Karakorum Pass
| Karakorum Pass | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Compass direction | north | south | |
| Pass height | 5575 m | ||
| region | Xinjiang Autonomous Region ( PR China ) |
Union Territory of Ladakh ( India ) | |
| Watershed | → Yarkant | → Shyok | |
| Valley locations | Yarkant | Leh | |
| Mountains | Karakoram | ||
| Map (Ladakh) | |||
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| Coordinates | 35 ° 30 '48 " N , 77 ° 49' 23" E | ||
The Karakorum Pass (5575 m) is the highest mountain pass on the old trade route between Leh ( Ladakh in the Indian part of Kashmir ) and Yarkant in the Tarim Basin ( Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China ).
The pass lies on the border of the territory controlled by India and China in a region whose borders are disputed. It is also of military strategic importance for the control of the Siachen Glacier , which is disputed between Pakistan and India . There are currently no motorable roads leading over the top of the pass and the pass is closed to traffic.
The Karakorum Pass is not located in the Karakorum Mountains, but southeast of it, between the Dapsang Plateau and the Aghil chains. The Karakoram Highway does not lead over the pass either, but through the mountains of the same name.
Pass height
The pass forms a 45 m wide saddle between two mountains. There is no vegetation at the top. The pass is mostly free of ice and snow due to strong winds. Snow storms often occur. Traditionally, the high pass has always taken a heavy toll on pack animals; the pass road was known for being lined with numerous skeletons and bones of dead pack animals. Despite all of this, the Karakorum Pass is relatively easy to pass, as the ascent of the pass is flat on both sides and the top of the pass is usually free of ice.
Surname
The name Karakorúm comes from Turkish and means black rubble. The name was later transferred to the neighboring mountains.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth: The third pole. The eight-thousanders and their satellites. Munich 1961, p. 163.
swell
- Francis Younghusband: The heart of the Continent, a narrative of travels in Manchuria across the Gobi desert through the Himalayas, the Pamirs and Chitral in 1884-94 . Published: 1897. London.
- Janet Rizvi: Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia . 1983. Oxford University Press. Reprint: Oxford University Press, New Delhi (1996).
- Janet Rizvi: Trans-Himalayan Caravans: Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh . 1999. Oxford University Press. New Delhi.
- Jeremy Schmidt: Himalayan Passage: Seven Months in the High country of Tibet, Nepal, China, India & Pakistan . 1991. The Mountaineers Books, Seattle.