Gilgit District

Gilgit District
ضلع گلگت
گلیٗت ضلع
District of Gilgit-Baltistan
A map showing Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region
A map showing Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region
Interactive map of Gilgit District
Coordinates: 35°57′N 74°28′E / 35.950°N 74.467°E / 35.950; 74.467
Administering countryPakistan
TerritoryGilgit-Baltistan
DivisionGilgit Division
District HeadquartersGilgit
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • Deputy CommissionerAmeer Azam Hamza (DMS)
 • District Police OfficerAhmad Shah (PSP)
 • District Health OfficerN/A
Area
 • Total
4,208 km2 (1,625 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)
 • Total
324,552
 • Density77.13/km2 (199.8/sq mi)
Number of tehsils3

The Gilgit District (Urdu: ضلع گلگت) is a district in Pakistan-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The headquarters of the district is the town of Gilgit. The district includes the Bagrot Valley, Juglot, Danyore, Sultanabad, Naltar Valley, and the Nomal Valley. The highest peak in the district is Distaghil Sar 7,885 metres (25,869 ft), which is the seventh-highest peak in Pakistan and 19th highest in the world.

Geography

Map of Gilgit–Baltistan with the Gilgit District highlighted in red

Gilgit District is bounded on the north by the Nagar District, on the east by the Shigar District and the Rondu District, on the south by the Tangir District, the Diamer District, and the Astore District, and on the west by the Ghizer District. Less than 26% of the district consists of alpine pastures, with over 65% of remaining area being barren or permanently snow covered.

Rivers

The main rivers in the district are:

Lakes

Demographics

At the time of 2023 Census, Gilgit District had a population of 324,552.

In the 1941 census, the Gilgit District (then a tehsil) had a population of 22,495, distributed in 46 villages divided further into 12 subdivisions. Roughly 50% of the population followed Shia Islam and 49% other forms of Islam (Sunni). According to scholar Martin Sökefeld, the Sunni missionaries came from the south, Shia from the east and Ismaili from the north.

Education

According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings of 2015, the Gilgit District was ranked 35th out of 148 districts of Pakistan in terms of education. In terms of facilities and infrastructure, the district was ranked 67 out of 148.

Administration

Gilgit District is divided into three tehsils:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (d), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (f) through (h) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (i) below).
    (a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
    (b) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
    (c) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6 C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
    (d) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute betw een India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
    (e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-0-300-19694-8 Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.";
    (f) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "... China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region) since 1962.";
    (g) Bose, Sumantra (2009), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, pp. 294, 291, 293, ISBN 978-0-674-02855-5 Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million. AJK has six districts: Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Bagh, Kodi, Rawalakot, and Poonch. Its capital is the town of Muzaffarabad. AJK has its own institutions, but its political life is heavily controlled by Pakistani authorities, especially the military), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control."
    (h) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 166, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2 Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir.";
    (i) Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-1-84904-621-3 Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
  2. 1 2 3 "Gilgit Baltistan at a Glance 2024" (PDF). Planning & Development Department Statistical & Research Cell (SRC), Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. June 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  3. ↑ Shah, Imran. "Gilgit District". Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  4. ↑ Census of India, 1941, Volume XXII – Jammu and Kashmir, Part III (PDF), The Ranbir Government Press, 1943, pp. 522–525
  5. ↑ Sökefeld, Martin (2015), Spaces of Conflict in Everyday Life: Perspectives across Asia, transcript Verlag, pp. 14–15, ISBN 978-3-8394-3024-8
  6. ↑ "Individual district profile link, 2015". Alif Ailaan. Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2015-05-07.