Khunjerab Pass (; ; ug, قونجىراپ ئېغىزى) is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the

Karakoram Mountains The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under t ...

, in a

strategic Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

position on the northern border of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

(

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 be ...

Hunza Hunza may refer to: * Hunza, Iran * Hunza Valley, an area in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan ** Hunza (princely state), a former principality ** Hunza District, a recently established district ** Hunza River, a waterway ** Hunza Peak, a mou ...

and Nagar Districts) and on the southwest border 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 ...

(

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

). Mutsjliga Pass is a

at near Khunjerab Pass.

Etymology

Its name is derived from two words of the local

Wakhi language Wakhi (Wakhi: /В̌aхi, ) is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and China. Classification and distribut ...

: "khun" means blood and "jerab" means a creek coming from a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

or waterfall.

Notability

The Khunjerab Pass is the highest-paved international border crossing in the world and the highest point on the

Karakoram Highway The Karakoram Highway ( ur, , translit=śāhirāh qarāquram; known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 ( ur, ) or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in ...

. The

roadway A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of tra ...

across the pass was completed in 1982, and has superseded the unpaved

Mintaka Mintaka , designation Delta Orionis (δ Orionis, abbreviated Delta Ori, δ Ori) and 34 Orionis (34 Ori), is a multiple star system some 1,200 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Orion. Together with Alnitak (Zeta Or ...

and Kilik Passes as the primary passage across the Karakoram Range. The choice of Khunjerab Pass for Karakoram Highway was decided in 1966: China citing the fact that Mintaka would be more susceptible to air strikes recommended the steeper Khunjerab Pass instead. On the Pakistani-administered side, the pass is from the National Park station and checkpoint in Dih, from the customs and immigration post in

Sost Sost or SOST may refer to: Places *Sost, Afghanistan, a village in Badakhshan Province *Sost, Pakistan, the last town inside Pakistan on the Karakoram Highway before the Chinese border * Sost, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France Other uses ...

, from

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 ...

, and from

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

. On the Chinese side, the pass is the southwest terminus of

China National Highway 314 China National Highway 314 (G314) (sometimes referred to as Gansu Provincial Highway 314) runs southwest from Urumqi, Xinjiang towards the Khunjerab Pass, which is on the northern border of the Gilgit–Baltistan territory in Pakistan-administe ...

(G314) and is from

Tashkurgan Tashkurgan ( ug, تاشقورغان بازىرى; zh, s=塔什库尔干镇, p=Tǎshíkù'ěrgān Zhèn; ) is a town in the far northwest of China, close to the country's border with Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It is the principal tow ...

, from

Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

and some from Urumqi. The Chinese port of entry is located along the road from the pass in

Tashkurgan County Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County (also known as Taxkorgan County, sometimes spelled Tashkurgan, Tashkorgan and Tash Kurghan Tadzhik Autonomous Hsien) is an autonomous county of Kashgar Prefecture in Western Xinjiang, China. The county seat is t ...

. The long, relatively flat pass is often snow-covered during the winter season and as a consequence is generally closed for heavy vehicles from November 30 to May 1 and for all vehicles from December 30 to April 1. The reconstructed Karakoram Highway passes through Khunjerab Pass. Since June 1, 2006, there has been a daily bus service across the boundary from

to Kashgar, Xinjiang. A road-sign on way to Khunjerab

This is one of the international borders where left-hand traffic (Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan) changes to right-hand traffic (China) and vice versa.

Highest ATM in the world

The Pakistani side features the highest ATM in the world, administered by the

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) () is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of September 2020, it has 1,511 branches across Pakist ...

and 1LINK.

Railway

In 2007, consultants were hired to evaluate the construction of a railway through this pass to connect

with transport in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan. A feasibility study started in November 2009 for a line connecting

Havelian Havelian ( ) is the second largest municipality in the Abbottabad District, in the Hazara Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the headquarters for Havelian Tehsil. The word literally translates into English as "mansio ...

away in Pakistan and

in Xinjiang. However, no progress has been made thereafter and this project is also not part of the current CPEC plan.

Gallery

File:China Border, Pakistan.jpg, Khunjerab Pass, border crossing between China and Pakistan File:Khunjerab Pass Road.jpg, Khunjerab Pass Road File:Chinese and Pakistan border guards at Khunjerab Pass IMG 7721 Karakoram Highway.jpg, Chinese and Pakistani soldiers at Khunjerab Pass File:On the way to Pak-China Border (Khanjrab Pass) near Beautiful Tunnels at atabad lake Hunza Valley.jpg, China–Pakistan friendship monument near the border

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). * King, John 1989. ''Karakoram Highway : the high road to China''. Hawthorn, Victoria, Lonely Planet Publications. * Episode 13/30 of the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

television series ''

The Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

'', a series originally shown in Japan in the early 1980s.

External links

* {{Mountain passes of Pakistan Extreme points of Earth Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of Pakistan Mountain passes of Gilgit-Baltistan Mountain passes of Xinjiang China–Pakistan border crossings Mountain passes of the Karakoram Sites along the Silk Road Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County