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 borders the present-day Indian-annexed state of Jammu and Kashmir to the east, the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) to the north, and the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan to the west. 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. According to Pakistan's constitution, Azad Kashmir is not part of Pakistan, and its inhabitants have never had any representation in Pakistan's parliament.Azad Kashmir remains part of the Kashmir dispute and is claimed by India to be a Pakistani-occupied part of the present-day state of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which India unilaterally annexed in 1956. Pakistan regards 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.)

History

After the partition of India in 1947, Hari Singh, the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, wished to maintain the status quo. In his view, the only way to achieve that objective was to have Jammu and Kashmir remain independent for a time, despite the claims laid to the state by both India and Pakistan. With the maharaja delaying his decision to join either India or Pakistan, a revolt broke out in the areas of Chitral and Skardu, and the rebellion spread, involving allied tribesmen from Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. Fearing a defeat of the overwhelmed Kashmiri state forces, the Hindu maharaja sought military help from India--an action which required the provisional accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. This was done against the wishes of Kashmiri people, majority of Kashmiris almost 87 percent were muslim. There was out cry and people did not wanted to be part of Hindu India instead they wanted to join the muslim Pakistan. over million muslims have been brutally killed by Indian armed forces to suppress the movement to join Pakistan. Almost 20,000 Indian army men have died in the fight against Indian illegal occupation. Many U.N resoluions have been passed for India to hold a plebisite for Kashmiris to decide who they want to join but India always refrained. Kashmir Issue became internationalize after teh Kargilwar. The subsequent Indian defence of the state provoked a military response from Pakistan and signalled the start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.

The outcome of the war was not decisive, however, and a ceasefire was called in 1948. The United Nations resolutions that were passed following the ceasefire called for a plebiscite to be held to allow the people of the state to decide whether they wanted to join India or Pakistan. Despite Pakistan's repeated calls to hold a plebiscite under United Nations supervision, however, the dispute has remained unresolved, and Kashmir is still divided into areas of Indian and Pakistani control divided by a ceasefire line, which has more recently been termed the Line of Control.

The northern and western parts of Kashmir were subsequently divided by Pakistan into the following political entities:

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) - the narrow southern part, 250 miles (400 km) long, with a width varying from 10 to 40 miles (15 to 65 km).
Northern Areas - the much larger area to the north of AJK, 72,496 km² (27,991 mi² ), directly administered by Pakistan as a de facto dependent territory, i.e., a non-self-governing territory.
Trans-Karakoram Tract - the small region along the northeastern border of the Northern Areas that was ceded by Pakistan to the People's Republic of China in 1963.