Alternate Names: Baltistani, Bhotia of Baltistan, Sbalti
Dialects: Chorbat is most divergent dialect. Lexical similarity: 87%–100% among dialects, 78%–85% with Purik ,.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 270,000 in Pakistan (1992). Population total all countries: 290,000.
Language Use: Also use Shina [scl], Urdu [urd].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 3%–5% in Urdu. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible portions: 1903–1940.
Writing System: Arabic, Devanagari, Tibetan
Nation of Origin: Pakistan
Other Comments: Muslim (Shi’a).