Karakoram International University Karakoram International University Karakoram International University or Karakoram University (KIU; ) is an international level university in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It was established in 2002 with a charter from the Federal Government of Pakistan, with the goal of improving access to higher education for the deserved people of Gilgit-Baltistan. There are two faculties - Sciences, and Humanities and Social Sciences. A third faculty of Mountain Area Development Studies is still in the planning stage. The KIU has been chartered as a multi-campus institution, The campus, situated on University Road in Gilgit, is well-constructed; however, Skardu Campus was established in 2011 with
Balti language "Byaltae" from , which, in Tibetan, means "water gorge." The historian Ptolemy, also a general in the army of Alexander the Great, named the region "Byaltae" in his book. In fact, Baltistan is the Persian translation of "Baltiyul", "homeland of Balti." Balti people are settled on both banks of the Indus River from Kargil district in the east to Haramosh Peak in the west and from the Karakoram in the north to Deosai National Park in the south. The Balti ethnicity is primarily Tibetan in origin, with some Dardic admixture. Balti is a Tibetic language. In some rural areas, the