Fact Sheet: Gilgit-Baltistan Elections

Gilgit-Baltistan, formally known as the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA), is an autonomous region northern Pakistan with separate government and electoral systems. The region, which was part of the formerly princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, is contested by Pakistan, India and the native inhabitants. In 1970, it became a single administrative unit called the Northern Areas under administrative control of the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, formed from the amalgamation of the Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan District of the Ladakh Wazarat, and the states of Hunza and Nagar. The region is divided into two administrative divisions: Gilgit and Baltistan/Skardu, and covers 72,971 km with an estimated population of 1.3 million.