Gilgit in the context of "Shina language"

This is a list showing the most populous cities in Pakistan as of the 2023 Census of Pakistan. City populations found in this list only refer to the population found within the city's defined limits and any adjacent cantonment, if exists (except for Gujranwala and Okara). The census totals below come from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for the four provinces of Pakistan and the Islamabad Capital Territory, and from the Planning and Development Department of Azad Jammu Kashmir (PND AJK) for cities of Azad Kashmir.

As of the 2023 Pakistani census, there are two megacities, ten million-plus cities, in Pakistan. Overall 127 cities of the country, have a population of over 100,000. Of these 127 cities, 81 are located in the country's most populous province, Punjab, 22 in Sindh, 13 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 8 in Balochistan, two in Azad Kashmir, and one is the Islamabad Capital Territory itself. It is unknown whether Gilgit-Baltistan has any city with over 100,000 people or not, as 2017 census results issued by the Government of Gilgit–Baltistan do not give figures for the population of cities in Gilgit–Baltistan. As in the previous census in 1998, the largest city of Gilgit-Baltistan was Gilgit, with 56,701 inhabitants.

The Durand Line, also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a 2,640-kilometre (1,640 mi) international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. India also claims a land border with Afghanistan, on the eastern end of the Durand Line, between Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor and Gilgit, administered by Pakistan but also claimed by India as part of the disputed Kashmir region. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China.

The Durand Line was established in 1893 as the international border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Indian Empire by Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat of the Indian Civil Service, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the Emir of Afghanistan, to fix the limit of their respective spheres of influence and improve diplomatic relations and trade. Britain considered Afghanistan to be an independent state at the time, although they controlled its foreign affairs and diplomatic relations.

Baltistan (English: /ˌbɔːltɪˈstɑːn/, Urdu: [bəlt̪ɪst̪aːn]); also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and constitutes a northern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. It is located near the Karakoram (south of K2) and borders Gilgit to the west, China's Xinjiang to the north, Indian-administered Ladakh to the southeast, and the Indian-administered Kashmir Valley to the southwest. The average altitude of the region is over 3,350 metres (10,990 ft). Baltistan is largely administered under the Baltistan Division.

Prior to the partition of British India in 1947, Baltistan was part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, having been conquered by Gulab Singh's armies in 1840. Baltistan and Ladakh were administered jointly under one wazarat (district) of the state. The region retained its identity in this setup as the Skardu tehsil, with Kargil and Leh being the other two tehsils of the district. After Hari Singh, the last maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, acceded to the Dominion of India in 1947, his local governor in Gilgit was overthrown by the Gilgit Scouts, who then took the entire region for Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. The Gilgit Agency and Skardu tehsil, as well as a portion of Kargil tehsil, have since been under Pakistani governance while the Kashmir Valley as well as Leh tehsil and most of the Kargil tehsil remain under Indian governance. The Chorbat Valley, geographically in the Baltistan region, was de-facto partitioned when its four villages (with one Bogdang already under Indian control since 1947) were captured by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and were incorporated into the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (now in Ladakh).

The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the British East India Company following the Second Anglo-Sikh War. At its peak in the mid-19th century the empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east, and was divided into eight provinces. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 4.5 million in 1831 (making it the 19th most populous state at the time), it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the British Empire.

In 1799, Ranjit Singh of Sukerchakia Misl captured Lahore from the Sikh triumvirate which had been ruling it since 1765, and was confirmed on the possession of Lahore by the Durrani ruler, Zaman Shah. He was formally crowned on 12 April 1801 by Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period, from a leader of a single misl to finally becoming the Maharaja of Punjab. By 1813 all the remaining Sikh misls had been annexed by Ranjit Singh, and the following years saw progressive expulsion of the Afghans from Punjab; the Afghan influence east of Indus ended after the fall of Multan in 1818. In the subsequent decades Durrani Afghans lost Kashmir and Peshawar to the Sikhs as well. By 1840 Ladakh and Baltistan had been brought under Sikh suzerainty by Gulab Singh. Ranjit Singh modernised his army using the latest training as well as weapons and artillery.

The Gilgit District (Urdu: ضلع گلگت) is one of the 14 districts of Pakistan-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The headquarters of the district is the town of Gilgit. At the 1998 census, the Gilgit District had a population of 243,324. The district includes Gilgit (the capital city), the Bagrot Valley, Juglot, Danyore, Sultanabad, Naltar Peak, 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.

Juglot or Jaglot (formerly Sai) is a town located in the Gilgit District of Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan. It is situated 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of the regional capital city of Gilgit on the Karakoram Highway. The town is situated at the junction of three major mountain ranges: the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. The confluence of the Gilgit and Indus river is also located nearby.

Juglot is also the junction where the roads to Gilgit and Skardu split into different directions: the road to Skardu branches off by about six kilometres towards Gilgit.

Bunji (Urdu:بنجی) (Balti: بنجی) is a town in Astore District of Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan. It was historically important, being on the edge of the ancient Yagistan. It was economically a hub for barter trade between Yagistan and Dogras. The distance from Bunji to Gilgit is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) on the Karakoram Highway. Bunji, located at the junction of three Great Mountain Ranges, has its historical importance. The village has its prominent traces in the socio-political and economical situations of the region in History. Literacy rate of bunji is almost 100 percent except outsider coming from other places for jobs. River Indus covers the village from North to west while from eastern side it is connected with river Astore. Baltistan region joins its territory from the North-East.