Baltistan

Baltistan (Urdu: بلتستان‎, Balti: བལ་ཏི་སྟྰན), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet (Balti: བལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།), is a mountainous region on the border between Pakistan and India, 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 metres (10,990 ft).

Baltistan borders Gilgit Division in the west, Xinjiang Autonomous Region (China) in the north, Ladakh in the east, and the Kashmir Valley in the south. Since 1947, the region has been divided by the Line of Control, with four of its five districts – Skardu, Gangche, Shigar and Kharmang – belonging to Pakistan while the Kargil district has been a part of Jammu and Kashmir in India. A small portion of Baltistan, including the village of Turtuk in the Nubra Valley, lies in the Ladakh district of Jammu & Kashmir.

The region is inhabited principally by the Balti people of Tibetan descent. Millennia-old Tibetan culture, customs, norms, language and script is still present even in a predominantly Muslim society. The vast majority of the population adheres to Islam. The Skardu district has a majority Shia community of around 60%, 30% Noorbakhsh and 10% other sects, while the Gangche district has a majority of Noorbakhsh community of around 90%.