Northern Areas of Pakistan

Gilgit-Baltistan گلگت بلتستان
Administrative territory of Pakistan
Top left to right: Attabad Lake, K2, Passu, Cold Desert and Deosai National Park
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): GB
Gilgit-Baltistan is shown in red hatching. Rest of Pakistan is shown in white. The Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir is shown by hatching.
Coordinates: 35°21′N 75°54′E / 35.35°N 75.9°E / 35.35; 75.9Coordinates: 35°21′N 75°54′E / 35.35°N 75.9°E / 35.35; 75.9
Country	Pakistan
Established	1 Nov 1948
Capital	Gilgit
Largest city	Skardu
Government
• Type	Self-governing territory of Pakistan
• Body	Legislative assembly
• Governor	Mir Ghanzafar Ali
• Chief Minister	Hafeezur Rahman
Area
• Total	72,971 km2 (28,174 sq mi)
Population (2015)
• Total	1,800,000
Time zone	PKT (UTC+5)
ISO 3166 code	PK-GB
Main languages	Balti, Shina, Burushaski
Assembly seats	33
Districts	10
Towns	9
Website	gilgitbaltistan.gov.pk

Provincial symbols of the Gilgit-Baltistan

Animal	Wild yak
Bird	Shaheen falcon
Tree	Himalayan oak
Flower	Granny's bonnet
Sport	Yak polo

Gilgit-Baltistan (Urdu: گلگت بلتستان‎), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is the northernmost administrative territory in Pakistan. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China, to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir to the southeast. Gilgit-Baltistan is part of the Kashmir region that is disputed by India and Pakistan, along with Azad Kashmir, Aksai Chin, the Shaksgam Valley, and Jammu, Ladakh, and the Valley of Kashmir.

The territory of present-day Gilgit-Baltistan became a separate administrative unit in 1970 under the name "Northern Areas". It was formed by the amalgamation of the former Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan district and several small former princely states, the larger of which being Hunza and Nagar. In 2009, it was granted limited autonomy and renamed to Gilgit-Baltistan via the Self-Governance Order signed by Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, which also aimed to empower the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. However, scholars state that the real power rests with the governor and not with chief minister or elected assembly. The population of Gilgit-Baltistan wants to be merged into Pakistan as a separate fifth province and opposes integration with Kashmir. The Pakistani government has rejected Gilgit-Baltistani calls for integration with Pakistan on the grounds that it would jeopardise its demands for the whole Kashmir issue to be resolved according to UN resolutions.