Ladakh, large area of the northern and eastern Kashmir region, northwestern Indian subcontinent. Administratively, Ladakh is divided between Pakistan (northwest), as part of Gilgit-Baltistan, and India (southeast), as part of Ladakh union territory (until October 31, 2019, part of Jammu and Kashmir state); in addition, China administers portions of northeastern Ladakh.

Along the western edge of the union territory are the Great Himalayas with a parallel branch directly to the east known as the Zaskar Range, a nearly inaccessible region where the people and the cattle remain indoors for much of the year because of the cold.

The Zaskar region is drained by the Zaskar River, which, flowing northward, joins the Indus River below Leh, the union territory’s largest urban centre. To the east are the Ladakh and Karakoram Ranges.