GBC News

Shina is a Dardic language spoken by a plurality of people in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Dras in Ladakh, India. The valleys in which it is spoken include Astore, Chilas, Dareil, Tangeer, Gilgit, Ghizer and a few parts of Baltistan and Kohistan. It is also spoken in Gurez, Drass, Kargil, Karkit Badgam and Ladakh valleys of Jammu and Kashmir, India. There were 321,000 speakers of Gilgiti Shina as of 1981, and an estimated total of speakers of all dialects of 550,000. Now this estimated Papulation of shina speakers is more than 10,00000. Many Shina speakers are also found in Pakistan's major urban centres of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Abbottabad, Hyderabad and Karachi.