Karakoram

Aptly nicknamed the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Karakoram Highway cruises over the world’s tallest mountain range between The mostly well-paved architectural delight coasts through the planet’s most breathtaking mountain ranges — the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush Mountains — which add high alpine majesty to the highway’s functional appeal. Add in picturesque villages, suspension bridges, and treks, and you have the most bewitching road trip in all of Central Asia. Here’s how and why you should visit. Photo: The official length of the KKH stretches from Hasan Abdal, some 30 miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, all the way to Kashgar in Xinjiang, China. The bulk of the highway is paved and generally thought of locally as the nicest highway in Pakistan, though it can still be treacherous during the summer monsoon season. Nearly any type of wheeled vehicle can be seen there, including bicycles. Even though I spent It’s in Gilgit-Baltistan’s stunning Hunza Valley that the 800-mile Karakoram Highway offers up some of Pakistan’s most beautiful vistas. There are a few options to get to Gilgit City, where the KKH begins to get exciting. The first is the night bus from Islamabad for just under $20 on the government-owned NATCO bus line. Buses depart from the primary bus terminal, though you should inquire locally for departure times and specifics as they change frequently. Flights are also available from the Islamabad International Airport for about $95, with ...

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Glaciers in the Himalaya–Karakoram mountain ranges harbour approximately half of the ice volume in High-mountain Asia and modulate the flow of freshwater to almost 869 million people within the Indus, Tarim, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins. Since the mid-twentieth century, rising temperatures have led to unsustainably high melting rates for many glaciers, particularly in the Himalaya, temporarily increasing summer meltwater run-off but continuously reducing the ice-storage volume. In this Review, we discuss how and why glaciers and meltwater supplies have changed, how they will likely evolve in the future and how these changes impact water resources and water-related hazards. Heterogeneous glacier retreat is changing streamflow patterns, in turn, affecting the incidence of glacial-lake outburst floods and exacerbating the risk of flooding and water shortages associated with future climate change. These changes could negatively impact downstream populations and infrastructure, including the thriving hydropower sector and some of the world’s largest irrigated agriculture systems, by making water flow more extreme and unpredictable. An improved...

• Afrikaans • العربية • Azərbaycanca • تۆرکجه • Башҡортса • Български • Català • Čeština • Dansk • Deutsch • Eesti • Ελληνικά • Español • Esperanto • فارسی • Français • 한국어 • Հայերեն • Bahasa Indonesia • Italiano • עברית • Қазақша • Кыргызча • Лезги • Magyar • Македонски • مصرى • Монгол • Nederlands • 日本語 • Нохчийн • Norsk bokmål • Occitan • Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча • Polski • Português • Qırımtatarca • Română • Русский • Slovenščina • Српски / srpski • Suomi • Svenska • தமிழ் • Татарча / tatarça • ไทย • Türkçe • Українська • اردو • Tiếng Việt • 中文 The Orkhon valley was a center of the In 1218–1219, Tumen Amgalan Ord (Palace of Myriad Peace; Wan'angong in Chinese) in 1235 the year after he defeated the Tsogtslon tavih nuruu chuluun tulguur, Zeregtsen zogsoh surleg asriig bosgovoi, Ezen tushmediin honh hengereg ayataihan hanginan duursahad, Echih naran uuliin tolgoigoos dainii agtadiig ugtnam. The name Karakorum or "Kharkhorin" literally translates to 'black-twenty'. But linguists argue that the 'khorin' might have been a diversion of the word 'khurem', which means "castle" in Mongolian. Other translations vary. Prosperity [ ] Under Ögedei and his successors, Karakorum became a major site for world politics. William of Rubruck [ ] Later times [ ] Tumen Amgalan Ord, Wanangong (萬安宫) in Chinese Excavation findings include paved roads, some Buildings [ ] The Virtual Kharakhorum project of 2020 reconstructed the city in an explorable 360 degree format based on the latest archeologica...

Geography Aerial view of the central Karakoram Mountain Range in Pakistan. Karakoram Pass is a high altitude pass and one of the highest ancient trade routes at 5,540m above sea level. It passes through a ridge between two mountains and is about 45m wide. The pass has no vegetation nor snow because of the high-speed wind, which constantly blows in the region. Animal life is also non-existent in the area. However, temperatures are low, and blizzards are common. Because of the lack of vegetation, numerous pack animals have died along the pass, with animal bones littering the trail. Despite the harsh climate conditions, the Karakoram Pass is relatively easy to traverse because it ascends gradually on either side and lacks snow or ice for most of the time. However, the road is not motorable and is closed for traffic (Khunjerab Pass, on the Pakistan-China border, is the range's only motorable pass).

The Karakoram Highway revamp is a key part of China's trade and infrastructure initiative in the region, and local communities' expectations are high. Diaa Hadid/NPR Much is expected of Karakoram Highway, which curls through the tall mountain ranges of northern Pakistan, reaching western China. Both countries are renovating it, seeing its potential as a trade route. Pakistan also views it as a way to consolidate control over territories contested with India. But some of the 500-mile route is barely a two-way road, carved out of the rock face that slopes sharply into valleys below. It is battered by rockfall, floods and earthquakes. A landslide in 2010 blocked a river and drowned about 14 miles of the road. In heavy snowfalls, the road all but shuts down. A cargo truck lies flipped on a hairpin turn on a far northern section of the Karakoram Highway near the border with China. The road is often narrow, clings to steep slopes and is battered by landslides and floods. Diaa Hadid /NPR The riskiest part is the last stretch to China. "We can actually call this part of the road as a museum of geohazards," says Sarfraz Ali, a geologist who studies the impact of climate change on the highway at Pakistan's National University of Sciences and Technology. The Karakoram Highway, named for the spindly mountain range it traverses, was a major feat when it was built in the 1950s to 1970s. Now, the Chinese government has invested Boys cling to the back of a pickup truck crossing a section ...

Several important rivers flow from, or through, the mountains of Kashmir into Pakistan. From the Pir Panjal Range flows the Beyond the Karakoram Range in the extreme north lies the Uygur The northern mountain barrier influences the precipitation pattern in Pakistan by intercepting The northern and western regions of the country are subject to frequent seismic activity—the natural The population in this inhospitable northern region is generally The In far northern Pakistan the Hindu Kush branches off southwestward from the nodal orogenic uplift known as the Pamir Knot. The ridges of the Hindu Kush generally trend from northeast to southwest, while those of the Karakorams run in a southeast-northwest direction from the knot. The Hindu Kush is made up of two distinct ranges, a main

The Karakoram Pass is a hill pass in the middle of India and China, lying in the About Karakoram Pass The towering altitude and deficiency of foodgrains were the principal causes for the losses of numerous pack animals. The course through the pass was disreputable for the trace of bones sprinkled adjacent to the itinerary. There is virtually no presence of flora on the entry routes to the pass. The southern segment of the pass is more barren than the north. Traversing the lower Suget Dawan or Suget Pass is easier. The Cold breezes move at a terrific speed in this area. The Karakoram Pass moves through the Indian State of The area around the pass is infertile with no foliage at all. Temperatures can decline to minus 30°C and snowstorms are a regular feature round the year. If you come close to the Daultat Beg Oldi Camp Location, you will find an extensive stretch of 16 km beside the desiccated embankment of the river. You will never fail to notice the itinerary if you go by the trace of the bare bones of various creatures and human beings. These are soundless prompts of the inhospitable circumstances that resulted in casualties in ancient periods when this itinerary was utilized by merchants of Central Asia. The final extension of the pass culminates towards the right of the embankment of the river to the pass. In spite of the fact that the slope is moderate and not especially hard, it is the low density (low oxygen content) air that makes going past this pass especially di...

Karakoram Mountains Mountains cover about 26.5% of the world’s total land surface and harbor over one-third of the global terrestrial biodiversity. The Karakoram is a large mountain range that stretches along the international boundaries of India, Pakistan, and China, with its northwestern edge extending into the countries of Afghanistan and nd highest mountain range that covers a total area of about 207,000 sq. km. Karakoram Highway and Skardu Side Road in northern Pakistan. Situated in the Karakoram range is the Karakoram Pass, which at an elevation of 5,540m is a high mountain pass between the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China. The 1,300km long Karakoram Highway passes through the Karakoram Mountain range at an elevation of 4,714m and is considered as one of the world’s highest paved roads. The Karakoram Highway connects the Gilgit-Baltistan region and the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of The Karakoram Mountain Range is located in one of the most geologically active regions of the world, at the boundary of the Indo-Australian and the Eurasian continental plates. Geologists have estimated that the Karakorams originated about 65 million years ago in the Cenozoic Era, and the mountains are mainly composed of different types of rocks like granites, phyllites, gneisses, and crystallized schists. The Siachen glacier in the Karakoram Mountains region. The mountain range is also the most heavily glaciated region outside the planet’s north and south ...