Ladakh

Ladakh
Region administered by India as a union territory[1]
From top to bottom: View of the Himalayas near Padum, Zanskar; Changthangi goats near Pangong lake
A map of the disputed Kashmir region with the two Indian-administered union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh shown in tan.[2]
A map of the disputed Kashmir region with the two Indian-administered union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh shown in tan.[2]
Coordinates: 34°09′51″N 77°35′05″E / 34.16417°N 77.58472°E / 34.16417; 77.58472
Administering stateIndia
Union territory31 October 2019[3]
CapitalsLeh,[4] Kargil[5]
Districts7
Government
 • BodyAdministration of Ladakh
 • Lieutenant GovernorB. D. Mishra
 • Member of ParliamentMohmad Haneefa (Independent)
 • High CourtHigh Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
 • Autonomous Hill Development CouncilsLAHDC Leh
LAHDC Kargil
Area
[6][a]
 • Total59,146 km2 (22,836 sq mi)
Highest elevation
(Saltoro Kangri[7])
7,742 m (25,400 ft)
Lowest elevation
(Indus River)
2,550 m (8,370 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total274,289
 • Density4.6/km2 (12/sq mi)
DemonymLadakhi
Languages
 • OfficialHindi and English[8]
 • RegionalLadakhi, Purgi, Shina and Balti
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
ISO 3166 codeIN-LA
Vehicle registrationLA[9]
Websiteladakh.nic.in

Ladakh (/ləˈdɑːk/)[10] is a region administered by India as a union territory[1] and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India and China since 1959.[2] Ladakh is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south, both the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north. It extends from the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram range to the north to the main Great Himalayas to the south.[11][12] The eastern end, consisting of the uninhabited Aksai Chin plains, is claimed by the Indian Government as part of Ladakh, but has been under Chinese control.[13][14][15][16]

In the past, Ladakh gained importance from its strategic location at the crossroads of important trade routes,[17] but as Chinese authorities closed the borders between Tibet Autonomous Region and Ladakh in the 1960s, international trade dwindled. Since 1974, the Government of India has successfully encouraged tourism in Ladakh. As Ladakh is strategically important, the Indian military maintains a strong presence in the region.

The largest town in Ladakh is Leh, followed by Kargil, each of which headquarters a district.[18] The Leh district contains the Indus, Shyok and Nubra river valleys. The Kargil district contains the Suru, Dras and Zanskar river valleys. The main populated regions are the river valleys, but the mountain slopes also support pastoral Changpa nomads. The main religious groups in the region are Muslims (mainly Shia) (46%), Buddhists (mainly Tibetan Buddhists) (40%), and Hindus (12%) with the remaining 2% made of other religions.[19][20] Ladakh is one of the most sparsely populated regions in India. Its culture and history are closely related to those of Tibet.[21]

Ladakh was established as a union territory of India on 31 October 2019, following the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, it was part of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Ladakh is both the largest and the second least populous union territory of India.[22][citation needed]

  1. ^ a b "Ladakh", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1 March 2021, archived from the original on 7 April 2022, retrieved 2 April 2022, Ladakh, large area of the northern and eastern Kashmir region, northwestern Indian subcontinent. Administratively, Ladakh is divided between Pakistan (northwest), as part of Gilgit-Baltistan, and India (southeast), as part of Ladakh union territory (until October 31, 2019, part of Jammu and Kashmir state); in addition, China administers portions of northeastern Ladakh.
  2. ^ a b 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 (e), 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 (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicised usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (j) below).
    (a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, archived from the original on 17 June 2015, 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, archived from the original on 2 April 2019, 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, archived from the original on 17 January 2023, retrieved 12 June 2023 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, archived from the original on 17 January 2023, retrieved 12 August 2019 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between 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) Skutsch, Carl (2015) [2007], "China: Border War with India, 1962", in Ciment, James (ed.), Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II (2nd ed.), London and New York: Routledge, p. 573, ISBN 978-0-7656-8005-1, The situation between the two nations was complicated by the 1957–1959 uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. Refugees poured across the Indian border, and the Indian public was outraged. Any compromise with China on the border issue became impossible. Similarly, China was offended that India had given political asylum to the Dalai Lama when he fled across the border in March 1959. In late 1959, there were shots fired between border patrols operating along both the ill-defined McMahon Line and in the Aksai Chin.
    (g) Clary, Christopher (2022), The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 109, ISBN 9780197638408, Territorial Dispute: The situation along the Sino-Indian frontier continued to worsen. In late July (1959), an Indian reconnaissance patrol was blocked, "apprehended," and eventually expelled after three weeks in custody at the hands of a larger Chinese force near Khurnak Fort in Aksai Chin. ... Circumstances worsened further in October 1959, when a major class at Kongka Pass in eastern Ladakh led to nine dead and ten captured Indian border personnel, making it by far the most serious Sino-Indian class since India's independence.
    (h) 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.), 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."
    (i) 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.";
    (j) 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'."
  3. ^ "The Gazette of India" (PDF). egazette.nic.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Ladakh Gets Civil Secretariat". 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  5. ^ "LG, UT Hqrs, Head of Police to have Sectts at both Leh, Kargil: Mathur". Daily Excelsior. 12 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  6. ^ "MHA.nic.in". MHA.nic.in. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  7. ^ "Saltoro Kangri, India/Pakistan". peakbagger.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  8. ^ Ganai, Naseer (19 January 2022). "Urdu No More Official Language Of Ladakh". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Part II—Section 3—Sub-section (ii)" (PDF), Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054, p. 2, 25 November 2019, archived (PDF) from the original on 30 November 2020, retrieved 4 December 2019
  10. ^ OED Online (December 2020), Ladakhi, n., Oxford University Press, retrieved 6 March 2021, /ləˈdɑːki/ A native or inhabitant of Ladakh, a district of eastern Kashmir. Attested use: 1911 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 59/1 It [sc. Ladakh] was, however, conquered and annexed in 1834–1841 by Gulab Singh of Jammu—the unwarlike Ladakhis, even with nature fighting on their side, and against indifferent generalship, being no match for the Dogra troops.
  11. ^ Jina, Ladakh (1996)
  12. ^ "Kashmir options. Maps showing the options and pitfalls of possible solutions. The Future of Kashmir?". In Depth – Kashmir Flashpoint. 19 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Saul B. Cohen, ed. (2008). "Aksai Chin". The Columbia Gazetteer of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-231-14554-1. LCCN 2008009181. OCLC 212893637. "divided between India and CHINA"
  14. ^ Alastair Lamb (25 March 2023). The China-India Border--the Origins Of Disputed Boundaries. London. p. 11. Retrieved 12 April 2024 – via archive.org.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ "As India and China clash, JFK's 'forgotten crisis' is back". Brookings. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Fantasy frontiers". The Economist. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  17. ^ Rizvi, Janet (2001). Trans-Himalayan Caravans – Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh. Oxford India Paperbacks.
  18. ^ Osada et al. (2000), p. 298.
  19. ^ Sandhu, Kamaljit Kaur (4 June 2019). "Government planning to redraw Jammu and Kashmir assembly constituency borders: Sources". India Today. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  20. ^ Rizvi, Janet (1996). Ladakh – Crossroads of High Asia. Oxford University Press.
  21. ^ Pile, Tim (1 August 2019). "Ladakh: the good, bad and ugly sides to India's 'Little Tibet', high in the Himalayas". South Chinan Morning Post. ProQuest 2267352786. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  22. ^ "Ladakh". IBEF. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.


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