Karakoram Highway

Karakoram Highway, roadway that connects Kashgar (Kaxgar) in western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, with Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The road, which took almost 20 years (1959–78) to complete, extends for about 500 miles (800 km) through some of the most rugged and inaccessible terrain in Asia; it runs through or near the Pamirs, Hindu Kush, Kunlun Mountains, and Karakoram Range.

Proceeding southward from Kashgar through western Xinjiang, the highway threads its way through valleys around the towering peaks of the Sarykol Range (at the juncture of the Pamirs and the Kunluns) before crossing into Gilgit-Baltistan (in the Pakistani-administered portion of Kashmir) at Khunjerab (Kunjirap) Pass. The road then winds through deep valleys in the Karakorams until, just east of Gilgit, it reaches the upper Indus River valley. It then follows the Indus down, past the Nanga Parbat massif, until the river breaks out of the mountains, at which point the road veers away and heads generally southward to Islamabad.

The highway was a joint Pakistani and Chinese project and required the skills of about 24,000 workers. Mud slides, rockfalls, and other avalanches were a constant danger, and the road’s construction was particularly hampered by the unforeseen movement of glaciers in the region. Even after its completion, the highway continued to require heavy maintenance, but it has had a notable economic impact on the Uyghur, Tajik, and Kyrgyz peoples who inhabit the mountainous region.