Khaplu (Urdu and Balti:خپلو‬), also spelt Khapalu,^[1] is a town that serves as the administrative capital of the Ghanche District of Gilgit-Baltistan, in northern Pakistan.^[2] Lying 103 km (64 mi) east of the town of Skardu, it was the second-largest kingdom in old Baltistan of the Yabgo dynasty. It guarded the trade route to Ladakh along the Shyok River.