The Karakoram is a mountain range in
Kashmir region spanning the borders of
Pakistan,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and
India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to
Afghanistan and
Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the jurisdiction of
Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...
, which is controlled by Pakistan. Its highest peak (and
world's second-highest),
K2, is located in Gilgit-Baltistan. It begins in the
Wakhan Corridor (Afghanistan) in the west, encompasses the majority of
Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...
, and extends into
Ladakh (controlled by India) and
Aksai Chin (controlled by China). It is the
second-highest mountain range in the world and part of the complex of ranges including the
Pamir Mountains
The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...
, the
Hindu Kush and the
Himalayan Mountains. The Karakoram has eighteen summits over in height, with four exceeding :
K2, the second-highest peak in the world at ,
Gasherbrum I,
Broad Peak and
Gasherbrum II.
The range is about in length and is the most heavily
glaciated part of the world outside the polar regions. The
Siachen Glacier at and the
Biafo Glacier
The Biafo Glacier ( ur, ) is a -long glacier situated in the Karakoram mountain range in Shigar district, Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan. Geography
Biafo Glacier meets the -long Hispar Glacier at an altitude of at Hispar La to create the worl ...
at rank as the world's second and third longest glaciers outside the polar regions.
[Tajikistan's Fedchenko Glacier is long. Baltoro and Batura Glaciers in the Karakoram are long, as is Bruggen or Pio XI Glacier in southern Chile. Measurements are from recent imagery, generally supplemented with Russian 1:200,000 scale topographic mapping as well as Jerzy Wala,''Orographical Sketch Map: Karakoram: Sheets 1 & 2'', Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, Zurich, 1990.]
The Karakoram is bounded on the east by the
Aksai Chin plateau, on the northeast by the edge of the
Tibetan Plateau and on the north by the river valleys of the
Yarkand
Yarkant County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous ...
and
Karakash rivers beyond which lie the
Kunlun Mountains
The Kunlun Mountains ( zh, s=昆仑山, t=崑崙山, p=Kūnlún Shān, ; ug, كۇئېنلۇن تاغ تىزمىسى / قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى ) constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the bro ...
. At the northwest corner are the
Pamir Mountains
The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...
. The southern boundary of the Karakoram is formed, west to east, by the
Gilgit
Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...
,
Indus
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
and
Shyok rivers, which separate the range from the northwestern end of the
Himalaya range proper. These rivers flow northwest before making an abrupt turn southwestward towards the plains of
Pakistan. Roughly in the middle of the Karakoram range is the
Karakoram Pass, which was part of a historic trade route between
Ladakh and
Yarkand
Yarkant County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous ...
that is now inactive.
The
Tashkurghan National Nature Reserve and the
Pamir Wetlands National Nature Reserve Pamir may refer to:
Geographical features
* Pamir Mountains, a mountain range in Central Asia
** Pamir-Alay, a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, part of the Pamir Mountains
*A pamir (valley) is a high plateau or valley surr ...
in the Karalorun and Pamir mountains have been nominated for inclusion in
UNESCO in 2010 by the National Commission of the People's Republic of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
for
UNESCO and has tentatively been added to the list.
Name
Karakoram is a
Turkic
Turkic may refer to:
* anything related to the country of Turkey
* Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages
** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation)
** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language
* ...
term meaning ''black gravel''. The Central Asian traders originally applied the name to the
Karakoram Pass.
Early European travellers, including
William Moorcroft and
George Hayward, started using the term for the range of mountains west of the pass, although they also used the term Muztagh (meaning, "Ice Mountain") for the range now known as Karakoram.
Later terminology was influenced by the
Survey of India
The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of Cartography, mapping and surveying. , whose surveyor
Thomas Montgomerie
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas George Montgomerie FRS (1830–1878) was a British surveyor who participated in the Great Trigonometric Survey of India as a lieutenant in the 1850s. He was the person to label K2, the second highest mountain in the w ...
in the 1850s gave the labels K1 to K6 (K for Karakoram) to six high mountains visible from his station at
Mount Haramukh in
Kashmir Valley
The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...
.
In traditional Indian geography the mountains were known as Krishnagiri (black mountains), ''Kanhagiri'' and ''Kanheri''.
Exploration
Due to its altitude and ruggedness, the Karakoram is much less inhabited than parts of the
Himalayas further east. European explorers first visited early in the 19th century, followed by
British surveyors
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
starting in 1856.
The
Muztagh Pass
The Mustagh Pass or Muztagh Pass () is a mountain pass across the Baltoro Muztagh range in the Karakorams which includes K2, the world's second highest mountain. The crest of the Baltoro Muztagh marks the present border between Pakistani and Ch ...
was crossed in 1887 by the expedition of Colonel
Francis Younghusband and the valleys above the
Hunza River were explored by General Sir
George K. Cockerill
Brigadier-General Sir George Kynaston Cockerill, (13 August 1867 – 19 April 1957) was a British Army officer and a Conservative Party politician.
Career
Cockerill was the son of the Surgeon-General Robert William Cockerill, and his wife Clar ...
in 1892. Explorations in the 1910s and 1920s established most of the geography of the region.
The name Karakoram was used in the early 20th century, for example by
Kenneth Mason,
for the range now known as the
Baltoro Muztagh. The term is now used to refer to the entire range from the
Batura Muztagh above
Hunza in the west to the
Saser Muztagh
__NOTOC__
The Saser Muztagh is the easternmost subrange of the Karakoram range, in the Ladakh region of India. It is bounded on the south, east and northeast by the Shyok River, which bends sharply around the southeast corner of the range. On th ...
in the bend of the
Shyok River in the east.
Floral surveys were carried out in the Shyok River catchment and from Panamik to Turtuk village by
Chandra Prakash Kala
Chandra Prakash Kala is an Indian ecologist and professor. His research interests include alpine ecology, conservation biology, indigenous knowledge systems, ethnobotany and medicinal aromatic plants. He is an assistant professor in the facul ...
during 1999 and 2000.
Geology and glaciers
The Karakoram is in one of the world's most geologically active areas, at the
plate boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate.
A significant part, somewhere between 28 and 50 percent, of the Karakoram Range is glaciated covering an area of more than , compared to between 8 and 12 percent of the Himalaya and 2.2 percent of the
Alps. Mountain
glaciers may serve as an indicator of climate change, advancing and receding with long-term changes in temperature and precipitation. The Karakoram glaciers are slightly retreating, unlike the Himalayas where glaciers are losing mass at significantly higher rate, many Karakoram glaciers are covered in a layer of rubble which insulates the ice from the warmth of the sun. Where there is no such insulation, the rate of retreat is high.
*
Siachen Glacier
*
Baltoro Glacier
*
Hispar Glacier
Hispar Glacier ( ur, ) is a long glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan which meets the long Biafo Glacier at the Hispar La (Pass) at an altitude of to create the world's longest glacial system outside of the po ...
*
Batura Glacier
*
Biafo Glacier
The Biafo Glacier ( ur, ) is a -long glacier situated in the Karakoram mountain range in Shigar district, Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan. Geography
Biafo Glacier meets the -long Hispar Glacier at an altitude of at Hispar La to create the worl ...
*
Chogo Lungma Glacier
Chogo Lungma Glacier is a glacier in the Karakorum mountain ranges in Shigar District of Gilgit-Baltistan. It was the first of all the big Karakorum glaciers to be discovered, in 1835.
See also
*Baltoro Glacier
* Biafo Glacier
*Godwin-Auste ...
*
Yinsugaiti Glacier
Ice Age
In the last
ice age, a
connected series of glaciers stretched from western
Tibet to
Nanga Parbat, and from the
Tarim basin to the
Gilgit District.
[ (glacier map]
downloadable
To the south, the
Indus glacier was the main valley glacier, which flowed down from
Nanga Parbat massif to elevation.
In the north, the Karakoram glaciers joined those from the
Kunlun Mountains
The Kunlun Mountains ( zh, s=昆仑山, t=崑崙山, p=Kūnlún Shān, ; ug, كۇئېنلۇن تاغ تىزمىسى / قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى ) constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the bro ...
and flowed down to in the Tarim basin.
While the current valley glaciers in the Karakoram reach a maximum length of , several of the ice-age valley glacier branches and main valley glaciers, had lengths up to . During the Ice Age, the glacier snowline was about lower than today.
Highest peaks
The highest peaks of the Karakoram are:
The majority of the highest peaks are in the Gilgit–Baltistan region administered by Pakistan. Baltistan has more than 100 mountain peaks exceeding height from sea level.
''K''-numbers
Subranges
The naming and division of the various subranges of the Karakoram is not universally agreed upon. However, the following is a list of the most important subranges, following Jerzy Wala. The ranges are listed roughly west to east.
*
Batura Muztagh
*
Rakaposhi-Haramosh Mountains
The Rakaposhi-Haramosh Mountains are a subrange of the Karakoram range. They are located in the Bagrot Valley Gilgit and Nagar Districts, in the Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. Geography
Rakaposhi-Haramosh Mountains are bordered by Barpu and t ...
*
Spantik-Sosbun Mountains
*
Hispar Muztagh
*
South Ghujerab Mountains The South Ghujerab Mountains are a subrange of the Karakoram range in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The highest peak in the range is Karun Koh, 7,164 m (23,503 ft). This is the only 7,000 metre peak in the range (if indeed it is over 7,000 ...
*
Panmah Muztagh
*
Wesm Mountains The Yengisogat range (), also known as the Wesm Mountains, is a Chinese subrange of the Karakoram mountain range. It lies north of the Baltoro Muztagh, home of the eight-thousanders
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA ...
*
Masherbrum Mountains
__NOTOC__
The Masherbrum Mountains ( ur, ) are a subrange of the Karakoram mountains, located in Ghanche District in the Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Geography
The Masherbrum Mountains are located on the south side of the ...
*
Baltoro Muztagh
*
Saltoro Mountains
*
Siachen Muztagh
*
Rimo Muztagh
__NOTOC__
The Rimo Muztagh is one of the most remote subranges of the Karakoram range. The southern part of Rimo Muztagh is in the Ladakh portion of far northwestern India, also claimed by Pakistan. The northern half, including the Rimo massi ...
*
Saser Muztagh
__NOTOC__
The Saser Muztagh is the easternmost subrange of the Karakoram range, in the Ladakh region of India. It is bounded on the south, east and northeast by the Shyok River, which bends sharply around the southeast corner of the range. On th ...
Passes
Passes from west to east are:
*
Dandala Pass is the most important and earlier pass. It starts from Ghursay
saitang city to Yarqand in China. It is the main trade route between Khaplu, Ladakh, Kharmang to Yarqand, China.
*
Kilik Pass
*
Mintaka Pass
*
Khunjerab Pass (the highest paved international border crossing at )
*
Shimshal Pass
*
Mustagh Pass
*
Karakoram Pass
*
Sasser Pass
*
Naltar Pass or Pakora Pass
The Khunjerab Pass is the only motorable pass across the range. The Shimshal Pass (which does not cross an international border) is the only other pass still in regular use.
Cultural references
The Karakoram mountain range has been referred to in a number of
novels
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
and movies.
Rudyard Kipling refers to the Karakoram mountain range in his novel ''
Kim
Kim or KIM may refer to:
Names
* Kim (given name)
* Kim (surname)
** Kim (Korean surname)
*** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties
**** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948
** Kim, Vietnamese ...
'', which was first published in 1900.
Marcel Ichac made a film titled ''Karakoram'', chronicling a French expedition to the range in 1936. The film won the Silver Lion at the
Venice Film Festival of 1937.
Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson is an American professional speaker, writer, veteran, and former mountaineer. He is a co-founder and former executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute and the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace.
...
details the Karakoram, and specifically K2 and the
Balti, extensively in his book ''
Three Cups of Tea
''Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time'' (original hardcover title: ''Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations ... One School at a Time'') is a memoir book by Greg Morte ...
'', about his quest to build schools for children in the region. ''K2 Kahani'' (The K2 Story) by
Mustansar Hussain Tarar describes his experiences at K2 base camp.
See also
*
Karakoram Highway
*
List of mountain ranges of the world
*
List of highest mountains
Currently, There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of or greater above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian plate, Indian and Eurasian plate, Eurasian plates in China, India, ...
(a list of mountains above )
*
Mount Imeon
*
Naltar Valley
*
Trans-Karakoram Tract
References
Citations
Sources
*
Curzon, George Nathaniel. 1896. ''The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus''. Royal Geographical Society, London. Reprint: Elibron Classics Series, Adamant Media Corporation. 2005. (pbk); (hbk).
*
Kipling, Rudyard 2002. ''
Kim (novel)
''Kim'' is a novel by Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in ''McClure's, McClure's Magazine'' from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in ''Cassell's Magazine'' fr ...
''; ed. by Zohreh T. Sullivan. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. —This is the most extensive critical modern edition with footnotes, essays, maps, etc.
*
Mortenson, Greg and Relin, David Oliver. 2008. ''
Three Cups of Tea
''Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time'' (original hardcover title: ''Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations ... One School at a Time'') is a memoir book by Greg Morte ...
''. Penguin Books Ltd. (pbk); Viking Books (hbk); Tantor Media (MP3 CD).
* Kreutzmann, Hermann, ''Karakoram in Transition: Culture, Development, and Ecology in the Hunza Valley'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006. .
*
Further reading
* Dainelli, G. (1932)
A Journey to the Glaciers of the Eastern Karakoram ''The Geographical Journal'', 79(4), 257–268.
External links
The Northern Kashmir Website
Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemmaGreat Karakorams– images on
Flickr
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Afghanistan
Landforms of Badakhshan Province
Mountain ranges of Pakistan
Mountain ranges of Gilgit-Baltistan
Mountain ranges of India
Mountains of Ladakh
Mountain ranges of China
Mountain ranges of Xinjiang
Sites along the Silk Road
Turkic words and phrases