Baltistan

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Baltistan (Urdu: بلتستان) , also known as Baltiyul in the Balti language, is a region to the north of Kashmir, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. It is situated in the Karakoram mountains just to the south of K2, the world's second highest mountain. It is an extremely mountainous region, with an average altitude of over 3,350 m (11,000 ft). It is inhabited principally by Balti Muslims of Tibetan descent.

The region is divided between India and Pakistan. The districts of Skardu (Skardo) and Ganche) which is a part of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), is a disputed territory claimed by both India and Pakistan, but controlled by Pakistan, a de facto federal dependency of Pakistan administered directly from Islamabad; its main town is Skardu. It contains the highest peaks of the Karakoram, including K2. Indian Baltistan (the district of Kargil) is located in the north of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

1 Geography
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Geography

This article is largely based on the article in the out-of-copyright 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which was produced in 1911. It should be brought up to date to reflect subsequent history or scholarship (including the references, if any). When you have completed the review, replace this notice with a simple note on this article's talk page. Thanks!

Karakorum Highway and Indus

Baltistan is often called "little Tibet". The adjoining territory of Baltistan forms the west extremity of Tibet, whose natural limits here are the Indus from its abrupt southward bend in 74 45 E., and the mountains to the north and west, separating a comparatively peaceful Tibetan population from the fiercer Aryan tribes beyond. Muslim writers about the 16th century speak of Baltistan as Little Tibet, and of Ladakh as Great Tibet, thus ignoring the really Great Tibet altogether. The Balti call Gilgit a Tibet, and Dr Leitner says that the Chilasi call themselves But or Tibetans; but, although these districts may have been overrun by the Tibetans, or have received rulers of that race, the ethnological frontier coincides with the geographical one given. Baltistan is a mass of lofty mountains, the prevailing formation being gneiss. In the north is the Baltoro glacier, the largest out of the arctic regions, 35 miles long, contained between two ridges whose highest peaks to the south are 25,000ft and to the north 28,265ft. The Indus, as in Lower Ladakh, runs in a narrow gorge, widening for nearly 20 m. after receiving the Shyok. The capital, Skardu, a scattered collection of houses, stands here, perched on a rock 7250 ft. above the sea. The house roofs are flat, occupied only in part by a second storey, the remaining space being devoted to drying apricots, the chief staple of the main valley, which supports little cultivation. But the rapid slope westwards is seen generally in the vegetation. Birch, plane, spruce and Pinus excelsa appear; the fruits are finer, including pomegranate, pear, peach, vine and melon, and where irrigation is available, as in the North Shigar, and at the deltas of the tributary valleys, the crops are more luxuriant and varied.

Baltistan consists of five velleys namely Kharmang (Kartakhsha), Khaplu, Skardu, Shigar and Rondu (Rongyul). Important villages include Kharmang, Tolti, Ghasing, Mehdi Abad (Parkuta) in Kharmang valley.