Aksai Chin, portion of theKashmirregion, at the northernmost extent of theIndian subcontinent in south-centralAsia. Itconstitutes nearly all the territory of theChinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed byIndia to be part ofLadakhunion territory.

Geographically, Aksai Chin is a southwestward extension of thePlateau of Tibet. The territory administered by China is situated largely in the southernmost part of the UygurAutonomous Region ofXinjiang,China, with a small portion on the southeast and south sides lying within the extreme western limit of theTibet Autonomous Region. With an average elevation of some 17,000 feet (5,180 metres), Aksai Chin consists largely of a high, isolated, inhospitable, and mostly uninhabitable plain bordered to the west and southwest by theKarakoram Range and to the north and northeast by theKunlun Mountains. Its terrain is more rugged to the northwest, and there is internal drainage into small alkaline lakes in the east. The climate is cold and dry, with most of the little precipitation the region receives falling in the summer months of July and August.

Because of its remoteness and isolation, Aksai Chin was long an ignored corner of the subcontinent, but the Chinese built a military road through it in the 1950s in order to connect Tibet with Xinjiang. The Indian discovery of the road and objection to the Chinese presence in the sector was one of the factors leading to sharpborder clashes between the two countries in 1962. At the conclusion of the conflict, China retained control of about 14,700 square miles (38,000 square km) of territory in Aksai Chin. The area remained a point ofcontention between the two countries.