Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Urdu: آزاد کشمیر), is part of the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Northern Areas. The name Azad Kashmir means "Free Kashmir" in Urdu. India does not recognize Azad Kashmir as a part of Pakistan and refers to the region encompassing Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas as Pakistan Occupied

General Information and Recent History

The region is extremely mountainous and includes a significant part of the Himalayas, but does not include Nanga Parbat, the world's seventh highest mountain peak, which falls within the "Northern Areas".

After the partition of India in 1947 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, Pakistan gained administrative rights to a portion of Kashmir as per a cease-fire agreement. Pakistan divided the region into three administrative sub-regions:

1. Azad Kashmir, 250 miles (400 km) in length with the width varying from 10 to 40 miles (15 to 65 km), 13,300 km² (5,135 mi²),
2. Northern Areas, a much larger area, 72,496 km² (27,991 mi²), incorporated into Pakistan and administered as a de
   
   
   
   facto dependency, and
3. A small part, the Trans-Karakoram Tract, of the Northern Areas that was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963.

Parts of Azad Kashmir wer lost to Indian forces in the 1971 war before were returned by India as part of the Simla Accord, in 1972.

Azad Kashmir is nominally autonomous, with its own elected President, Prime Minister, Legislature, High Court etc.

Demography

Although a proper census has not been taken in recent years, the best estimates conclude that the Azad Kashmir region has approximately 3.1 million inhabitants.

The population of Azad Kashmir includes Kashmiris and also comprises Hindko-speaking Pathans, the Potwari (whose language includes the Mirpuri dialect) and the nomadic Gujjars, who largely inhabit the upper hills and slopes. Tribes or clans (biraderi) are important for some groups in the region and include: the Sudhan(Sadozai) , Rajputs, Mirpuri Jats, and Gujjars.

The Hindko and Potwari languages are both related to Punjabi, but have distinct separate features. Potwari is spoken in the United Kingdom by the Mirpuri community; Mirpuri is a local dialect of Potwari spoken in and around the Mirpur and Kotli districts. About 700,000 Mirpuris live in the United Kingdom today.

Azad Kashmir is predominantly Muslim, although over 100,000 Hindus and Sikhs lived there until 1947.

Geography

See also

• Pakistan
• Muzaffarabad
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Kashmiri
• Indo-Pakistan Wars