Sarhad, also known as Sarhad-e Broghil or Sarhad-e Wakhan, is a
river valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ...
in the
Wakhan District
Wakhan District is one of the 28 districts of Badakhshan province in eastern Afghanistan. Located between Tajikistan in the north and Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral District in the south, the district separates Tajikistan and Pakistan wh ...
of
Badakhshan Province
Badakhshan Province (Dari: بدخشان) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower and Upper C ...
of
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 ...
.
Sarhad lies at an altitude of on the
Wakhan River, at a point where the river broadens into a wide plain. It is inhabited by the native
Pamiris
The Pamiris are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, native to Central Asia, living primarily in Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan), Afghanistan ( Badakhshan), Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan & Chitral) and China (Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County). They spe ...
,
Wakhis
The Wakhi people (, , ; ; ), also locally referred to as the Wokhik (), are an Iranian ethnic group native to Central and South Asia. They are found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China—primarily situated in and around Afghanistan' ...
and
Kyrgyz people
The Kyrgyz people (also spelled Kyrghyz, Kirgiz, and Kirghiz; or ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia. They primarily reside in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and China. A Kyrgyz diaspora is also found in Russia, Tajik ...
of Afghanistan.
[Mock and O'Neill (2004), Expedition Report]
/ref> The valley lies at the end of an unpaved road from Khandud in the west, and just to the north of the Broghil Pass
Broghil Pass ( ''Kutal-i Broghil'') is a high mountain pass along the Durand Line border that crosses the Hindu Kush mountain range and connects Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan with Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa i ...
. Construction of the road to Bazai Gonbad and then to the Wakhjir Pass
The Wakhjir Pass, Ludwig W. Adamec. Historical and political gazetteer of Afghanistan Vol. 1. Badakhshan Province and northeastern Afghanistan. Graz : Akad. Druck- und Verl.-Anst., 1972.p. 185. also spelled Vakhjir Pass, is a mountain pass on th ...
(Afghanistan–China border
The Afghanistan–China border is a boundary between Afghanistan and China, beginning at the tripoint of both countries with the Pakistan's federally administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, following the watershed along the Mustagh Range, an ...
) in the northeast has started in late 2023.
The population of the valley was reported in 2003 at around 548 people.[ The Sarhad Valley is part of the Wakhan National Park and protected by the ]Afghan Armed Forces
The Afghan Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (, ) and also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces, is the military of Afghanistan, commanded by the Taliban government from 1997 to 2001 and a ...
.
Climate
Sarhadd has a tundra climate
The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''ET'') with brief, cool summers and long, bitterly cold winters.
Economy
The entire population of Sarhad is involved in agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
, transport
Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
, trade, and tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
.
See also
*Geography of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a Landlocked country, landlocked mountainous country located on the Iranian Plateau, at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia.*
*
*
*
*
* The country is the List of countries and dependencies by area, 40th largest in ...
*Transport in Afghanistan
Transport in Afghanistan is done mostly by road, rail transport in Afghanistan, rail and air. Much of the nation's road network was built in the mid-20th century but left to ruin during the last two decades of that century due to war and politi ...
*Valleys of Afghanistan Afghanistan, which is about two-thirds mountainous, contains many valleys. The majority of the valleys are located in parts of northeastern, central, southern and southeastern Afghanistan. The southeastern areas are wetter and are covered by forest ...
References
External links
* (Nov. 19, 2023)
* ( TOLO TV, Oct. 26, 2023)
*
Exploring Afghanistan's Sarhad e Broghil
(17 September 2015)
Populated places in Badakhshan Province
Wakhan
{{Badakhshan-geo-stub