The land of Baltistan lies in Kashmir State territory beyond the Himalayan range and to the north of the province of Ladakh. It is occasionally called Little Tibet, but nowadays it is usually referred to by the State as that part of Ladakh which comes under the jurisdiction of the Skardu Tehsil. Some hundred thousand people speak the Balti language, which in some instances would appear to resemble more the written Tibetan than any spoken dialect of that language.