Azad Jammu & Kashmir

The Azad State of Jammu and KashmirUrdu: (اسلامی جمھوریۃ آزاد کشمیر), usually shortened to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) or, simply, Azad Kashmir (literally, free Kashmir), is the southernmost political entity of the Pakistani-controlled part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It covers an area of 13,297 km² (5,134 mi²), with its capital at Muzaffarabad, and has an estimated population of about four million.

Pakistan continues to regard the entire area of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir as "territory in dispute" to be resolved by a plebiscite to be held throughout the former state, in order to determine the area's accession to either India or Pakistan. In 1950, the government of India, ignoring a United Nations resolution on Kashmir, abandoned its pledge to hold a plebiscite. The government of Pakistan, while continuing to call for a plebiscite, has, so far, been unwilling to entertain the idea of a third option for that plebiscite, i.e., the choice of independence for the entire former state.

The state's financial matters, i.e., budget and tax affairs, are dealt with by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, instead of by Pakistan's Central Board of Revenue. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council is a supreme body consisting of 11 members, six from the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and five from the government of Pakistan. Its chairman/chief executive is the president of Pakistan. Other members of the council are Azad Kashmir's own president and prime minister and a few other AJK ministers.

(Note that Azad Jammu and Kashmir has its own president, prime minister, legislative assembly, high court, and official flag.)