway (KKH) connects Islamabad to Gilgit and Skardu, which are the two major hubs for mountaineering expeditions in Gilgit-Baltistan. The journey from Islamabad to Gilgit takes approximately 20 to 24 hours. Landslides on the Karakoram Highway are very common. The KKH connects Gilgit to Tashkurgan and Kashgar in China via Sust (the customs and health inspection post on the Northern Areas side) and the Khunjerab Pass, the highest paved international border crossing in the world at 4,693 metres (15,397 feet).

Northern Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO) offers bus and jeep transport service to the two hubs and several other popular destinations, lakes, and glaciers in the area.

In March 2006, the respective governments announced that, commencing on June 1, 2006, a thrice-weekly bus service would begin across the boundary from Gilgit to Kashgar, China, and road widening work would begin on 600 kilometers of the Karakoram Highway. There would also be one daily bus in each direction between the Sust and Tashkurgan border areas of the two political entities.

Pakistan International Airlines used to fly a Fokker F27 daily between Gilgit Airport and Islamabad International Airport. Flying time is approximately 50 minutes, Dand the flight was one of the most scenic flights in the world, as his route passed through the mountain Nanga Parbat summit which was greater than the cruising altitude the plane. PIA also offers regular flights of Boeing 737 between Skardu and Islamabad. However, the Fokker F27 aircraft was retired after a crash at Multan in 2006. Currently, flights are operated by PIA Gilgit on the ATR42-500 aircraft while nine, which was purchased in 2006. With the new aircraft, cancellation of flights is much less than it was the Fokker aircraft. All flights, however, are subject to the conditions of leave, and in winter, 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. The population of this area is a mixture of many ethnic groups such as Shins, Yashkuns, Kashmiris, Kashgaris, Pathans,and Kohistanis. Ismailism is present here, unlike in the rest of Pakistan.Urdu is the lingua franca of the region, understood by most of the inhabitants. The Shina language (with several dialects like Asturjaa, Kharuchaa, chilasi) is the language of 60% of the population, spoken mainly in Gilgit, Astore throughout Diamer, and in some parts of Ghizer. The Balti dialect, a sub-dialect of Ladakhi and part of the Tibetan languages group, is spoken by the entire population of Baltistan. Minor languages spoken in the region include Wakhi, spoken in upper Hunza, and in some villages in Ghizer, while Khowar is the language of Ghizer. Burushaski is an isolated language spoken in Hunza, Nagar, Yasin (where Khowar is also spoken), in some parts of Gilgit and in some villages of Punyal. Another interesting language is Domaaki, spoken by the musician clans in the region. A small minority of people also speak Pashto.

Despite being referred to as part of Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan has few remnants of Kashmiri. At the last census (1998), the population of Gilgit and Baltistan was 870,347. Approximately 14% of the population was urban.