Hunza District

Hunza District (IPA: [ɦʊnza], Urdu: ضلع ہنزہ, Burushaski: ہُنزݳ ضِلع‎) is a district of Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.^[1] It is one of the 10 districts of the Gilgit-Baltistan region. It was established in 2015 by the division of the Hunza–Nagar District in accordance with a government decision for administrative reforms in Gilgit-Baltistan.^[3] The district headquarters is the town of Baltit, officially known as Karimabad.

Administering countryPakistan

Established2015

HeadquartersKarimabad

Number of tehsils3

Quick facts ضلع ہنزہہُنزݳ ضِلع‎, Administering country ...

Hunza District ضلع ہنزہ ہُنزݳ ضِلع‎
District of Gilgit-Baltistan administered by Pakistan^[1]
Hussaini Village in Gojal (Upper Hunza)
A map showing Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region^[1]
Interactive map of Hunza District
Coordinates (Karimabad, Gilgit=Baltistan): 36°34′N 75°06′E
Administering country	Pakistan
Territory	Gilgit-Baltistan
Division	Gilgit Division
Established	2015
Headquarters	Karimabad
Government
• Type	District Administration
Area ^[2]
• Total	10,109 km² (3,903 sq mi)
Population (2023)
• Total	65,497^[2]
• Density	6.4791/km² (16.781/sq mi)
Number of tehsils	3

Close

Geography

The Hunza District largely coincides with the Hunza Valley. It is bounded on the north and east by the Kashgar Prefecture of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on the south by the Nagar District and the Shigar District, on the west by the Ghizer District, and on the north-west by the Wakhan District of Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province. It cover an area of 10,109 kilometers square.^[2]

Hunza is home to the historic passes through the Karakoram Mountains (the Killik, Mintaka, Khunjerab, and Shimshal passes) through which trade and religion passed between Central Asia, China, and India for centuries. The present-day Karakoram Highway passes through the Khunjerab Pass to enter China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Less than 3% of the district consists of alpine pastures, with over 96% of remaining area being permanently snow covered.^[4]

History

For over 900 years Hunza was an independent principality, ruled by the Ayasho dynasty. Hunza became a subject to the British Raj in 1891 after Anglo-Brusho war. It also paid tribute to China and the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, and received subsidiaries from all three powers. Thus Hunza was in the anomalous position of being subject to two sovereign powers at the same time, immensely complicating the relations between British India and the Chinese empire. The practice of tribute to China was eventually stopped in 1930s.^[5] After the partition of India into the present-day India and Pakistan in 1947, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acceded his state to India in order to defend it against an invasion by Pakistani tribesmen. A rebellion in Gilgit then overthrew the Maharaja's authority. The Mir of Hunza subsequently acceded his state to Pakistan, but the accession was never formally accepted, due to the Kashmir dispute in the United Nations.

The Hunza state was abolished in 1974, after which it became a subdivision of Gilgit District. Hunza-Nagar District was established in 2008, which was later bifurcated into present-day Hunza and Nagar districts in 2015.

Administration

Administratively, the Hunza District comprises three tehsils, Shinaki, Aliabad, and Gojal Tehsil. The villages of lower Hunza and central Hunza are located in the Aliabad Tehsil, whereas the villages from the Attabad Lake up to the Khunjerab Pass are located in the Gojal Tehsil. In lower Hunza, Shina is the main language, whereas in central Hunza, the dominant language is Burushaski, and in upper Hunza, Wakhi is the main language. District administration is exercised by the Deputy Commissioner (DC), with the assistance of an assistant commissioner. The Hunza police force is commanded by the Superintendent of Police (SP).

Demographics

As of 2023, the total population of Hunza District was 65,497. The population is predominantly Muslim, with the majority being Nizari Isma'ili. Followers of Twelver Shi'ism and Sunnism also inhabit Hunza.^{[citation needed]}

References

[1]
The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (e), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (j) below).
(a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
(b) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
(c) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6 C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
(d) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
(e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-0-300-19694-8 Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.";
(f) Skutsch, Carl (2015) [2007], "China: Border War with India, 1962", in Ciment, James (ed.), Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II (2nd ed.), London and New York: Routledge, p. 573, ISBN 978-0-7656-8005-1, The situation between the two nations was complicated by the 1957–1959 uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. Refugees poured across the Indian border, and the Indian public was outraged. Any compromise with China on the border issue became impossible. Similarly, China was offended that India had given political asylum to the Dalai Lama when he fled across the border in March 1959. In late 1959, there were shots fired between border patrols operating along both the ill-defined McMahon Line and in the Aksai Chin.
(g) Clary, Christopher (2022), The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 109, ISBN 9780197638408, Territorial Dispute: The situation along the Sino-Indian frontier continued to worsen. In late July (1959), an Indian reconnaissance patrol was blocked, "apprehended," and eventually expelled after three weeks in custody at the hands of a larger Chinese force near Khurnak Fort in Aksai Chin. ... Circumstances worsened further in October 1959, when a major class at Kongka Pass in eastern Ladakh led to nine dead and ten captured Indian border personnel, making it by far the most serious Sino-Indian class since India's independence.
(h) Bose, Sumantra (2009), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, pp. 294, 291, 293, ISBN 978-0-674-02855-5 Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million.), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control."
(i) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 166, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2 Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir.";
(j) Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-1-84904-621-3 Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
[2]
"Gilgit Baltistan at a Glance 2024" (PDF). Planning & Development Department Statistical & Research Cell (SRC), Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. June 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
[3]
"Dividing governance: Three new districts notified in G-B - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
[4]
Shah, Imran. "Hunza District". Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
[5]
Mehra, An "agreed" frontier 1992, pp. 1–14.