Irshad Pass (elevation ), also called Ershād Yūvīn, Yirshod Wuyin, Irshad Urween, Irshād Uwin Pass, Kotale Ers̄āḏ Owīn, or Kowtal-e Ershād Owīn, is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

that connects the Chapursan river valley in the

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative units of Pakistan, administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has b ...

region of Pakistan with the Wakhan Corridor in

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 ...

. According to a map in the ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

,'' the elevation of Irshad Pass is slightly higher than the figure given above, at 4,979 m. (16,335 ft.) The ''National Geographic'' article mentions that the nomadic

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 the Wakhan Corridor, who total only about 1,100, cross the Irshad Pass in spring and autumn to trade animals for supplies at Babaghundi Ziarat in north-western Hunza, Pakistan."Stranded on the Roof of the World." Michael Finkel. ''National Geographic Magazine'', February, 2013, pp. 84-111.

References

Afghanistan–Pakistan border Karakoram Landforms of Badakhshan Province Mountain passes of Afghanistan Mountain passes of Gilgit-Baltistan Wakhan {{GilgitBaltistan-geo-stub