Ladakh is a region located in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Ladakh is well-known for its beauty and is a popular tourist spot of India. Also referred to as Little Tibet or the last Shangri-la, Ladakh is today one of the last dominions of Mahayana Buddhism. At present, Ladakh encompasses about 70 percent of Jammu and Kashmir.

Location of Ladakh
Ladakh is located in the eastern part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and covers an area of about 45000 square miles. This sparsely populated cold region includes the Western Himalayan range, the Karokaram range and the upper Indus River valley. The Ladakh range extends into Tibet as the Kailash range.

History of Ladakh
Ladakh is a land inhabited by different ethnic groups. The first inhabitants of Ladakh are believed to be a combination of nomadic herdsmen from the Tibetan plateau and a small group of early Buddhist from North India known as monks. The first independent kingdom in Ladakh was established by the Nobleman Nyima Gon in ninth century, after the collapse of Guge Empire of western Tibet. As far as political history is concerned, Ladakh got the recognition as a separate entity after the establishment of the kingdom in about 950 AD. It became a part of independent India in 1948.

Geography of Ladakh
Ladakh, lying mostly at an altitude of 3000 metres, is the highest plateau of Jammu and Kashmir. It includes the Himalayan and the Karokaram mountain ranges and the upper Indus river valley. Ladakh consists of the fairly populous main Indus valley, the more remote Zanskar in the south and Nubra valleys to the north over Khardung La, the almost deserted Aksai Chin and Kargil and Suru Valley areas in the west. Most of the peaks of the Ladakh Range stand at a medium altitude. They increase towards south-east and reach a climax in the twin summits of Nun-Kun (7000 m, 23,000 ft). The Ladakh range has no major peaks. Summer in Ladakh is rather short and the weather remains mostly dry all year round with average temperatures between 10-20 degrees Celsius. Vegetation is almost lacking.

Administration of Ladakh
Ladakh was divided into the Leh district and Kargil district in 1979. Each of these districts is governed by a Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. This is based on the pattern of the Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council. This council was created as a compromise solution to the demands of Ladakhi people to make Leh a union territory.

Education in Ladakh
Most of the schools in Ladakh are primary schools. In these schools the students are taught Urdu language and English with other relevant subjects. In Leh, a government degree college has been opened to provide the students further education.

Economy in Ladakh
The economy of Ladakh is mainly agricultural. Most of the people earn their livelihood by growing barley, wheat and peas, and keeping livestock, especially yak, cows, dzos (yak-cow crossbreed), sheep and goats. Apart from agriculture, the people of Ladakh are also engaged in business, trading in textiles, carpets, dyestuffs and narcotics between Punjab and Xinjiang, tourism industry and government jobs.

Demography in Ladakh
The racial composition of Ladakh`s people exhibits a blending of the Indo-Iranian and the Mongoloid. The population of Ladakh is the admixture of mixed Tibetan and Dard descent. The Ladakhis are Tibetan Buddhist and some of the population follows the Shia Muslim religion. Besides these, there are people belonging to Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism. Most Buddhists espouse the tantric form of Buddhism known as Vajrayana Buddhism. The Mons are the descendants of earlier Indian settlers in Ladakh. The population in Drass is largely of Dard ancestry and the followers of Islamic religion.

Culture in Ladakh
Culture of Ladakh closely resembles the Tibetan culture. The richness of their culture can be seen reflected in the food, festivals, architecture, celebrations etc. Indian, Tibetan and Buddhist influences are very strongly seen in the architectural works of Ladakh. One of the most distinct aspects of the culture of Ladakh are the religious mask dances. The dances are the theatrical representation of the fight between good and evil. The rich oral literature of songs and poems for every occasion, and local versions of the Kesar Saga, the Tibetan national epic occupies an eminent part of the secular culture.

Tourism in Ladakh
Ladakh is one of the major tourist attractions of India. It offers a plethora of activities and sightseeing opportunities to the visitors- adventure tourism, cultural tourism and leisure tourism. The places of interest in Ladakh are Leh, Drass valley, Suru valley, Kargil, Zanskar, Zangla, Rangdum, Padum, Phugthal, Sani, Stongdey, Shyok Valley, Sankoo, Salt Valley and several popular trek routes like Manali to Ladakh, the Nubra valley, the Indus valley etc.