Kashmir (often referred to as Jammu & Kashmir by local and international organisations, including the United Nations) - Jammu & Kashmir was a former princely state in the British Empire in India, from 1846 until 1947, after which India then gained independence, and was partitioned into the Dominion of Pakistan (mostly Muslim), and the Union of India (mostly Hindu). Each Indian state was given a choice to join either India or Pakistan, and when the ruler of Kashmir & Jammu decided to remain independent, a war broke out between India and Pakistan, dividing the population of Jammu & Kashmir between the two sides. The Indian government then said it had made a formal agreement with Hari Singh, the Maharajah of Jammu & Kashmir, called The Instrument of Accession, which handed over the entire lands of Jammu & Kashmir to Indian control. Pakistan disputed this, due to the population being mostly Muslim, and to this day, Pakistan denies such a document exists. After some horrendous wars in the area, Jammu & Kashmir is now split into Indian territory (the northern state of Jammu & Kashmir, which is actually just a large slice of Kashmir), Pakistani territory (the Northern Areas) and Chinese territory (Aksai Chin). India claims sovereignty over all of these areas, as does Pakistan, whilst China only holds claim over Aksai Chin, albeit with a small slice of current Indian land which it claims is part of it's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Related Disputes:
Aksai Chin
Arunachal Pradesh