Leh

Leh lā [key], town (2011 pop. 30,870), Ladakh, E Kashmir, N India. It is the headquarters of Ladakh union territory and of the Leh district in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It lies at an altitude of c.11,500 ft (3,500 m) and is one of the world's highest towns inhabited year-round. Much of the trade between India and the Tibet region of China passed through Leh until 1959, when fighting broke out between India and China. The uninhabited Aksai Chin region around Leh was contested by India and China in the 1960s. The palace of the former rulers of W Tibet and a Lamaist monastery are in Leh.

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