What is "baltistan"

Baltistan (, ), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet , is a mountainous region on the border of Pakistan and India in the Karakoram mountains just south of K2 (the world's second-highest mountain). Its average altitude is over .

Baltistan borders Gilgit on the west, Xinjiang ( China) in the north, Ladakh on the southeast and the Kashmir Valley on the southwest. Until 1947, Baltistan and Ladakh were administered jointly under one wazarat (district) of Jammu and Kashmir. Baltistan retained its identity in this set-up as the Skardu tehsil, with Kargil and Leh being the other two tehsils of the district. After the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India, Gilgit Scouts overthrew the maharaja's governor in Gilgit and (with Azad Kashmir's irregular forces) "liberated" Baltistan. The Gilgit Agency and Baltistan have been governed by Pakistan ever since. The Kashmir Valley and the Kargil and Leh tehsils were retained by India. A small portion of Baltistan, including the village of Turtuk in the Nubra Valley, was incorporated into Ladakh after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

The region is inhabited primarily by Balti people of Tibetan descent. Millennia-old Tibetan culture, customs, norms, language and script still exist, although the vast majority of the population follows Islam. Baltistan is strategically significant to Pakistan and India; the Kargil and Siachen Wars were fought there. The region is the setting for Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea.