Ladakh

Ladakh ལ་དྭགས་
Region
Taglang La mountain pass in Ladakh
Ladakh (pink) in a map of Indian-administered Kashmir
Ladakh District headquarters of Leh District
Coordinates: 34°10′12″N 77°34′48″E / 34.17000°N 77.58000°E / 34.17000; 77.58000Coordinates: 34°10′12″N 77°34′48″E / 34.17000°N 77.58000°E / 34.17000; 77.58000
Country	India
State	Jammu and Kashmir
Area
• Total	86,904 km2 (33,554 sq mi)
Population (2001)
• Total	270,126
• Density	3.1/km2 (8.1/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Ladakhi, Tibetan, Urdu, Balti
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration	Leh: JK10; Kargil: JK07
Main cities	Leh, Kargil
Infant mortality rate	19% (1981)
Website	leh.nic.in, kargil.nic.in

Ladakh ("land of high passes") (Ladakhi: ལ་དྭགས la'dwags; Hindi: लद्दाख़ laddākh; Urdu: لَدّاخ‎) is a region in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir that currently extends from the Kunlun mountain range to the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir and its culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet.

Historically, the region included the Baltistan (Baltiyul) valleys (now mostly in Pakistan), the entire upper Indus Valley, the remote Zanskar, Lahaul and Spiti to the south, much of Ngari including the Rudok region and Guge in the east, Aksai Chin in the northeast (extending to the Kun Lun Mountains), and the Nubra Valley to the north over Khardong La in the Ladakh Range. Contemporary Ladakh borders Tibet to the east, the Lahaul and Spiti regions to the south, the Vale of Kashmir, Jammu and Baltiyul regions to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and culture. Aksai Chin is one of the disputed border areas between China and India. It is administered by China as part of Hotan County but is also claimed by India as a part of the Ladakh region of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1962, China and India fought a brief war over Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, but in 1993 and 1996 the two countries signed agreements to respect the Line of Actual Control.