The Kashmir division is a revenue and administrative division of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (d), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (f) through (h) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (i) below). It comprises the Kashmir Valley, bordering the Jammu Division to the south and Ladakh to the east. The Line of Control forms its boundary with the Pakistani-administered territories of Gilgit−Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to the north and west and west, respectively.
Its main city is Srinagar. Other important cities include Anantnag, Baramulla, Sopore, Bandipora, Sumbal and Kulgam.
Districts
The Indian administrative districts for the Kashmir Valley were reorganised in 1968, and 2006, each time subdividing existing districts. Kashmir Division currently consists of the following ten districts:
Name of district HQ Area Population Total (km2) Total (sq mile) Rural (km2) Urban (km2) 2001census 2011census Anantnag Anantnag 1,078,692 Kulgam Kulgam Part B page 12 says the area of the district is 404 km2, but page 22 says 410 km2. 424,483 Pulwama Pulwama 560,440 Shopian Shopian Part B pages 12 and 22 say the district area is 312.00 km2, but Part A page 10 says 307.42 km2. 266,215Budgam Budgam Part A says the district area is 1371 km2, Part B says 1371 km2 (page 11) and 1361 km2 (page 12s and 22). 753,745 Srinagar Srinagar Part A page 48 says the district area was 2228.0 km2 in 2001 and 1978.95 km2 in 2011. 1,236,829 Ganderbal Ganderbal Part B page 11 says the district area is 393.04 km2, but pages 12 and 22 say 259.00 km2. 297,446 Bandipore Bandipore 392,232 Baramulla Baramulla 1,008,039 Kupwara Kupwara 870,354 Total 6,888,475
Demographics Religion
The Kashmir division is largely Muslim (97.16%) with a very small Hindu (2.45%) and Sikh (0.81%) population. The Kashmiri Muslim population consists of both Shias and Sunnis. The majority of the Muslim population is made up of ethnic Kashmiris, with a significant minority of Pahari-Pothwari and Gujjar-Bakarwal people mainly living at the border area adjoining Pakistani administered Kashmir. The valley had a small but visible minority of Kashmiri Hindus prior to the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in the 1990s. It is estimated that during the peak of the insurgency, 60,000 - 100,000 were forced to leave the valley.
Language The majority of the population speaks Kashmiri (85.28%), while the remainder speaks either Gujari, Pahari-Pothwari or Hindi.
Urdu is also widely understood as a literary language in Kashmir due to it being a medium of instruction in schools.
References
External links Kashmir Division Administration Kashmir Divisional Commissioner on Facebook