Shimshal Valley., Hunza

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Shimshal is a farming and herding community of some 1100 inhabitants, situated at the north-eastern extreme of both the former principality of Hunza (now part of Gilgit Administrative District), and the modern state of Pakistan. Most settlement occupies the upper portion of a valley of the same name, which descends west into the Hunza River valley at Pasu, and which separates the Ghujerab and Hispar Mustagh ranges of the Karakoram mountain system.The villages are situated on a series of glacial and alluvial deposits that form a broad strip between the river's floodplain and steep mountain slopes to the south. These deposits have been terraced for several hundred years. They are irrigated by the meltwater nalas which currently dissect them. In addition, the lowest terraces are irrigated from the river itself. The cultivated area, covering about 250 hectares, lies between 3000 and 3300 metres above sea level, at the upper limits of single crop cultivation. People grow hardy cereals (wheat and barley), potatoes, peas and beans, apricots and apples. Small quantities of garden vegetables are also grown by some households. These are one of the few communities remaining in Pakistan's Northern Areas that grows enough agricultural produce to feed itself.