What is Gilgit Baltistan?
Q: What is Gilgit Baltistan?
A: Gilgit Baltistan is an autonomous territory of Pakistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas.
Q: How big is Gilgit Baltistan compared to other countries?
A: Gilgit Baltistan is bigger than Sierra Leone but smaller than Panama in terms of land area.
Q: How did it become part of Pakistan?
A: It was part of the former Princely state of Kashmir and Jammu in 1800s and later leased to British eventually liberated after a planned liberation movement led by Gilgit Scouts.
Q: What are its international borders?
A: It borders Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the south Indian-administered Kashmir in southeast where KPK province of Pakistan to the west, and internationally borders Afghanistan to the north, although Tajikistan is separated by fourteen kilometres via Wakhan Corridor, the People's Republic of China to the northeast.
Q: When was it formed into a single administrative unit?
A: Gilgit Baltistan was formed into a single administrative unit in 1970.
Q: What areas were amalgamated together for this formation? A: The areas that were amalgamated together for this formation were the Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan District of the Ladakh Wazarat, and the states of Hunza and Nagar.
Q: Is there any dispute over its status? A: Yes, there is a dispute over its status as it remains part of the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.
