Khunjerab Pass

Khunjerab Pass
Khunjerab Pass viewed from the Kashmiri side
Elevation	4,693 m (15,397 ft)
Location	Xinjiang, China / Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan
Range	Karakoram Range
Coordinates	36°51′00″N 75°25′40″E

Snow leopard, an endangered species, is found in the Khunjerab National Park

Khunjerab Pass
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	紅其拉甫山口
Simplified Chinese	红其拉甫山口
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin hóngqílāfǔ shānkŏu

Khunjerab Pass (elevation 4,693 metres or 15,397 feet) is a high mountain pass in the Karakoram Mountains in a strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan's Gilgit–Baltistan region within the region of Jammu and Kashmir and on the southwest border of the Xinjiang region of China. Its name is derived from Wakhi 'Khun' means Home and 'Jerav' means spring water/water falling.

Sino-Pakistani border crossing

The Khunjerab Pass is the highest paved international 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 The roadway across the pass was completed in 1982, and has superseded the unpaved Mintaka and Kilik Passes as the primary passage across the Karakoram Range.

On the Pakistani 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 China National Highway 314 (G314) and is 130 km (81 mi) from Tashkurgan, 420 km (260 mi) from Kashgar and some 1,890 km (1,170 mi) from Urumqi. The Chinese port of entry is located 3.5 km (2.2 mi) along the road from the pass in Tashkurgan County.

The long, relatively flat pass is often snow-covered during the winter season and as a consequence is generally closed from November 30 to May 1.

With some ceremony, The Khunjerab Pass was first opened to allow tourists to cross on 1st May 1985. The first person to cross the Khunjerab Pass on a bicycle was English 'round-the-world-cyclist' Mark Skinner, who had ridden for three months from Karachi in the South of Pakistan to eventually cross the Khunjerab Pass into China in a blizzard on 1st May 1985. There was then a sign at the top stating 'khunjerab Pass 16000'. At the time when the Khunjerab Pass first opened to tourists there was virtually no paved road from the Chinese port of entry to Kashgar and tourists on bikes were not officialy permitted in China.

Since June 1, 2006, there has been a daily bus service across the boundary from Gilgit, to Kashgar, Xinjiang

A helpful road-sign giving motorists a perspective about the distances involved

Railway

Main article: Khunjerab Railway

In 2007, consultants were engaged to investigate the construction of a railway through this pass to connect China with transport in Pakistani-administered northern areas of Kashmir. 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.

See also

• Sost
• Khunjerab National Park
• Karakoram Highway
• Gilgit–Baltistan
• Nathu La

Gallery

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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

• Episode 13/30 of the NHK television series The Silk Road, a series originally shown in Japan in the early 1980s.