Qal'ai Khumb (, , ''Qal‘a‘i Xumb/Qal'haji Xumв'' — meaning ''fortress on the banks of the river of Khumb'') or ''Qal'a-i-Khum'', also ''Kalai-Khumb'' (transliterated from ), is a

border town A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states, or regions. Usually the term implies that the nearness to the border is one of the things the place is most famous for. With close proximities to a different coun ...

located in the

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area but only two percent of its popul ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, next to the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. In the past it was the center of the independent Principality of Darvaz. It is now the capital of the Darvoz District of Tajikistan. The Pamir Highway meets here the Panj River. The town is an important overnight rest stop between Kulob and Khorugh, located at a distance of from Kulob (or from

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

) and from Khorugh. It has several

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s to accommodate travelers on their way between cities. The town is almost entirely surrounded by the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a Mountain range, range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun Mountains, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya ...

. The town is connected by road with Afghanistan via the Tajik–Afghan Friendship Bridge. The Saturday cross-border trade market, which was closed for several years, has been reopened recently., VOA Pashto, May 18, 2024.

References

Populated places in Gorno-Badakhshan {{Tajikistan-geo-stub

See also

References