Khunjerab Pass
| Khunjerab Pass | ||
|---|---|---|
Elevation 4,693 m (15,397 ft) | | |
| Traversed by |  AH4 -  G314 Karakoram Range | |
| Coordinates | 36°51′00″N 75°25′40″E / 36.85°N 75.427777777778°E | |
  Khunjerab Pass  Khunjerab Pass | ||
 | ||
| Khunjerab Pass | |
|---|---|
| Chinese name | |
Hanyu Pinyin | hóngqílāfǔ shānkǒu |
Khunjerab Pass (
Near Khunjerab Pass, there is another pass known as Mutsjliga Pass, which stands at an elevation of 5,314 meters (17,434 feet) and is located at approximately 36°58′25″N 75°17′50″E / 36.97374°N 75.2973°E.
Etymology
Its name is derived from two words of the local Wakhi language: "Khun" means blood and "Jerab" means a creek coming from a spring or waterfall.
Notability
The Khunjerab Pass holds several distinctions, including being the highest paved international border crossing globally and serving as the highest point along the Karakoram Highway. The construction of the road across this pass was completed in 1982, and it has since supplanted the previously unpaved Mintaka and Kilik passes as the principal route across the formidable Karakoram Range.
The decision to use the Khunjerab Pass for the Karakoram Highway was made in 1966. China citing the fact that Mintaka would be more susceptible to air strikes, recommended the steeper Khunjerab Pass instead.[1]
On the Pakistani-administered side, the pass is 42 km (26 mi) from the National Park station and checkpoint in Dih, 75 km (47 mi) from the customs and immigration post in Sost, 270 km (170 mi) from Gilgit, and 870 km (540 mi) from Islamabad.
On the Chinese side, the pass is the southwest terminus of
The long, relatively flat pass is often snow-covered[2] during the winter season and as a consequence is generally closed for heavy vehicles from November 30 to May 1 and for all vehicles from December 30 to April 1.[3]
The reconstructed Karakoram Highway passes through Khunjerab Pass.
Since June 1, 2006, there has been a daily bus service across the boundary from Gilgit to Kashgar, Xinjiang.[4]
This is one of the international borders where left-hand traffic (Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan)
Highest ATM in the world
The Pakistani side features the highest ATM in the world, administered by the National Bank of Pakistan and linked to China UnionPay and the domestic 1LINK switch.[5]
Railway
In 2007, consultants[6] were hired to evaluate the construction of a railway through this pass to connect China with transport in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan. A feasibility study started in November 2009 for a line connecting Havelian 750 km (466 mi) away in Pakistan and Kashgar 350 km (217 mi) in Xinjiang.[7] However, no progress has been made thereafter and this project is also not part of the current CPEC plan.
Gallery
-
Khunjerab Pass, border crossing between China and Pakistan -
Khunjerab Pass Road -
Chinese and Pakistani soldiers at Khunjerab Pass -
China–Pakistan friendship monument near the border
_near_Beautiful_Tunnels_at_atabad_lake_Hunza_Valley.jpg)
See also
- China–Pakistan border
- Mustagh Pass
- Sost
- Khunjerab National Park
- Karakoram Highway
- Gilgit–Baltistan
- Nathu La
- Abra del Acay
References
Citations
- ^ 刘欣 (2013-05-03). "重寻玄奘之路" [Rediscover the path taken by Xuanzang] (in Chinese). 东方早报. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
1966年，时任新疆军区副司令员的张希钦在主持修筑中巴公路时，为避敌国空袭，放弃了巴方主张的走宽阔的明铁盖达坂的方案，而取道地势高峻的红其拉甫山口。
[In 1966, when Zhang Xiqin, then deputy commander of the Xinjiang Military Region, was presiding over the construction of the China-Pakistan Highway, in order to avoid enemy air attacks, he gave up the plan advocated by Pakistan to take the wide Mingtie Gaida Ban, and instead took the high-terrain Khunjela. Fushankou.] - ^ "Snowfall at Khunjerab Pass, Gilgit-Baltistan - Travel and Tourism". Archived from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
- ^ "Khunjerab Pass". www.dangerousroads.org. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
- ^ "Road widening work has begun on 600 km (370 mi) of the highway". www.dawn.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-22.
- ^ "World's Highest ATM". Atlas Obscura (www.atlasobscura.com). Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ^ Syed Fazl-e-Haider (Feb 24, 2007). "China-Pakistan rail link on horizon". Online Asia Times, South Asia. Archived from the original on 2007-02-26. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ "Maps, Weather, Videos, and Airports for Kashi, China". www.fallingrain.com. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
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. 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
- Episode 13/30 of the The Silk Road, a series originally shown in Japan in the early 1980s.
External links
Media related to Khunjerab Pass at Wikimedia Commons
