Great Himalayas in the context of "Arunachal Pradesh"

34°30′N 76°30′E / 34.5°N 76.5°E / 34.5; 76.5

Kashmir (/ˈkæʃmɪər/ KASH-meer or /kæʃˈmɪər/ kash-MEER) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since also come to encompass a larger area that formerly comprised the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and includes the Indian-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.

The Lower Himalayan Range, also called the Lesser Himalayas and Mahabharat Lekh or Himachal, is one of the four parallel sub-ranges of the Himalayas. It has the Great Himalayas to the north and the Sivalik Hills to the south. It extends from the Indus River Basin to the Brahmaputra Valley, traversing across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal China and Bhutan. The sub-range has an average elevation of 3,700–4,500 m (12,100–14,800 ft).

The Western Himalayas are the western half of the Himalayas, in northwestern India and northern Pakistan. Four of the five tributaries of the Indus River in Punjab (Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, and Ravi) rise in the Western Himalayas; while the fifth, the Sutlej cuts through the range after rising in Tibet.

Included within the Western Himalayas are the Zanskar Range, the Pir Panjal Range, and the Dhauladhar Range, and western parts of the Sivalik Range and the Great Himalayas. The highest point is Nanga Parbat (26,660 feet or 8,126 metres), at the northwestern end of the region. It is part of the Himalayan biodiversity hotspot.

Kashmir (/ˈkæʃmɪər/ KASH-meer or /kæʃˈmɪər/ kash-MEER) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since also come to encompass a larger area that formerly comprised the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and includes the Indian-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.

In 1819, the Sikh Empire, under Ranjit Singh, annexed the Kashmir valley. In 1846, after the Sikh defeat in the First Anglo-Sikh War, and upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, became the new ruler of Jammu and Kashmir. The rule of his descendants, under the paramountcy (or tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until the Partition of India in 1947, when the former princely state of the British Indian Empire became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: China, India, and Pakistan.

The Zanskar Range is a mountain range in the union territory of Ladakh that separates the Zanskar valley from Indus valley at Leh. The range lies between and runs parallel to the Great Himalayas to the southwest and the Ladakh Range to the northeast. Geologically, the Zanskar Range is part of the Tethys Himalaya. There are a number of peaks higher than 6,500 m (21,300 ft). Its eastern part is known as Rupshu.

Kargil district is a district in Indian-administered Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir-region, which is administered as a union territory of Ladakh. It is named after the city of Kargil, where the district headquarters lies. The district is bounded by the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the west, the Pakistani-administered administrative territory of Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, Ladakh's Leh district to the east, and the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south. Encompassing the historical regions known as Purig, the district lies to the northeast of the Great Himalayas and encompasses part of the Zanskar Range. Its population inhabits the river valleys of Suru, Wakha Rong (not to be confused with the Rong Valley in Leh district), and Sod Valley.

Kargil district was originally created in 1979, when Ladakh was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2003, Kargil was granted a Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC). In 2019, Ladakh became a union territory, with Kargil and Leh being its joint capitals. In 2024, the Drass and Zanskar districts were separated out from Kargil district.