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Gilgit-Baltistan (Urdu: , Balti: , formerly known as the Northern Areas ( , )), is the northernmost political entity within Pakistan. It borders Pakistan's Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province to the west, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor to the north, China to the east and northeast, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the southeast. Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of 72,971 km2 (28,174 mi2) and is highly mountainous. It has an estimated population approaching 1,000,000. Its administrative center is the city of Gilgit (population 216,760). The territory became a single administrative unit in 1970 under the name Northern Areas and was formed by the amalgamation of the Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan District of the Ladakh Wazarat, and the states of Hunza and Nagar. Gilgit-Baltistan and the neighboring Azad Kashmir together constitute the distputed region, referred to as Pakistan-administered Kashmir by the United Nations and other international organisations, and as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in India. |