People of Jammu and Kashmir
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The cultural, ethnic, and linguistic composition of Jammu and Kashmir varies across the region. About two-thirds of the population adheres to Islam, a greater proportion than in any other Indian state or union territory apart from Lakshadweep; Hindus constitute most of the remaining third. There also are small minorities of Sikhs and Buddhists. The union territory’s official languages are Urdu, English, Kashmiri, Dogri, and Hindi.
The Jammu region
Jammu, winter capital of the maharajas (the former Hindu rulers of the region) and second largest city in the union territory, was historically the seat of the Dogra dynasty. More than two-thirds of the region’s residents are classified as Hindu. Most of Jammu’s Hindus live in the southeastern portion of the region and are closely related to the Punjabi-speaking peoples in Punjab state; many speak the Dogri language. The majority of Sikhs in the union territory also live in the Jammu region. To the northwest, however, the proportion of Muslims increases, with Muslims making up a dominant majority in the area around the western town of Punch.
Kashmiris of the vale and highlands
The Vale of Kashmir, surrounded by the highlands of the broader Kashmir region, always has had something of a unique character. The vast majority of the people are Muslims who speak Kashmiri or Urdu. Culturally and ethnically, their closest links are with peoples in the northwestern highlands of the Gilgit area (in the Gilgit-Baltistan district) of the Pakistani-administered sector of Kashmir. The Kashmiri language is influenced by Sanskrit and belongs to the Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan languages, which also are spoken by the various hill peoples of Gilgit. Kashmiri has rich folklore and literary traditions. The great majority of the population resides in the lower reaches of the vale. Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir’s largest city, is located on the Jhelum River.
Settlement patterns
Jammu and Kashmir’s physiographic diversity is matched by a considerable variety of human occupation. In the plains and foothills of the southwestern region, colonization movements from the Punjab areas over a long period of time have produced numerous agricultural settlements. In the dun regions and lower valleys of the foothills, where alluvial soils and the availability of water for irrigation make agriculture possible, the population is sustained by crops of wheat and barley, which are gathered in the spring (rabi) harvest, and of rice and corn (maize), gathered in the late summer (kharif) harvest; livestock also are raised. The upper sections of the valleys support a sparser population that depends on a mixed economy of corn, cattle, and forestry. Herders migrate to higher pastures each spring to give their flocks the necessary forage to produce milk and clarified butter, or ghee, for southern lowland markets. In winter the hill dwellers return to lower areas to work in government-owned forests and timber mills. Agricultural hamlets and nucleated villages predominate throughout union territory; cities and towns such as Jammu and Udhampur function essentially as market centers and administrative headquarters for the rural populations and estates in the vicinity.
Demographic trends
The population of Jammu and Kashmir continued to increase fairly rapidly from the late 20th into the early 21st century, growing by nearly one-fourth between 2001 and 2011. The region has remained largely rural, nearly three-fourths of its people living in towns and villages, but urbanization has increased. Nearly two-fifths of the urban population resides in the Srinagar region. The sex ratio is relatively poor, about 890 females per 1,000 males at the 2011 census, lower than it was in the 2001 census (900 females per 1,000 males).