Gurez

For the village in Albania, see Gurëz. For the village in Bihar, India, see Gurez, Bhojpur.

Gurez
Guráai
Gurais
Tehsil
View of Habba Khatoon in Gurez
View of Habba Khatoon in Gurez
Gurez is located in Jammu and Kashmir
Gurez
Gurez
Location in Jammu and Kashmir
Gurez is located in India
Gurez
Gurez
Gurez (India)
Coordinates: 34°38′00″N 74°50′00″E / 34.6333°N 74.8333°E / 34.6333; 74.8333
CountryIndia
Union TerritoryJammu and Kashmir
DistrictBandipora
Government
 • Vidhan Sabha ConstituencyGurez
 • MLAVacant[2]
 • Sub-Divisional MagistrateDr. Mudasir Ahmad Wani, JKAS[3]
Elevation
2,580 m (8,460 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total37,992[1]
Demographics
 • Literacy[1]59.17%
 • Sex ratio[1]653 ♀/ 1000 ♂
Languages
 • OfficialKashmiri, Urdu, Hindi, Dogri, English[4][5]
 • SpokenShina, Kashmiri
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
193503
Vehicle registrationJK-15
Websitebandipore.nic.in

Gurez, or Gurais[6] (Guráai in the local Shina language),[7] is a valley located in the high Himalayas, about 86 kilometres (53 mi) from Bandipore and 123 kilometres (76 mi) from Srinagar, to the north of the Kashmir valley. At about 2,400 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It has diverse fauna and wildlife including the Himalayan brown bear and the snow leopard. The Kishanganga River flows through the valley.[8]

The valley lies near the Line of Control, which separates it from the Astore and Neelum districts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Being situated very close to the Burzil Pass, which leads into Astore, the inhabitants are ethnic Dards/Shins. They speak the Shina language and have the same styles of dress and culture as their kinsmen in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan.[9]

Dawar is the central township in the area. The population of the area is estimated to be about 30,000, and is scattered among fifteen villages. Tourism industry is emerging, hotels like Gurez knights, kaka Palace, wood vibes provide service to tourists.

Due to heavy snowfall (around 2 metres (7 ft)) and closure of Razdan Pass in winter, the valley remains cut off for six months of the year.[10]

Gurez is 143 km from Srinagar. From Srinagar to Bandipore it is 57 km via sumbal & from Bandipora to Gurez it is around 86 km totalling 143 km from Capital Srinagar. The people of Gurez speak Shina & Kashmiri & are influenced by Kashmiri culture.

  1. ^ a b c "Bandipora district census" (PDF). Govt of India Census. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  2. ^ Rashid, Hakeem Irfan. "Jammu and Kashmir Assembly dissolved". The Economic Times. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  3. ^ "SDM Office Gurez". Twitter.
  4. ^ "The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Parliament passes JK Official Languages Bill, 2020". Rising Kashmir. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  6. ^ Spelt گُریز in Kashmiri and گورأى in Shina
  7. ^ Schmidt, Ruth Laila; Kaul, Vijay Kumar (2008). "A comparative analysis of Shina and Kashmiri vocabularies". Acta Orientalia. 69: 231–303. doi:10.5617/ao.7372. In this orthography áa represent a long a with a high falling pitch.
  8. ^ Benanav, Michael (17 September 2018). "A Journey to Kashmir's Gurez Valley". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "Gurez an introduction". 4 January 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009.
  10. ^ Kumar, Sonali; Kumar, Prasenjeet (27 May 2017). The Outsider's Curse: A Memoir of the First "Outsider" Lady IAS Officer.