The Neelam Valley[1] (also spelt Neelum; Urdu: وادیِ نیلم ), is the northernmost region and district of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. The district has a population of 191,251 according to the 2017 Census.[2] The district was badly affected by the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
The Neelam River was known before Partition as Kishan Ganga and was subsequently renamed after the village of Neelam.[4] It flows down from the Gurez Valley in Indian Jammu and Kashmir and roughly follows first a western and then a south-western course until it joins the Jhelum River at Muzaffarabad. The valley is a thickly wooded region with an elevation ranging between 4,000 feet (1,200 m) and 7,500 feet (2,300 m), the mountain peaks on either side reaching 17,000 feet (5,200 m).
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Neelam District (Urdu: ضلع نیلم) is bordered on the south-west by Muzaffarabad District, which also encompasses the lower reaches of the valley, to the north-west beyond the mountains lies the Kaghan Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Mansehra District, to the north and north-east are the Diamer, Astore and Skardu districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. To the south and east are the Kupwara and Bandipora districts of Indian Kahsmir. The Line of Control runs through the valley – either across the mountains to the south-east, or in places right along the river, with several villages on the left bank of the river falling on the Indian side of the border
