Northern Areas
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| Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) |
|
 |
 |
| Capital • Coordinates |
Gilgit • |
| Population (2003) • Density |
1,500,000 (estimated) • 20.7/km² |
| Area |
72496 km² |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| Main language(s) | Urdu (national) Shina (official) Balti Tibetan Wakhi Khajuna Khowar |
| Status | dependency |
| • Districts | • 6 |
| • Towns | • 7 |
| • Union Councils | • |
| Established • Governor/Commissioner • Chief Minister • Legislature (seats) |
1st July 1970 • Imran Ali • Irfan Ali and Shahid Hussain (dual role) • Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (29) |
| Website | Development Gateway |
The Northern Areas (Urdu: شمالی علاقہ جات, Shumālī Ilāqe Jāt), officially referred to by the government of Pakistan as the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA), is the northernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It borders Pakistan to the west, Afghanistan to the north, China to the northeast, the Pakistani-controlled state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to the south, and the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) to the southeast. The Northern Areas, which became a single administrative unit in 1970, was formed from the amalgamation of the Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan District of the Ladakh Wazarat, and the states of Hunza and Nagar. Northern Areas remains part of the Kashmir dispute and is claimed by India as part of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan regards the entire area of the Indian occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir as "territory in dispute" to be resolved by a plebiscite to be held throughout the former state in order to determine the area's accession to either India or Pakistan. In 1950, the government of India, ignoring a United Nations resolution on Kashmir, abandoned its pledge to hold a plebiscite. The government of Pakistan, while continuing to call for a plebiscite, has, so far, been unwilling to entertain the idea of a third option for that plebiscite, i.e., the choice of independence for the entire former state. The Ministry of Kashmir Affairs is controlled by Islamabad indirectly governs the Territory of the FANA.
