Editing Skardu (section)

{{Short description|City in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Skardu
| settlement_type    = City
| official_name      = 
| native_name        = {{hlist|{{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|سکردو}}|label=none}}|{{langx|bft|སྐར་མདོ|label=none}}}}
| nickname           = 
| motto              = 
| image_skyline      = {{Photomontage
| photo1a = Shangrila resort skardu.jpg
| photo2a = Barra Pani, Deosai National Park, Pakistan.jpg
| photo2b = Trango Group.jpg
| photo3a = Storm, Satpara Lake.jpg
| photo3b = Manthokha Waterfalls.JPG
| size = 270
| position = center
| spacing = Number indicating width of spacing between the images (default: 1)
| colorGFGG = Color of spacing between the images (default: Blue)
| border = Number indicating width of border surrounding the montage (default: 1)
| color_border = Color of border surrounding the montage (GFGF  FDFGDdefault: black)
| text =
| text_background = Color of background behind text (default: #F8F8FF)
| foot_montage = Top left to right: [[Shangrila Resort]], [[Deosai National Park]], [[Trango Towers]], [[Satpara Lake]], and [[Manthokha Waterfall]]
}}
| image_map1         = Kashmir region. LOC 2003626427 - showing sub-regions administered by different countries.jpg
| map_alt            = 
| map_caption1       = A map showing Pakistan-administered [[Gilgit-Baltistan]] shaded in [[sage (color)|sage]] green in the disputed [[Kashmir]] region<ref name=tertiary-kashmir/>
| image_map          = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-width=300|frame-height=170|frame-align=center|zoom=4|type=point|title=Skardu|marker=city|type2=shape|stroke-width2=2|stroke-color2=#808080}}
| map_caption        = Interactive map of Skardu
| subdivision_type   = Administering country
| subdivision_name   = [[Pakistan]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Administrative units of Pakistan|Adm. Unit]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]
| area_total_km2     = 77
| elevation_m        = 2228
<!-- Location ------------------>| subdivision_type2  = [[Districts of Gilgit–Baltistan|District]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Skardu District|Skardu]]
| population_total   = 260,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/pakistan/cities/gilgitbaltistan/|title = Gilgit-Baltistan: Districts & Places – Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information}}</ref>
| population_as_of   = 15 March 2017
| timezone           = [[Pakistan Standard Time|PKT]]
| utc_offset         = +5:00
| coordinates        = {{coord|35|17|25|N|75|38|40|E|region:PK-GB|display=inline,title}}
| website            = {{URL|https://gilgitbaltistan.gov.pk/}}
| footnotes          = 
| government_type    = Divisional Administration
| leader_title       = Commissioner
| leader_name        = Shuja Alam (PAS)
| leader_title1      = Deputy Inspector General (DIG)
| leader_name1       = Cap. (R) Liaquat Ali Malik (PSP)
}}

'''Skardu''' ({{langx|ur|{{nq|سکردو}}|translit=skardū}}, [[Tibetan script]]: སྐར་མདོ, {{IPA|ur|skərduː|pron}}) is a city located in Pakistan-administered [[Gilgit-Baltistan]] in the disputed [[Kashmir]] region.<ref name=tertiary-kashmir> The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of [[Kashmir]] and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the [[WP:TERTIARY|tertiary sources]] (a) through (d), reflecting [[WP:DUE|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). <br/>
(a) {{citation|title=Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kashmir-region-Indian-subcontinent |accessdate=15 August 2019}} (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";<br/> (b) {{citation|last1=Pletcher|first1=Kenneth|title=Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Aksai-Chin |accessdate=16 August 2019}} (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state."; <br/> (c) {{citation|chapter=Kashmir|title=Encyclopedia Americana|publisher=Scholastic Library Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_cWAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA328|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7172-0139-6|page=328}} C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947"; <br/> (d) {{citation|last1=Osmańczyk|first1=Edmund Jan|title=Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSIMXHMdfkkC&pg=PA1191|year=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-93922-5|pages=1191–}} Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute betw een India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China." <br/>(e) {{citation|last=Talbot|first=Ian|title=A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eNg_CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|year=2016|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-19694-8|pages=28–29}} Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognised in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir."; <br/>  (f) {{citation|title=Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kashmir-region-Indian-subcontinent |accessdate=15 August 2019}} (subscription required) Quote: "... China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region) since 1962."; <br/> (g) {{citation|last=Bose|first=Sumantra|title=Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ACMe9WBdNAC&pg=PA294|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02855-5|pages=294, 291, 293}} Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million. AJK has six districts: Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Bagh, Kodi, Rawalakot, and Poonch. Its capital is the town of Muzaffarabad. AJK has its own institutions, but its political life is heavily controlled by Pakistani authorities, especially the military), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control." <br/> (h) {{citation|last=Fisher|first=Michael H.|title=An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA166|year=2018|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-11162-2|page=166}} Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir."; <br/> (i) {{citation|last=Snedden|first=Christopher|title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5amKCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-1-84904-621-3|page=10}} Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."  
</ref>  Skardu serves as the capital of [[Skardu District]] and the [[Baltistan Division]]. It is situated at an average elevation of nearly {{convert|2500|m|0|abbr=off}} above sea level in the [[Skardu Valley]], at the confluence of the [[Indus River|Indus]] and [[Shigar River|Shigar]] rivers.{{sfn|Pirumshoev & Dani, The Pamirs, Badakhshan and the Trans-Pamir States|2003|p=245}} It is an important gateway to the [[eight-thousander]]s of the nearby [[Karakoram]] mountain range. The Indus River running through the region separates the Karakoram from the [[Ladakh Range]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Skardu|first1=District|title=Skardu District|url=http://www.skardu.pk/skardu/|website=www.skardu.pk|publisher=Skardu.pk|access-date=23 November 2016|archive-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124030125/http://www.skardu.pk/skardu/|url-status=dead}}</ref>