Azad Kashmir

Azad Kashmir, formally Azad Jammu and Kashmir and often abbreviated AJK, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entity. It forms the western portion of the larger Kashmir region, which India and Pakistan have disputed since 1947, and its eastern edge along the Line of Control separates it from the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It borders Gilgit-Baltistan to the north and the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west. It covers about 13,297 square kilometres and has a parliamentary system of government with Muzaffarabad as its capital, a President as head of state and a Prime Minister as chief executive, plus its own Supreme Court and High Court. GeoNames lists it as a first-order administrative division of Pakistan with a population of 4,045,366, while its own census count for 2023 is reported at more than 4.33 million. Agriculture, services, tourism and remittances from the Mirpuri community in Britain support its economy.