List of districts of Jammu and Kashmir

Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir

Prior to 1947, Kashmir was a princely state under the paramountcy of the British Indian Empire. The central part of the princely state was administratively divided into the provinces Jammu and Kashmir. In addition there were frontier districts and semi-autonomous jagirs (principalities). They were subdivided as follows:^[2]

• Kashmir province: Districts of Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla and Muzaffarabad. (Muzzafarabad later became part of Azad Kashmir.)
• Internal jagirs: Poonch (half of it later became part of Azad Kashmir), Chenani and Bhaderwah
• Jammu province: Districts of Jammu, Udhampur and Mirpur (later became part of Azad Kashmir)
• Frontier districts:

• Ladakh district with three sub-districts: Leh, Kargil and Skardu (Skardu later became part of Gilgit-Baltistan.)
• Gilgit district with two sub-districts: Gilgit and Astore. (Both later became part of Gilgit-Baltistan.)
• Frontier ilaqas comprising Punial, Ishkoman, Yasin, Kuh Ghizar, Hunza, Nagar and Chilas. (All of these regions later became part of Gilgit-Baltistan.)

The Gilgit district and the frontier ilaqas were administered by the British administration as the Gilgit Agency, which were returned to the princely state prior to the Partition of India.

Partition

After the partition of India and subsequent independence of India and Pakistan, in October 1947, following a rebellion coupled with a tribal invasion from newly independent Pakistan, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in return for armed assistance. India and Pakistan fought the First Kashmir War that lasted through 1948, at the end of which large parts of the three western districts of Mirpur, Poonch and Muzaffarabad, the whole of the Gilgit Agency and the Skardu sub-district of Ladakh came under Pakistani control. The remainder of the princely state had been organised as a state of India under the name Jammu and Kashmir.

Inside India

The territory under Indian control include:^[3][4]

• Jammu Division: districts of Jammu, Kathua, Vijaypur, Bari Brahmana, Chak Dayala, Samba, Katra, Batote, Birpur, Doda, Batote, Lakhanpur, Udhampur, Reasi; the jagirs of Chenani and Bhaderwah; 11 per cent of the Mirpur district and 40 per cent of the Poonch jagir.^[5]
• Kashmir Division: Kashmir South (Anantnag) and Kashmir North (Baramulla); 13 per cent of the Muzaffarabad district.^[5]

The districts were reorganised by 1968, breaking up some of the larger districts.^[6] In 2006, eight new districts were created: Kishtwar, Ramban, Reasi, Samba, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kulgam and Shopian.^[7]

In August 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was passed by both houses of the Indian Parliament. The provisions contained in the bill reorganised the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories; Jammu and Kashmir (union territory) and Ladakh with effect from 31 October 2019.

Jammu Division

More information Sl no., District ...

Sl no.	District	Headquarters	Established[9]	Subdivisions	Area[10]	Population As of 2011[update][10]	Population density	Map
1	Doda	Doda	1948	Assar Thathri Gandoh[11]	2,625 km2 (1,014 sq mi)[12]	409,576	156/km2 (400/sq mi)
2	Jammu	Jammu	Before 1947	ACR Jammu Jammu South Jammu North R.S. Pura Marh Akhnoor Chowki Choura Khour[13]	2,342 km2 (904 sq mi)[14]	1,526,406	652/km2 (1,690/sq mi)
3	Kathua	Kathua	1963	Basholi Bilawar/Badnota Hiranagar Bani[15]	2,502 km2 (966 sq mi)[16]	615,711	246/km2 (640/sq mi)
4	Kishtwar	Kishtwar	2007	Chatroo Marwah Paddar[17]	7,737 km2 (2,987 sq mi)[18]	231,037	30/km2 (78/sq mi)
5	Poonch	Poonch	1947	Mendhar Surankote[19]	1,674 km2 (646 sq mi)[20]	476,820	285/km2 (740/sq mi)
6	Rajouri	Rajouri	1967[21]	Nowshera Sunderbani Kalakote Kotranka Thanamandi[22]	2,630 km2 (1,020 sq mi)[23]	619,266	235/km2 (610/sq mi)
7	Ramban	Ramban	2007	Banihal Ramsoo Gool[24]	1,329 km2 (513 sq mi)[25]	283,313	213/km2 (550/sq mi)
8	Reasi	Reasi	2007	Mahore Dharmari Katra[26]	1,719 km2 (664 sq mi)[27]	314,714	183/km2 (470/sq mi)
9	Samba	Samba	2007	Vijaypur Ghagwal[28]	904 km2 (349 sq mi)[29]	318,611	353/km2 (910/sq mi)
10	Udhampur	Udhampur	1931	Dudu Basantgarh Chenani Ramnagar[30]	2,637 km2 (1,018 sq mi)[31]	555,357	211/km2 (550/sq mi)
—	Total	Jammu		37	26,293 km2 (10,152 sq mi)	5,350,811	204/km2 (530/sq mi)

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Kashmir Division

More information Sl no., District ...

Sl no.	District	Headquarters	Established[9]	Subdivisions	Area	Population As of 2011[update][10]	Population density	Map
1	Anantnag	Anantnag	Before 1947[32]	Bijbehara Dooru Kokernag Pahalgam[33][34][35]	3,574 km2 (1,380 sq mi)[36]	1,070,144	299/km2 (770/sq mi)
2	Bandipore	Bandipore	2007	Sonawari Gurez[37]	345 km2 (133 sq mi)[38]	385,099	1,116/km2 (2,890/sq mi)
3	Baramulla	Baramulla	Before 1947	Sopore Uri Pattan Gulmarg[39]	4,243 km2 (1,638 sq mi)[40]	1,015,503	239/km2 (620/sq mi)
4	Budgam	Budgam	1979[41]	Beerwah Chadoora Khansahib[42]	1,361 km2 (525 sq mi)[43]	735,753	541/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
5	Ganderbal	Ganderbal	2007	Kangan[44]	1,045 km2 (403 sq mi)[45]	297,003	284/km2 (740/sq mi)
6	Kulgam	Kulgam	2007[46]	D.H. Pora (Noorabad)[46][47]	410 km2 (160 sq mi)[48]	422,786	1,031/km2 (2,670/sq mi)
7	Kupwara	Kupwara	1979[49]	Karnah Lolab[50]	2,379 km2 (919 sq mi)[51]	875,564	368/km2 (950/sq mi)
8	Pulwama	Pulwama	1979[52]	Tral[53]	1,086 km2 (419 sq mi)[54]	570,060	525/km2 (1,360/sq mi)
9	Shopian	Shopian	2007[55]	Zainapora[56]	312 km2 (120 sq mi)[57]	265,960	852/km2 (2,210/sq mi)
10	Srinagar	Srinagar	Before 1947	Srinagar ACR Srinagar East Srinagar West[58]	1,978.95 km2 (764.08 sq mi)[59]	1,269,751	642/km2 (1,660/sq mi)
—	Total	Srinagar		22	15,948 km2 (6,158 sq mi)	6,907,623	433/km2 (1,120/sq mi)

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Statehood and Union Territory demands

There are active political and social movements proposing the carving out of new states and union territories from the current administrative boundaries of Jammu and Kashmir.

Demands for new districts

Political representatives and local groups have frequently advocated for the creation of additional districts in the Jammu division, citing its significantly larger geographical area compared to the Kashmir division, despite both regions currently maintaining 10 districts each.^[67]