Khorog ( ), also Khorugh ( ) or Kharagh ( ), is the capital of

Gorno-Badakhshan 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 ...

. It is also the capital of the

Shughnon District image:Bridge shughnan tj & shughnan af.jpg, Friendship Bridge between Afghanistan and Tajikistan across the river Panj (river), Panj in Shughnon District image:Beautiful view of Panj river, of the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan the in ...

of Gorno-Badakhshan. It has a population of 30,500 (2020 ). Khorog is above sea level in 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 ...

(ancient

Mount Imeon Mount Imeon () is an ancient name for the Central Asian complex of mountain ranges comprising the present Hindu Kush, Pamir and Tian Shan, extending from the Zagros Mountains in the southwest to the Altay Mountains in the northeast, and linked ...

) at the confluence of the rivers Ghunt and

Panj Panj () is a city in southern Tajikistan which is situated on the Afghan border, some south of the capital Dushanbe. It is located along the north bank of the river Panj, from which it derives its name. The population of the town is 12,500 (Jan ...

. The city is bounded to the south (Nivodak) and to the north (Tem) by the deltas of the

Shakhdara The Shakhdara (, ) is a left tributary of the Gunt River in southeastern Tajikistan. The Shakhdara has its source in the eastern part of the Shakhdara Range, not far from the Matz Pass and the Afghan border, in the extreme south of the Pamir ...

and Ghunt, respectively. The two rivers merge in the eastern part of the city flow through the city, dividing it almost evenly until its delta in the Panj, on the border 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 ...

. Khorog is known for its poplar trees that dominate the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the city.

History

Until the late 19th century, Khorog was in an area disputed between the Emir of

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

, Shah of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. The Russians emerged the winners of the region after

The Great Game The Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th-century British and Russian empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and Tibet. The two colonial empires used military interventions and diplomatic negotiations t ...

, which fixed the current northern border of Afghanistan on the Panj River and established the territory of

Russian Pamir 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 ...

around Khorog. Before 1896, when the Russians arrived and built a fort, the main town in the area was Kala-i Bar Panj (or Bar Panja Qal'a) somewhat downriver on the Afghan side. Following the fall of

czar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

ist Russia and the rise of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Khorog became the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan in 1925. Soviet leaders encouraged the migration of settlers to the area with promises of pay, medals and automobiles, but with no industry and little arable land, the effort was not successful. Khorog occupied headlines in July 2012 due to a government forces clash with guerrillas. Over 40 people, including 12 soldiers were killed (many reports indicated that the number of casualties could be higher). The country’s security forces moved in to arrest suspects in the murder of secret services General Abdullo Nazarov. The alleged criminals were linked to former guerrilla leader-turned-border patrol commander Tolib Ayombekov. Ayombekov is alleged to have been involved in drug trafficking and the smuggling of tobacco and precious stones for many years. In 2014, 2018, 2021 and most recently in May 2022, Khorog was the scene of violent clashes and demonstrations against suspected human rights violations by security forces. Pamir's botanical garden is the most popular view of Khorog. It was established in 1940 to test the survival rate of various plants in mountain climate conditions. More than 30,000 varieties of plants have been checked according to official statistics, which now covers around 4,000 types of garden collection. Located close to Khorog, the botanic garden of Pamir opens up a great panoramic view of the entire city.

Facilities and education

Modern Khorog is one of the poorest areas of Tajikistan, with the non-profit

Aga Khan Foundation The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is a private, not-for-profit international development agency, which was founded in 1967 by Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKF seeks to provide long-ter ...

providing almost the only source of cash income. However, the city does have its own university (

Khorog State University Khorugh State University (also known as Khorog State University), is a public university located in Khorugh, GBAO, Tajikistan. It is located in the center of Khorugh (the capital of GBAO), the only urban center in the region. The university has ...

, founded in 1992), twelve schools, and several hospitals. There is a museum, the Khorog Regional Museum, an

Ismaili Centre The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Nizari Ismailis in the countries and regions in which they are established, characterised by the Aga Khan IV as 'ambassadorial buildings'. Each building is architecturally u ...

, and the second-highest botanical garden in the world, the Pamir Botanical Garden. Khorog is also host to the Aga Khan Lycee and one of the three campuses of the

University of Central Asia The University of Central Asia (UCA) ''() i''s a Secularity, secular, Nonprofit organization, non-profit, research university in Central Asia. It was founded by an international charter between the governments of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakh ...

. The

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

was founded in 2000 by the governments of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, the

Kyrgyz Republic Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and largest city. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to t ...

and

, and The Aga Khan. It is the world’s first internationally chartered institution of higher education. UCA has three Schools – School of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Development and the School of Professional and Continuing Education. The Khorog campus offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Global Economics and Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Transportation

There is a bridge to the Afghan side of the river. Khorog is situated along the

Pamir Highway The M41, known informally and more commonly as the Pamir Highway (), is a road traversing the Pamir Mountains through Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with a length of over 1,200 km. It is the only continuous route through the d ...

at the point where it leaves the Panj valley and heads east up the Ghunt valley. The Pamir highway is the main road in Gorno-Badakhshan and connects the Tajik capital of

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 ...

toward the west to the Republic of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

to the northeast. The highway is very difficult to pass in both directions, especially during winter and spring. Khorog also has a small

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

, which can accommodate smaller airplanes like

AN-28 The Antonov An-28 (NATO reporting name Cash) is a twin-engined light turboprop transport aircraft, developed from the Antonov An-14M. It was the winner of a competition against the Beriev Be-30, for use by Aeroflot as a short-range airliner. It ...

turboprop and the Yakovlev

YAK-40 The Yakovlev Yak-40 (; NATO reporting name: Codling) is a regional jet designed in Soviet Union by Yakovlev. The trijet's maiden flight was in 1966, and it was in production from 1967 to 1981. It was introduced to service in 1968, with export mo ...

, or helicopters. Currently, in 2023, there are no regular flights between Khorog and Dushanbe.

Climate

Khorog experiences a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BSk'') with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers.

Notable people

The following is a list of well-known people who were born or brought up in Khorog: *

Oleg Fesov Oleg Fezov, or Oleg Fesov () is a musician, and composer from Tajikistan, who composes and arranges his songs in addition to performing. In 1990 he graduated from Dushanbe College of Arts where he majored in sculpture. Later he decided to switch f ...

, prominent Pamiri musical artist *

Ulfatmo Mamadambarova Ulfatmo Mamadambarova, in Tajik: Улфатмо Мамадамбарова (10 March 1937, Khorog - 4 May 2024, Khorog) was a Pamirian singer from Gorno-Badakhshan, an autonomous region of Tajikistan, whose contributions to music meant that she ...

, singer and musician and Honoured Artist of Tajikistan *

Muhammadboqir Muhammadboqirov Muhammadboqir Muhammadboqirov (10 October 1963 – 22 May 2022), commonly known as Colonel Boqir, was an Isma'ilism, Isma'ili Shia Pamiris, Pamiri political figure, at one point associated with the United Tajik Opposition political alliance, from ...

, Tajik opposition politician killed in clashes with government forces in 2022 * Shodi Shabdolov, chairman of the Communist Party of Tajikistan from 1991 to 2016

Sports

Khorog is the locality of highest altitude where

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

has been played.

Photo gallery

References

External links

"Welcome to Xoroq (Khorogh)"
© Tirdâd Gorgâni, May 2005; (web archive, 1 August 2008).
Photo of Khorugh Airport

source

A Bird's Eye View of Khorugh (Flickr)
{{Authority control Populated places in Gorno-Badakhshan