Formerly a part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the region is the center of territorial disputes between Pakistan, India and China. About 50,000 people have died in separatist violence in the highly militarized Indian-held Kashmir, according to the official count in New Delhi.
At least 97 percent of the population of the Kashmir valley is Muslim. Of the total population of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, about 67 percent is Muslim, 30 percent Hindu, and three percent Sikh.