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Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent.It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Kashmir. Contemporary Ladakh borders Tibet to the east the Lahaul and Spiti to the south the Vale of Kashmir Jammu and Baltiyul regions to the west and the trans–Kunlun territory of Xinjiang to the far north. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and culture. It is sometimes called "Little Tibet" as it has been strongly influenced by Tibetan culture. Ladakh is situated in a high altitude desert at an altitude of 9000 feet and is the highest inhabited region of India. In the past Ladakh gained importance from its strategic location at the crossroads of important trade routes but since the Chinese authorities closed the borders with Tibet and Central Asia in the 1960s international trade has dwindled except for tourism. Since 1974 the Government of India has successfully encouraged tourism in Ladakh. Since Ladakh is a part of the Kashmir dispute the Indian military maintains a strong presence in the region.
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