Kashmir (Kashmiri: کٔشِیر / कॅशीर; Urdu: کشمیر; Uyghur: كەشمىر; Shina: کشمیر) is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It is also called and known as the Heaven on Earth because of its natural widespread beauty. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. Today, it denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (which consists of Jammu, Kashmir Valley, and the Ladakh regions), the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
Jammu and Kashmir (Dogri, Hindi: जम्मू और कश्मीर; Urdu: جموں و کشمیر; i/dʒɑːmuː/ & /kæʃmɪər/; Kashmiri: जोम त कशीर (Devanagari), جوم تِ کشیر (Nastaliq); Ladakhi: ཇ་མུ་དང་ཀ་ཤི་མིར།) is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the Pakistani territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan, to the west and northwest respectively.