Above, you are looking at “downtown” Gilgit.
“Official” statistics – and guesstimates – for anywhere in northern Pakistan are highly “rubbery”, contradictory, and often very out of date.
Almost certainly, Gilgit is the Karakoram region’s largest city, with a population of circa 200,000…ish.
For most purposes, Gilgit is Gilgit-Baltistan’s “capital city”/ administrative hub.
Some sources suggest that Skardu’s population may now slightly exceed Gilgit’s, and that in recent years Gilgit’s numbers have fallen, whilst Skardu’s have risen.
For what it’s worth, on May 20, 2024 I thought Gilgit “felt” and looked like it was the bigger city.
As a future multi-image post will (eventually) attempt to illustrate, Gilgit is a lively, multi-faceted place; that description was already-appropriate a great many centuries ago, when Gilgit was a key location on “The Silk Road”.
As one would expect of a substantial town, a stroll through downtown Gilgit did see us encounter a post office, a butcher shop and a bakery – all three were vividly unlike their Australian counterparts….