Khunjerab Pass

Infobox Mountain Pass
Name = Khunjerab Pass
Photo = Khunjerab Pass Pakistan China.jpg
Caption = Khunjerab Pass viewed from the Pakistani side
Elevation = 4,693 m /15,397 ft.
Location = CHN / PAK
Range = Karakorum Range
Coordinates = coord|36|50|0|N|75|25|22|E|type:pass_region:PK/CN|display=inline,title
Topographic

Traversed by =

Khunjerab Pass (zh-stp|s=红其拉甫山口|t=紅其拉甫山口|p=hóngqílāfǔ shānkŏu) (el. 4,693 m/15,397 ft.) is a high mountain pass in the Karakorum Mountains on the northern border of Pakistan and the Xinjiang Autonmous Region of China. The name is derived from Wakhi for "Blood Valley".

Sino-Pakistani Border Crossing

The Khunjerab Pass is the highest paved border crossing in the world and the highest point on the Karakoram Highway. The roadway across the pass was completed in 1982, and has superseded the unpaved Mintaka Pass and Kilik Pass as the primary passage across the Karakorum Range.

On the Pakistan side, the pass is 125 km from Sust, 270km from Gilgit and 870km from Islamabad. There is a security outpost in Dih, and a customs and immigration post near Sust. On the Chinese side, the pass is 130km from Tashkurgan, 420km from Kashgar and 1890km from Urumqi. The Chinese port of entry is located on 1km from the mountain in Tashkurgan County.

The long flat pass is often snow-covered during the winter season and is closed from October 15 to May 1. There is excellent grazing on the Chinese side of the pass, and domesticated yaks and "dzu" (a cross between yaks and cows) may be seen from the road. On the Pakistani side, the highway travels about 50 km across the extensive Khunjerab National Park before reaching the security outpost of Dih.

Since June 1, 2006, there has been a daily bus service across the boundary from Gilgit, Pakistan to Kashghar, China [Road widening work has begun on 600 kilometers of the highway. [http://www.dawn.com/2006/03/23/nat2.htm] ]

Strategic Position

Khunjerab Pass is in a strategic position between Pakistan Kashmir and China. It is also very close to Indian-administered Kashmir.

Railway

In 2007, consultants [ [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IB24Df02.html Asia Times Online :: South Asia news : China-Pakistan rail link on horizon ] ] were engaged to investigate the construction of a railway through this pass to connect China with Pakistan.

See also

* Sust
* Khunjerab National Park
* Karakoram Highway
* Northern Areas

Footnotes

References

* Curzon, George Nathaniel. 1896. "The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus". Royal Geographical Society, London. Reprint: Elibron Classics Series, Adamant Media Corporation. 2005. ISBN 1-4021-5983-8 (pbk; ISBN 1-4021-3090-2 (hbk).

* King, John 1989. "Karakoram Highway : the high road to China". Hawthorn, Victoria, Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 0-86442-065-X