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Northern Areas " The green areas are Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. The dark-brown areas are Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir while the Aksai Chin is under Chinese occupation" The green areas are Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. The dark-brown areas are Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir while the Aksai Chin is under Chinese occupation"Reflection of Diran peak (left, 7,257m) and Rakaposhi (right, 7,788m, peak not visible) as viewed from Tagafari base camp, Northern Areas of Pakistan." Reflection of Diran peak (left, 7,257m) and Rakaposhi (right, 7,788m, peak not visible) as viewed from Tagafari base camp, Northern Areas of Pakistan. is the northernmost region of Pakistan, with a population of approximately 1.1 million. 'Balawaristan' is the name given to the area by a regional nationalist movement (Balawaristan National Party) centred in Gilgit and is based on the belief that the area was once known as Balawar. The area west of the Indus, including contemporary Gilgit and Hunza, was known as the Gilgit Agency until October, 1947. India does not recognise the Northern Areas as belonging to Pakistan and refers to the region encompassing Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas as "Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)".

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To the northwest is the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan, a narrow strip of land that separating the region from southern Tajikistan. To the north and northeast lies the Xinjiang territory of China. To the southeast is the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir. To the south is Azad Kashmir and to the west and southwest lies the North-West Frontier Province.

The Northern Areas collectively comprise a territory of 27,991 mi² (72,496 km²).

The Northern Areas have some of the worlds highest mountain ranges — the main ranges are the Karakoram and the western Himalayas. The Pamir mountains are to the north, and the Hindu Kush lies to the west. Amongst the highest mountains are K2 and Nanga Parbat, one of the most feared mountains in the world.

The Northern Areas comprise six districts: the two Baltistan districts of Skardu and Ganche; and the four Gilgit districts of Diamer, Ghizer, Gilgit (the former states of Dardistan and Hunza) and Gilgit Wazarat (a former tribal territory). The main political centres are the towns of Gilgit and Skardu.

in Gilgit. Some parts of the region were invaded by Kashmir and nominally the states were governed as a part of Kashmir for many years. Locally, this association with Kashmir is disputed by some who regard themselves as being distinct from Kashmiris. There is also some support for the region to become a province of Pakistan, separately from Kashmiri regions. The region's lack of representation in the parliament of Pakistan has placed it outside the mainstream politics of the country, which has become a major cause of frustration to the inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Unlike Azad Kashmir, the Northern Areas are governed directly by Pakistan as a de facto federal dependency. A small part of the Northern Areas was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963 with the proviso that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute. The cession was not recognised by India.

With many isolated valleys separated by some of the world's highest mountains, the people of the region consist of many different groups, being linguistically, ethnically, religiously, and racially diverse.

Urdu is the lingua franca of the region, understood by most inhabitants. The Shina language (with several dialacts) is the language of 40% of the population, spoken mainly in Gilgit, throughout Diamer, and some parts of Ghizer. The Balti language with a similar accent, is spoken or understood most of the population of Baltistan. Minor languages spoken in the area include Wakhi spoken in upper Hunza and some villages in Ghizer, while Khowar is the major language of Ghizer. Burushaski is an isolated language spoken in Hunza, Nagir, Yasin (where Khowar is also spoken), some parts of Gilgit, and some villages of Punyal. Another interesting language is Domaaki, spoken by the musician clans of the region. Small pockets of Pashto speakers are found along the border with the North West Frontier Province and Afghanistan.

The southern route of the ancient Silk Road passes through the area, travelled by merchants from many far-off places. Some may have stopped here and inter-married with the locals.

It had long been speculated that the relatively fair-skinned and, in places, light-haired people of the area were descendants of the Greeks who, beginning with the soldiers of Alexander the Great, and continuing in the Greco-Buddhist period, settled in the region (see Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek). However, recent DNA analyses have failed to find any evidence of Greek ancestry. It is now thought that much of the population is descended from various aboriginal peoples as well as the descendents of Indo-Iranian tribes and the Tocharian-speaking Yuezhi people of the Tarim basin, who came ruled the region during the Kushan era.