One of the 29 and the northernmost state of India bordering China and Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir plays an essential role as a buffer zone with neighboring states. In the XIX century, it was ruled by the British Empire. With the division of British India into two dominions in 1947 - Pakistan and India - Jammu and Kashmir initially gained independence, but the Pashtun-Darii militants invaded the territory of the principality and seized its capital, Srinagar. These events forced the head of the region to agree to the accession of the principality to India, which happened in the same 1947. In 1952 the state signed the "Delhi Agreement" with the Indian government, which enshrined provisions reflecting the special constitutional structure of Jammu and Kashmir.
The struggle for the territory of the former principality between India and Pakistan resulted in three Indo-Pakistani wars and constant armed clashes on the border, continuing until today. Also, due to the border location of the province the tensions between the Indian and Chinese sides along the "Line of actual control" exist.
The titular group of Jammu and Kashmir - Kashmiri Muslims - settles in the Kashmir Valley; it professes Islam and speaks Kashmiri. The state is one of the five Indian regions where Hinduism is not dominant. Moreover, this is the only state with the prevalence of the population professing Islam. Religious differences are one of the key factors in the emergence of conflicts within the province. Geographically, historically and ethnoculturally, Jammu and Kashmir is divided into three regions. Apart from the Kashmir Valley, there are Ladakh with Buddhists majority and Jammu, where Hindus prevail. These features affect the political and institutional structure of the state (the composition of regional parliament is based on quotas for all three parts), and on the political process in general (in the region there are strong ethnic-regional parties).
