The Baltis are a Tibetic ethnic group who are native to the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit−Baltistan and the Indian-administered territory of Ladakh, predominantly in the Kargil district with smaller concentrations present in the Leh district. Outside of the Kashmir region, Baltis are scattered throughout Pakistan, with the majority of the diaspora inhabiting prominent cities such as Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
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👉 Balti people in the context of Shigar
Shigar (Urdu: شگر) is the headquarter of its namesake district and tehsil in the Baltistan division of Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan. It is located on the bank of the Shigar River in the most remote part of the region. It is a popular site for tourists and trekkers and contains many historical buildings of architectural significance associated with several different communities.
The town is inhabited almost exclusively by the Balti people of Tibetan descent. Almost 65% of the population belongs to the Shia sect of Islam, 26% to the Norbakhshi sect and the remaining to the Sunni sect. Via the Shigar Valley, it is the gateway to the Karakoram mountain range, which has five eight-thousanders, including K2.
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Balti people in the context of Ethnic groups in Pakistan
Pakistan is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country. The major Pakistani ethnolinguistic groups include Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Saraikis, Muhajirs, Balochs, Hindkowans/Hazarewals, Brahuis, and Kohistanis as well as Shina, Baltis, Kashmiris, Paharis, Chitralis, Torwalis, Hazaras, Burusho, Wakhis, Kalash, Siddis, Uzbeks, Nuristanis, Pamiris and various other smaller minorities.
Balti people in the context of Balti language
Balti (Perso-Arabic script: بلتی, Tibetan script: སྦལ་ཏི།, Wylie: sbal ti) is a Tibetic language natively spoken by the ethnic Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Nubra Valley of the Leh district and the Kargil district of Ladakh, India. The language differs from Standard Tibetan; many sounds of Old Tibetan that were lost in Standard Tibetan are retained in the Balti language. It also has a simple pitch accent system only in multi-syllabic words while Standard Tibetan has a complex and distinct pitch system that includes tone contour. Due to effects of dominant languages in Pakistani media like Urdu, Punjabi and English and religious impact of Arabic and Persian languages, Balti, like other regional languages of Pakistan, is continuously expanding its vocabulary base with loanwords.
Balti people in the context of Baltistan Division
Baltistan Division (Urdu: بلتستان ڈویژن) is a first-order administrative division of Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. It overlaps with the historical Baltistan region, and is primarily inhabited by the Balti people.
The divisional headquarters of the Baltistan Division is the town of Skardu. Since divisions were restored in 2008, the Baltistan Division currently consists of five districts. The figures for area and population are as per the Government of Gilgit Baltistan. In brackets are the figures given by the UNOSAT. Note that UNOSAT gives the total area of Gilgit Baltistan as 70,226 km (27,114 sq mi), as opposed to the official figures of 72,496 km (27,991 sq mi).