What is Kathua district?
[[Image:Jammu and Kashmir Kathua district.svg|thumb|Map of Kathua district, [[Kashmir]] which borders the disputed area of the [[Pathankot Tehsil]]]] '''Kathua district''' ({{lang-ur|ضلع کاتھئا}}) is one of 14 administrative districts in the disputed state of [[Jammu and Kashmir]]. It is surrounded by [[Jammu]] to the northwest, the [[Doda District]] and [[Udhampur District]] districts to the north, the state of [[Himachal Pradesh]] to the east, [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] to the south in the [[Republic of India]]. Its terrain is diverse, consisting of rich agricultural areas along the Pakistani border, plains sweeping eastward to the foothills of the [[Himalaya]], and a mountainous [[Pahari]] region in the east. Kathua district is divided into 8 blocks:Bani, Barnoti, Basholi, [[Billawar]], Duggan, Ghagwal, Hiranagar, Kathua and Lohai Malhar. It has approximately 587 villages. The traditional language of Kathua is [[Dogri]], a dialect of [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]. The Pahari Punjabi is prevalent in the mountainous area of the east. The principal media of education are [[Hindi]] and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]. In a [[Muslim]] majority state, Kathua, like the Jammu region, is overwhelmingly [[Hindu]], the [[religion]] practiced by 75% of its district population. Another 12% is Muslim, and 10% [[Sikh]]. A relatively safe regional pocket, Kathua was spared the decade-long insurrection sparked by the [[Khalistan]] separatist movement in Punjab that ended in the early 1990s, just to its south, and the ongoing Freedom movement in Kashmir Valley farther to the north, beginning in the 1980s. * [[Kathua Tehsil]] * [[Hiranagar|Hiranagar Tehsil]] * [[Billawar Tehsil]] * [[Basohli Tehsil]] {{geo-stub}} [[Category:Districts of Jammu and Kashmir]]