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Azad Kashmir (formally the Islamic Republic of Azad Jammu and Kashmir) is part of the Pakistani-controlled part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Northern Areas." The name means "Free Kashmir" in Urdu. It covers an area of 13,300 kmē (5134 milesē), with its capital at Muzaffarabad, and it has an estimated population of over 2 million people. The region is extremely mountainous and includes a significant part of the Himalayas, but does not include Nanga Parbat, the world's seventh highest mountain, which falls within that part called the " Northern Areas".Pakistan divided the areas of Kashmir it occupied after 1947 into three parts:
- Azad ("Free") Kashmir, 250 miles in length with width varying from 10 to 40 miles, 13,300 kmē (5134 milesē),
- Northern Areas , a much larger area, 72,496 kmē (27,991 miē), incorportated into Pakistan and administered as a de facto dependency, and
- A small part, the Trans-Karakoram Tract, of Northern Areas that was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963.
The Islamic Republic of Azad Jammu and Kashmir is autonomous, with its own elected President, Prime Minister, Legislature, High Court etc.
Demography
The population of Azad Kashmir comprises the Hindko, the Potwari (whose language includes the Mirpuri dialect) and the nomadic Gujjars, who largely inhabit the upper hills and slopes.
[Both Hindko and Pothohari are related to Punjabi, but have very distinct separate features. Potwari is spoken in the UK by the Mirpuri community: Mirpuri is a local dialect of Potwari spoken in and around Mirpur and Kotli district.]
Azad Kashmir is almost predominantly Muslim.
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