Korala or Kora La or Koro La is a mountain pass between

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 ...

and Gandaki Province. At only in elevation, it has been considered the lowest drivable path between

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 the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. It currently serves as a vehicle border crossing between China and Nepal. Korala in Mustang is the fourth border point that Beijing has reopened after the Rasuwa-Kerung, Tatopani-Khasa and Yari (Humla)-Purang.

Geography

Korala is situated on the drainage divide between the Yarlung Tsangpo and

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

river basins. At , it is the lowest pass across 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 ...

n mountain range. As such, it forms the key col for K2 on the ridgeline connecting it to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

. The Kali Gandaki River has its source near the southern side of the pass.

History

Korala is one of the oldest routes between the two regions. It was historically used for salt trade between Tibet and Nepalese kingdoms. Up until 2008 when Nepali monarchy was abolished, Upper Mustang was the ''Kingdom of Lo'', an ethnic Tibetan kingdom that was a

suzerainty A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...

of Kingdom of Nepal. The suzerainty allowed for a certain level of independence in local governance from the Nepalese central government. During the late 1950s and 60s, the Tibetan guerrilla group Chushi Gangdruk operated out of Upper Mustang with the intention of raiding PLA positions in Tibet. This led to a border incident that caused the killing of a Nepalese officer who was mistaken by Chinese border guards as a Tibetan rebel.

People's Republic of 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 Kingdom of Nepal officially signed border agreement in 1961. The border was set slightly north of the traditional boundary marker. The traditional location of Korala is marked by a

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

lies a bit south of the demarcated border between China and Nepal at . In late December 1999, the 17th claimant

Karmapa The Karmapa Tulku lineage of the Gyalwa Karmapa is the oldest among the major incarnating lineages of Tibetan Buddhism,The Karmapa, "The Karmapas Lineage", Kagyu Office established in 1110 CE by the 1st Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. Karmapa means " ...

Ogyen Trinley Dorje fled Tibet through this area. In response, China built a border fence immediately after. There is a PLA border outpost named "Kunmuja" a few miles on Chinese side, it is the westernmost border outpost in Tibet Military District. The outpost was renovated in 2009 to have a modern facility. The border was closed in the 1960s. However, a semiannual cross-border trade fair remained, during which the border was open to local traders, until the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2012, Nepal and China agreed to open 6 more official border crossings, Korala being one of them. In July 2016, Nepalese government announced that this border crossing is expected to open, and also expects it to be the third most important crossing between the two countries. , the border infrastructure on the Chinese side has been completed, Nepali authority is in the process of upgrading the road network. The border crossing opened in 2023. Port facilities were built at Lektse on the Chinese side and Nechung on the Nepali side. Daily consumer goods, construction materials, electronic materials and clothes are imported to Mustang, while pashmina, agricultural products and yarsagumba are exported to China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korala Mountain passes of Tibet Mountain passes of China Mustang District Shigatse China–Nepal border crossings Mountain passes of the Himalayas Zhongba County