The Kamchik Pass ( uz, Qamchiq dovoni), also spelt Kamchiq or Qamchiq, is a mountain pass in the Qurama Mountains in eastern

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. The pass provides a strategically important route as an access for ground transport traveling between the

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

and

Namangan Region Namangan Region ( uz, Namangan viloyati/Наманган вилояти, نەمەنگەن ۋىلايەتى; russian: Наманганская область, ''Namanganskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Uzbekistan, located in the southern p ...

s in the

Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...

bypassing neighboring

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. It connects the capital city of

with

Osh Osh (Kyrgyz: Ош, romanised Osh; uz, O‘sh/Ўш) is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". It is the oldest city in the country (e ...

, the second-largest city in neighboring

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

. The peak of the pass reaches above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

Route

For centuries, the Kamchik Pass was part of Central Asia's Silk Road trade route that connected the markets of Asia and Europe. The Tashkent-Osh (A373) international highway now winds through the pass. Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles travel through the Kamchik Pass each day.

Weather

The Kamchik Pass is frequently closed in the winter due to avalanche hazards. Mudslides and landslides are also threats to vehicles along the route and the nearby villages. In February 2015, the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

announced it would help aid a disaster risk-reduction project for the Kamchik Pass. The plan is to improve an early warning monitoring system, emergency assistance and education for the people living in remote and rural disaster-prone regions nearby. The project is funded by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO).

Railway pass

In March 2013, Uzbek Railways announced plans to build a new railway through the Kamchik Pass to allow freight traffic to bypass neighboring

. The long electric rail line connects existing railways at Angren and Pop in order to create a direct route between the cities of

and

Namangan Namangan (; ) is a city in eastern Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, economic, and cultural center of Namangan Region. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Namangan is located in the northern edge of the Fergana Valley, less than ...

. The new rail allows Uzbekistan to abandon the Soviet-era line that cuts across Tajikistan's Sughd Region, saving Uzbekistan a reported $25 million in transit fees it pays to Tajikistan each year. The line opened in 2016.

References

{{Uzbekistan topics Mountain passes of Uzbekistan Sites along the Silk Road

Route

Weather

Railway pass

See also

References