Northern Pakistan

Not to be confused with Northern Areas.

Northern Pakistan شمالی علاقے
Northern Regions
Country	Pakistan

Northern Pakistan (Urdu: شمالی پاکستان) also known as the Northern Areas or Northern Regions is a geographical region of Pakistan located in the northern pat of the country, primarily including the administrative units of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir while also claiming the disputed Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh which are both administered as union territories by India. Northern Pakistan is known for being mountainous and a top tourist spot for foreigners.

Geography

The geography of Northern Pakistan is mountainous and is sometimes known as Little Switzerland. The terrain is different in each part of Northern Pakistan. Snow often falls in the winter and many towns are closed such as Naran, though this may change in the future.

Locations

There are three main locations of Northern Pakistan, the Chitral-Swat area, the Naran-Gilgit-Hunza-Skardu area, and the Murree-Mirpur-Muzaffarabad-Neelum area.

Western

The western part of Northern Pakistan includes Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kolai-Palas, Battagram, Kohistan, and Mansehra. This includes the famous tourist attractions of Chitral, Kalash Valley, and Kalam. Many top tourists spots are located such as Bumburet Valley, Chitral Valley, Rumbur Valley, Kalam, Bahrain, Kalash, and many others.

Central and North

On the Karakoram Highway and on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad-Chilas Road are major destinations for tourists including the famous Kaghan Valley, Babusar Top, Fairy Meadows, Rakaposhi, Nanga Parbat, Attabad Lake, and Lulusar Lake. Main cities or towns include Mansehra, Balakot, Kiwai, Naran, Kaghan, Batakundi, Jalkhad, Tatta Pani, Chilas, Gilgit, Karimabad, and Passu. This includes a trip from Islamabad, Taxila, or Wah. It can also be from Peshawar and Mardan too.

East

From Lahore or Islamabad, people sometimes go from Murree to Azad Kashmir. Main cities of Azad Kashmir include Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalakot, and Sharda. Banjosa Lake is a major attraction in Poonch district. It is a man-made lake and a rest stop. Azad Kashmir gets snow in the winter often.

Languages

Most languages spoken in Northern Pakistan are Indo-Iranian languages, with most either belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages or Iranian languages. The dominant languages are Urdu and Pashto and are the languages of communication in the area. In the Hazara Division, the main language is Hindko, with minor languages including Pashto, Mankiyali, Pahari-Pothwari, and Gujari. In Swat, the major language is Pashto, while their is Torwali, Ushojo, and Indus Kohistani. In Waziristan, the major language is Waziri Pukhto. In Dir, the major language is Pashto followed by Torwali and Indus Kohistani. In Kohistan, the major language is Indus Kohistani with minorities of Khowar, Pashto, Hindko, Kohistani Shina, and Bateri. In Chitral, there are more than 12 languages spoken with Khowar spoken the most, followed by Kalasha-mun, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Shekhani/Kata-vari, Torwali, Kamviri, Dari, Wakhi, Kyrgyz, Yidgha, Sarikoli, Munji, Kalkoti, Shina, Waigali, Ushojo, Tajik, Uzbek, Gujari, Pashto, Turkmen, Burushaski, Madaklashti, and Balti. In the Gilgit Division and Diamer Division, the main languages are Shina, Khowar, Domaaki, Wakhi, Kyrgyz, and Sarikoli . In the Baltistan Division, the languages are Balti, Purgi, Shina, Ladakhi, Brokskat, Burushaski, and Changthang. The language of Azad Kashmir is Pahari-Pothwari, followed by Hindko, Gujari, Pashto, Punjabi, Dogri, Urdu, Kashmiri, Shina, and Kundal Shahi.