Languages of Gilgit-Baltistan and Useful Local Phrases

The language of Gilgit city is Shina, spoken there in the dialect linguists call Gilgiti, and Urdu is the language everyone shares. Gilgit-Baltistan as a whole has no single local language, though. Depending on which valley you are in, the people around you may be speaking Shina, Burushaski, Wakhi, Balti or Khowar, five languages that are not related to each other and, in Burushaski's case, not clearly related to any other language on earth. Urdu is understood almost everywhere, so you do not need any of them to travel, but knowing which is spoken where explains a lot about a region that changes character every hour or two on the road.

This guide sets out where each language is spoken, what makes it distinct, and a few simple phrases worth learning, alongside the greeting that works in every valley regardless of language.

What language is spoken in Gilgit?

Shina. It is the local language of Gilgit city and the villages around it, and "Gilgiti" is both an old outside name for Shina and the name linguists give to the dialect spoken in and around the city. Urdu is the working language of offices, shops, hotels and transport, so a visitor never needs Shina to get by.

Gilgit is also the regional capital, so Urdu does much of the work in its offices and bazaars. If you are planning a stay in the city, see our guide to places to visit in Gilgit city.

Shina: the most widely spoken

Shina is spoken by more people in Gilgit-Baltistan than any other local language, across Gilgit city, Astore, Diamer and the Indus valley towns such as Chilas, with dialects in parts of Ghizer too. Ethnologue put its speakers in Pakistan at about 1.1 million in 2018, a figure that includes Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and there are smaller Shina-speaking communities in Gurez, Drass and the Neelum valley. It belongs to the Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan languages, the same broad family as Kashmiri and Khowar, so a Shina speaker and an Urdu speaker share more distant vocabulary than a Shina speaker and a Burushaski speaker, who share almost none. It is written in the Arabic script, and a standard spelling, with primers and dictionaries backed by the Gilgit-Baltistan government, was settled only in the late 2010s. Our Shina language guide goes further.

Burushaski: a language with no known relatives

Burushaski is spoken in central Hunza, Nagar and parts of Yasin in Ghizer, by the Burusho people. Linguists classify it as a language isolate, meaning it cannot be shown to be related to any other living language, Indo-European or otherwise. Recent estimates put it at about 130,000 speakers (2018 to 2020), almost all of them in these valleys, with a small community of a few hundred speakers in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. See our Burushaski guide for more.

If you are staying in Karimabad, Altit or Ganish, Burushaski is what you will hear in the street; the shopkeepers and guides will switch to Urdu or English without being asked.

Wakhi: the language of upper Hunza

Wakhi is spoken in Gojal, the upper Hunza valley from Gulmit and Passu up to Shimshal and Sost, and in parts of Ishkoman further west. It is a Pamiri language, part of the Indo-Iranian family, and the Wakhi people have relatives speaking the same language across the borders in Afghanistan's Wakhan corridor, Tajikistan and China's Xinjiang region. If your Hunza trip goes as far as Passu or up to the Khunjerab Pass, Wakhi is the language of the villages you pass through.

Balti: a Tibetan language in Pakistan

Balti is spoken across Baltistan, from Skardu to Shigar, Khaplu and Kharmang, which is why the region was long known as Little Tibet. Unlike the other four, Balti is a Tibetic language, closely related to the Ladakhi spoken across the Line of Control, rather than to anything spoken elsewhere in Pakistan. Census figures put Balti among the most widely spoken languages in the region by household count, reflecting how populous Baltistan is. Our Balti language guide has more.

Khowar: spoken in western Ghizer

Khowar is the main language of Chitral, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but it is also spoken across the border in the western valleys of Ghizer district, around Yasin, Ishkoman and Gupis. Like Shina, it is a Dardic language, and the two share enough structure that speakers can pick up basic exchanges from each other with some effort.

Smaller languages you may hear

A few much smaller communities add to the mix. Domaaki is spoken by a small, traditionally musician and blacksmith community in the Hunza and Nagar valleys, and is now considered endangered: Ethnologue counted about 340 speakers in 2011, and most Doma communities have shifted to Shina. Gojri and Pashto are also heard in trading families and among labourers who have settled in Gilgit and other towns. Our guide to Gilgit-Baltistan's culture and traditions covers how these language communities line up with the region's different traditions of Islam.

Useful phrases to try

You will get by everywhere on Urdu and English, but a few words in the local language are noticed and appreciated.

• As-salaam alaikum works as a greeting in every valley, in every language community, and is always answered with "wa alaikum as-salaam". This is the one phrase worth actually learning.
• In Burushaski, a rough way to ask how someone is doing is "bésan hál bilá?"
• In Balti, "khamulo" is a cheerful, informal greeting you will hear used between friends.
• In Wakhi, "baf" means "good" or "fine", the usual reply to being asked how you are.

Pronunciation and spelling vary between sources, since none of these languages has one fixed Roman script, so treat these as a rough guide rather than an exact transcription. Asking a driver or guide to teach you the local word for "thank you" is a reliable way to break the ice, and almost everyone will happily oblige.

Does this matter for your trip?

Not for getting around: Urdu covers every transaction you will need to make, and hotel staff, drivers and shopkeepers across the region deal with visitors daily. What the language map is useful for is understanding what you are seeing. A shift from Burushaski shopfronts in Karimabad to Wakhi ones in Passu, or from Shina in Gilgit to Balti in Skardu, is also a shift in food, dress and, often, which tradition of Islam is followed locally, all covered in our wider travel guide to the north.

Frequently asked questions