Azad Jammu and Kashmir ( Azad Jammu o Kashmir) abbreviated as AJK or Azad Kashmir ("free Kashmir"), is a self-governing administrative territory of Pakistan. The territory lies west of Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir (administered as a state of India), and was previously part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which ceased to exist as a result of the first Kashmir war fought between India and Pakistan in 1947.
Azad Kashmir is part of the greater Kashmir region, which is the subject of a long-running conflict between India and Pakistan. The territory shares a border with Gilgit–Baltistan, together with which it is referred to by the United Nations and other international organizations as "Pakistan-controlled" or "Pakistan-administered Kashmir". The territory also borders Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the west and Pakistan's Punjab province to the south. To the east, Azad Kashmir is separated from India's Jammu and Kashmir state by the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan. Azad Kashmir has a total area of , with an estimated population of around 4.6 million people.
The territory has a parliamentary form of government, with its capital located at Muzaffarabad. The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir is the constitutional head of the state, while the prime minister, supported by a Council of Ministers, is the chief executive. The unicameral Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly elects both the prime minister and president. The state has its own Supreme Court and a High Court, while the Government of Pakistan's Ministry of Kashmir Affairs serves as a link between it and Azad Kashmir's government. Neither Azad Kashmir nor Gilgit-Baltistan elect members to Pakistan's National Assembly.
A 2005 earthquake killed 100,000 people and left another three million people displaced, with widespread devastation. Since then, with help from the Government of Pakistan and foreign donors, reconstruction of infrastructure is underway. Azad Kashmir's economy largely depends on agriculture, services, tourism, and remittances sent by members of the Kashmiri diaspora. The territory's official language is Urdu, although Pahari, Gojri, Punjabi, and Pashto are also spoken. It has a literacy rate of approximately 64%.
