The Karakoram () is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in the

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

region spanning the border of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is within Pakistan's

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, the northern subdivision of Kashmir. Karakoram's highest and the world's second-highest peak, K2, is located in Gilgit-Baltistan. The mountain range begins in the

Wakhan Corridor The Wakhan Corridor (; ) is a narrow strip of territory in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. This corridor stretches eastward, connecting Afghanistan to Xinjiang, China. It also separates the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajiki ...

in Afghanistan in the west, encompasses the majority of Gilgit-Baltistan, controlled by Pakistan and then extends into

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

, controlled by India and

Aksai Chin Aksai Chin is a region administered by China partly in Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, and partly in Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet, and constituting the easternmost portion of the larger Kashmir regio ...

, controlled by China. It is part of the larger Trans-Himalayan mountain ranges. The Karakoram is the second-highest mountain range on Earth and part of a complex of ranges that includes 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 ...

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

, and the

Indian Himalayas The Indian Himalayan Region (abbreviated to IHR) is the section of the Himalayas within the Republic of India, spanning thirteen Indian states and union territories, namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, We ...

. The range contains 18 summits higher than in

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

, with four above : K2 (

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

) (the second-highest peak on Earth),

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I, originally surveyed as K5, and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located between Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and Tashkurgan in the Xi ...

Broad Peak Broad Peak (; ) is one of the eight-thousanders, and is located in the Karakoram range spanning Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. It is the 12th highest mountain in the world with elevation above sea level. The first ascent of t ...

, and

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II (; ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and ...

. The range is about in length and is the most

glaciated A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires d ...

place on Earth outside the

polar regions The polar regions, also called the frigid geographical zone, zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole, North and South Poles), lying within the pol ...

. The

Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range of the Himalayas, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends in northeastern Kashmir. At long, it is the longest glaci ...

( long) and Biafo Glacier ( long) are the second- and third-longest glaciers outside the polar regions.Tajikistan's Fedchenko Glacier is long. Baltoro and Batura Glaciers in the Karakoram are long, as is Bruggen or Pio XI Glacier in southern Chile. Measurements are from recent imagery, generally supplemented with Russian 1:200,000 scale topographic mapping as well as Jerzy Wala,''Orographical Sketch Map: Karakoram: Sheets 1 & 2'', Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, Zurich, 1990. The Karakoram is bounded on the east by the

plateau, on the northeast by the edge of the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

and on the north by the river valleys of the

Yarkand Yarkant County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also SASM/GNC ro ...

and Karakash rivers beyond which lie the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...

. At the northwest corner are the

. The southern boundary of the Karakoram is formed, west to east, by the

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...

and Shyok rivers, which separate the range from the northwestern end of the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

range proper. These rivers flow northwest before making an abrupt turn southwestward towards the plains of

. Roughly in the middle of the Karakoram range is the

Karakoram Pass The Karakoram Pass () is a mountain pass between India and China in the Karakoram Range. It is the highest pass on the ancient caravan route between Leh in Ladakh and Yarkant County, Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. The name 'Karakoram' comes from ...

, which was part of a historic trade route between

and

that is now inactive. The Tashkurghan National Nature Reserve and the Pamir Wetlands National Nature Reserve in the Karalorun and Pamir mountains have been nominated for inclusion in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 2010 by the National Commission of the People's Republic of

for

and have been tentatively added to the list.

Name

Karakoram is a Turkic term meaning ''black gravel''. The Central Asian traders originally applied the name to the

. Early European travellers, including William Moorcroft and George Hayward, started using the term for the range of mountains west of the pass, although they also used the term Muztagh (meaning, "Ice Mountain") for the range now known as Karakoram. Later terminology was influenced by the

Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Thomas Montgomerie in the 1850s gave the labels K1 to K6 (K for Karakoram) to six high mountains visible from his station at Mount Haramukh in

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the Vale of Kashmir, is an intermontane valley in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcont ...

, codes extended further up to more than thirty. In traditional Indian geography the mountains were known as Krishnagiri (black mountains), ''Kanhagiri'' and ''Kanheri''.

Exploration

Due to its altitude and ruggedness, the Karakoram is much less inhabited than parts of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

further east. European explorers first visited early in the 19th century, followed by British surveyors starting in 1856. The Muztagh Pass was crossed in 1887 by the expedition of Colonel

Francis Younghusband Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British ...

and the valleys above the Hunza River were explored by General Sir George K. Cockerill in 1892. Explorations in the 1910s and 1920s established most of the geography of the region. The name Karakoram was used in the early 20th century, for example by Kenneth Mason, for the range now known as the

Baltoro Muztagh The Baltoro Muztagh (, ) is a subrange within the Karakoram mountain range. It spans across the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is the northernmost political entity of Pakistan, and extends into Xinjiang, China. The crest of this rang ...

. The term is now used to refer to the entire range from the

Batura Muztagh __NOTOC__ The Batura Muztagh () mountains are a sub-range of the Karakoram mountain range. They are located in Passu ( Gojal Valley) in the Hunza District of Gilgit-Baltistan province in northern Pakistan. They are the westernmost sub-range of th ...

above Hunza in the west to the Saser Muztagh in the bend of the

Shyok River The Shyok River (sometimes spelled Shayok) is a major tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh in India and into Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. Originating from the Central Rimo Glacier in the eastern Karakoram, it runs f ...

in the east. Floral surveys were carried out in the Shyok River catchment and from Panamik to Turtuk village by Chandra Prakash Kala during 1999 and 2000.

Geology and glaciers

The Karakoram is in one of the world's most geologically active areas, at the plate boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate. A significant part, somewhere between 28 and 50 percent, of the Karakoram Range is glaciated covering an area of more than , compared to between 8 and 12 percent of the Himalaya and 2.2 percent of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. Mountain

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s may serve as an indicator of climate change, advancing and receding with long-term changes in temperature and precipitation. The Karakoram glaciers are slightly retreating, unlike the Himalayas where glaciers are losing mass at significantly higher rate, many Karakoram glaciers are covered in a layer of rubble which insulates the ice from the warmth of the sun. Where there is no such insulation, the rate of retreat is high. *

Baltoro Glacier The Baltoro Glacier (; ) is a glacier located in the Shigar District of the Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan. It stretches for in length. It is one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions. It is home to some of the world’s high ...

* Hispar Glacier *

Batura Glacier Batura Glacier (), long, is one of the largest and longest glaciers outside of the polar regions.Tajikistan's Fedchenko Glacier is long, Siachen Glacier is long, Biafo Glacier long, and Baltoro Glacier long. The Bruggen or Pio XI Glacier ...

* Biafo Glacier * Chogo Lungma Glacier * Yinsugaiti Glacier

Ice Age

In the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, a connected series of glaciers stretched from western

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...

, and from the

Tarim basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

to the Gilgit District. (glacier map
downloadable
To the south, the Indus glacier was the main valley glacier, which flowed down from

massif to elevation. In the north, the Karakoram glaciers joined those from the

and flowed down to in the Tarim basin. While the current valley glaciers in the Karakoram reach a maximum length of , several of the ice-age valley glacier branches and main valley glaciers, had lengths up to . During the Ice Age, the glacier snowline was about lower than today.

Highest peaks

Here is a list for the highest peaks of the Karakoram. Included are some of the mountains named with a K code, the most famous of which is the K2 (mountain). The majority of the highest peaks are in the Gilgit–Baltistan region administered by Pakistan. Baltistan has more than 100 mountain peaks exceeding height from sea level.

Subranges

The naming and division of the various subranges of the Karakoram is not universally agreed upon. However, the following is a list of the most important subranges, following Jerzy Wala. The ranges are listed roughly west to east. *

* Rakaposhi-Haramosh Mountains * Spantik-Sosbun Mountains * Hispar Muztagh * South Ghujerab Mountains * Panmah Muztagh * Wesm Mountains * Masherbrum Mountains *

Saltoro Mountains The Saltoro Mountains form a subrange within the Karakoram Range and are situated in the southeastern part of the Karakoram. They lie on the southwest side of the Siachen Glacier, which is one of the two longest glaciers in the world outside the ...

Siachen Muztagh __NOTOC__ The Siachen Muztagh is a remote subrange of the eastern Karakoram Range. Close to 60% is in area controlled by China, 40% in area controlled by India. Pakistan claims the Indian-controlled portion as part of the Siachen Conflict. India ...

Rimo Muztagh __NOTOC__ The Rimo Muztagh is one of the most remote subranges of the Karakoram range. The southern part of Rimo Muztagh is in the Ladakh portion of far northwestern India, also claimed by Pakistan. The northern half, including the Rimo massif, ...

* Saser Muztagh

Passes

Passes from west to east are: * Dandala Pass is the most important and earlier pass. It starts from Ghursay saitang city to Yarqand in China. It is the main trade route between Khaplu, Ladakh, Kharmang to Yarqand, China. *

Kilik Pass The Kilik Pass (elevation ; ; ) to the west of Mintaka Pass is a high mountain pass in the Karakorum Mountains between Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan and Xinjiang in China. The two passes were, in ancient times, the two main access points into ...

Mintaka Pass The Mintaka Pass or Mingteke Pass or Mintika Pass() is a mountain pass in the Karakorum Mountains, between northern Pakistan and Xinjiang in China. In ancient times, the Mintaka Pass and the nearby Kilik Pass, to the west, were the two main ac ...

* Khunjerab Pass is the highest paved international border crossing at . It serves the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway, the "8th world wonder". * Shimshal Pass * Mustagh Pass *

* Sasser Pass * Naltar Pass or Pakora Pass The Khunjerab Pass is the only motorable pass across the range. The Shimshal Pass (which does not cross an international border) is the only other pass still in regular use.

Cultural references

The Karakoram mountain range has been referred to in a number of novels and movies.

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

refers to the Karakoram mountain range in his novel '' Kim'', which was first published in 1900. Marcel Ichac made a film titled ''Karakoram'', chronicling a French expedition to the range in 1936. The film won the Silver Lion at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

of 1937.

Greg Mortenson Greg Mortenson is an American professional speaker, writer, veteran, and former mountaineer. He is a co-founder and former executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute and the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace. ...

details the Karakoram, and specifically K2 and the Balti, extensively in his book '' Three Cups of Tea'', about his quest to build schools for children in the region. ''K2 Kahani'' (The K2 Story) by

Mustansar Hussain Tarar Mustansar Hussain Tarar (; ) Sitara-i-Imtiaz, S.I. (born 1 March 1939) is a Pakistani author, travel enthusiast, mountaineer, writer, novelist, columnist, TV host and former actor. Early life Mustansar Hussain Tarar was born in Jokalian on 1 M ...

describes his experiences at K2 base camp.

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). * Kipling, Rudyard 2002. ''

Kim (novel) ''Kim'' is a picaresque novel by English author Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in ''McClure's, McClure's Magazine'' from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in ''Cassell's Magazine'' from January to November 1901, and fir ...

''; ed. by Zohreh T. Sullivan. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. —This is the most extensive critical modern edition with footnotes, essays, maps, etc. * Mortenson, Greg and Relin, David Oliver. 2008. '' Three Cups of Tea''. Penguin Books Ltd. (pbk); Viking Books (hbk); Tantor Media (MP3 CD). * Kreutzmann, Hermann, ''Karakoram in Transition: Culture, Development, and Ecology in the Hunza Valley'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006. . *

External links

The Northern Kashmir Website
Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma

Great Karakorams
– images on

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Afghanistan Landforms of Badakhshan Province Mountain ranges of Pakistan Mountain ranges of Gilgit-Baltistan Mountain ranges of India Mountains of Ladakh Mountain ranges of China Mountain ranges of Xinjiang Sites along the Silk Road Turkic words and phrases