Azad Jammu and Kashmir, abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entity and constituting the western portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. Azad Kashmir also shares borders with the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west, respectively. On its eastern side, Azad Kashmir is separated from the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir by the Line of Control (LoC), which serves as the de facto border between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. Geographically, it covers a total area of 13,297 km2 (5,134 sq mi) and has a total population of 4,045,366 as per the 2017 national census.
The Poonch District is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is one of the 10 districts of this Pakistan-administered territory. It is bounded on the north by Bagh District, on the north-east by Haveli District, on the south-east by the Poonch District of Indian-administered Kashmir, on the south by Azad Kashmir's Sudhanoti and Kotli districts, and on the west by Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. The Poonch District is part of the greater Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. The district headquarters is the city of Rawalakot. It is the 3rd most populus district of Azad Kashmir.
Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry is an Azad Kashmiri politician who hails from Mirpur. He served as Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir between July 1996 to July 2001 and is currently serving as the President of Azad Kashmir since 25 August 2021.
The history of Azad Kashmir, a part of the Kashmir region administered by Pakistan, is related to the history of the Kashmir region during the Dogra rule. Azad Kashmir borders the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west respectively, Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, and the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the east.
The Mirpuri diaspora constitutes individuals with an origin in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, now living outside that district. Migration from Mirpur started occurring in the 1920s, when many Mirpuris left for Bombay to work on merchant ships. During the partition of British India in 1947, many Mirpuri Hindus and Mirpuri Sikhs were forced to flee to cities in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The construction of the Mangla Dam by the Pakistani Government in the 1960s caused many of Mirpuri Muslims to migrate to the United Kingdom to work as labourers.
Chirala (چڑالہ)[ ] is a village and Union Council of Dhirkot Tehsil in the Bagh District of Azad Kashmir.
The Azad Kashmir Police or Azad Jammu and Kashmir Police (AJKP) is responsible for law enforcement in the Azad Kashmir region administered by Pakistan. It is headed by Inspector-General of Police, Amir Ahmed Sheikh (PSP), and headquartered in the Central Police Office (CPO) Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir.
Sahibzada Muhammad Ishaq Zaffar also known as Ishaq Zaffar (1945–2006) was a Pakistani politician in Azad Kashmir administrative territory. He filled various positions in the Azad Kashmir government from the 1970s until dying in office in 2006, beginning as a member of the Pakistan People's Party, serving as member of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Speaker of the Assembly, Acting President of Azad Kashmir, and senior minister, and was opposition leader in the constituent assembly at the time of his death. He contested elections for constituent assembly of Azad Kashmir for five times and always won assembly seat.
The Government of Azad Kashmir is the state government which administers one of the territories of Pakistani-administered Kashmir territories of Azad Kashmir. The Azad Kashmir government consists of a president as head of state and a prime minister as chief executive, with the support of a council of ministers. The state assembly is the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
General elections were held in Azad Kashmir on 21 July 2016 to elect 41 members of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly. Polling started at 8:00am and continued until 5:00pm.
LA-21 Poonch & Sudhnoti-IV is a constituency of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly which is currently represented by Hassan Ibrahim Khan of the Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP). It covers half of the area of Rawalakot Tehsil in Poonch District.
LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II is a constituency of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly which is currently represented by Syed Bazal Ali Naqvi of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). It covers the area of Pattika in Muzaffarabad District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.
General elections were held in Azad Kashmir on 25 July 2021 after the expiry of the 5-year term of the previous Legislative Assembly. The elections were held in 33 constituencies of Azad Kashmir and 12 constituencies of the refugees of Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan.
LA-37 Jammu - 4 (Narowal) is a constituency of Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly which is currently represented by Muhammad Akmal Sargala of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. It covers the area of Narowal District in Pakistan. Only refugees from Jammu and Ladakh Settled in Pakistan are eligible to vote.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi is a Kashmiri politician from Azad Jammu and Kashmir who was the 13th Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir from August 2021 to April 2022. He has been a member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative assembly since August 2021. He has been the president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter since April 2023.
Sardar Muahmmad Tanveer Ilyas Khan is a Pakistani businessman-turned-politician who was the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir from April 2022 to April 2023, and was the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Azad Kashmir from September 2021 to April 2023.
Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq is a Pakistani politician from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). He is the current and 15th Prime Minister of AJK since April 2023, succeeding Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
LA-20 Poonch & Sudhnoti-III is a constituency of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly which is currently represented by Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). It covers half of the area of Rawalakot Tehsil in Poonch District.
Sardar Ziaul Qamar is a politician from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He has been a member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly since June 2023. He was elected in a by-election on 8 June 2023 from LA-15 Bagh-II, securing 25,755 votes. He succeeded the former Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, who was disqualified by the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir for contempt of court.
