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33-507: The pass has an elevation of 4,362.7 metres (14,313 ft) and opens from the north to the southeast, and is 500 m wide from north to south and 1 km in length from east to west with a gentle incline not exceeding 20 percent. On the Tajik side, the pass is 80 km by road to Murghab and about 850 km to Dushanbe . On the Chinese side, the pass is 13.9 km from Karasu ( 卡拉苏口岸 ),

66-540: A port of entry on the Karakorum Highway which leads to Tashkurgan (60–70 km) and Kashgar (220 km). In the past, the pass used to be open from the 16th to the 30th day of each month from May to November. In most recent years it is open all weekdays all year round (except for national festivities). The pass was closed for many years due to political tensions between the Soviet Union and China , and then

99-822: A junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan , Karakoram , Kunlun , Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world's highest mountains . Much of the Pamir Mountains lie in the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan . Spanning the border parts of four countries, to the south, they border the Hindu Kush mountains along Afghanistan 's Wakhan Corridor in Badakhshan Province , Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan regions of Pakistan . To

132-623: A number of non-Russians including Ney Elias , George Littledale , the Earl of Dunmore , Wilhelm Filchner and Lord Curzon who was probably the first to reach the Wakhan source of the Oxus River . In 1891 the Russians informed Francis Younghusband that he was on their territory and later escorted a Lieutenant Davidson out of the area ('Pamir Incident'). In 1892 a battalion of Russians under Mikhail Ionov entered

165-532: A rise in tourism. Murghob has an alpine tundra climate ( ET ) in the Köppen climate classification . The average annual temperature is −3.9 °C (25.0 °F). The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 8.7 °C (47.7 °F) and the coolest month is January with an average temperature of −18.7 °C (−1.7 °F). The average annual precipitation is 347.7 mm (13.69 in) and has an average of 87.1 days with precipitation. The wettest month

198-464: A rocky plain. A pamir lasts until erosion forms soil and cuts down normal valleys. This type of terrain is found in the east and north of the Wakhan , and the east and south of Gorno-Badakhshan, as opposed to the valleys and gorges of the west. Pamirs are used for summer pasture. The Great Pamir is around Lake Zorkul . The Little Pamir is east of this in the far east of Wakhan. The Taghdumbash Pamir

231-400: Is May with an average of 45.1 mm (1.78 in) of precipitation and the driest month is September with an average of 10.9 mm (0.43 in) of precipitation. This Tajikistan location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia . They are located at

264-508: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Murghab, Tajikistan Murghob ( Tajik : Мурғоб ) or Murghab ( Russian : Мургаб , Murgab , from the Persian word margh-ab , meaning 'prairie river') is the capital of Murghob District in the Pamir Mountains of Gorno-Badakhshan , Tajikistan . With a population of just under 7,500, Murghob is the only significant town in

297-970: Is between Tashkurgan and the Wakhan west of the Karakoram Highway . The Alichur Pamir is around Yashil Kul on the Gunt River . The Sarez Pamir is around the town of Murghab, Tajikistan . The Khargush Pamir is south of Lake Karakul . There are several others. The Pamir River is in the south-west of the Pamirs. The three highest mountains in the Pamirs core are Ismoil Somoni Peak (known from 1932 to 1962 as Stalin Peak, and from 1962 to 1998 as Communism Peak), 7,495 m (24,590 ft); Ibn Sina Peak (still unofficially known as Lenin Peak), 7,134 m (23,406 ft); and Peak Korzhenevskaya ( Russian : Пик Корженевской , Pik Korzhenevskoi ), 7,105 m (23,310 ft). In

330-508: Is the isolated region's main supply route. The Great Silk Road crossed a number of Pamir Mountain ranges. In December 2009, the New York Times featured articles on the possibilities for tourism in the Pamir area of Tajikistan. 2013 proved to be the most successful year ever for tourism in the region and tourism development continues to be the fastest growing economic sector. Historically,

363-569: Is written Памир / Цунлин in the Cyrillic alphabet , and in Xiao'erjing it is written پَامِعَر / ڞوْلٍْ . The name "Pamir" is used more commonly in Modern Chinese and loaned as 帕米尔 / 帕米爾 Pàmǐ'ěr . According to Middleton and Thomas, "pamir" is also a geological term. A pamir is a flat plateau or U-shaped valley surrounded by mountains. It forms when a glacier or ice field melts leaving

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396-471: The Tajikistani Civil War . In 1997, China and Tajikistan signed an agreement to develop a commercial corridor between the two countries through the pass. The opening of the pass reduced cargo travel time between the two countries by ten to fifteen days, obviating lengthy detours into Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Karasu Port of Entry opened on May 25, 2004, and traffic volume grew considerably. In

429-567: The 20th century, these mountains have been the setting for the Tajikistan Civil War , border disputes between China and the Soviet Union , establishment of military bases by the US, Russia, and India, and renewed interest in trade development and resource exploration. The Chinese government says it has resolved most of the disputes it had with Central Asian countries. Some researchers identify

462-601: The 77 km (48 mi) long Fedchenko Glacier , the longest in the former USSR and the longest glacier outside the polar regions . Approximately 12,500 km (ca. 10%) of the Pamirs are glaciated. Glaciers in the Southern Pamirs are retreating rapidly. Ten percent of annual runoff is supposed to originate from retreating glaciers in the Southern Pamirs. In the North-Western Pamirs, glaciers have almost stable mass balances . Covered in snow during most of

495-564: The British and Russians agreed to an Afghan frontier along the Panj River. From 1871 to around 1893 several Russian military-scientific expeditions mapped out most of the Pamirs ( Alexei Pavlovich Fedchenko , Nikolai Severtzov , Captain Dmitry Putyata and others. Later came Nikolai Korzhenevskiy ). Several local groups asked for Russian protection from Afghan raiders. The Russians were followed by

528-558: The Eastern Pamirs, China's Kongur Tagh is the highest at 7,649 m (25,095 ft). Among the significant peaks of the Pamir Mountains are the following: Remark : The summits of the Kongur and Muztagata Group are in some sources counted as part of the Kunlun , which would make Pik Ismoil Somoni the highest summit of the Pamir. There are many glaciers in the Pamir Mountains, including

561-586: The Kulma Pass and processed at the Karasu Border Crossing. The bilateral agreement signed between China and Tajikistan includes the opening of the pass for nationals of all countries. After an initial period where foreigners were still turned back, since 2017, foreign travelers have been passing regularly and without extra problems. This Tajikistan location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Xinjiang location article

594-478: The Pamir Mountains are referred by different names. In Indo-European languages , they are called: In Turkic languages , they are called: In Chinese , they are referred as "Onion Range" ( simplified Chinese : 葱岭 ; traditional Chinese : 蔥嶺 ; pinyin : Cōnglǐng ; Wade–Giles : Ts'ung-ling ), which is named after the wild onions growing in the region; In the Dungan dialect of Mandarin , it

627-487: The Pamir Mountains were considered a strategic trade route between Kashgar and Kokand on the Northern Silk Road , a prehistoric trackway, and have been subject to numerous territorial conquests. The Northern Silk Road (about 2,600 km (1,616 mi) in length) connected the ancient Chinese capital Chang'an with Kashgar over the Pamir Mountains towards the west, and from there continued to ancient Parthia . In

660-609: The Wakhan River. There are various Arab and Chinese reports. Marco Polo may have travelled along the Panj River . In 1602 Bento de Goes travelled from Kabul to Yarkand and left a meager report on the Pamirs. In 1838 Lieutenant John Wood reached the headwaters of the Pamir River . From about 1868 to 1880, a number of Indians in the British service secretly explored the Panj area. In 1873

693-521: The area and camped near the present Murghab . In 1893 they built a proper fort there ( Pamirskiy Post ). In 1895 their base was moved to Khorog facing the Afghans. In 1928 the last blank areas around the Fedchenko Glacier were mapped by a German-Soviet expedition under Willi Rickmer Rickmers. In the early 1980s, a deposit of gemstone -quality clinohumite was discovered in the Pamir Mountains. It

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726-754: The eastern half of Gorno-Badakhshan. It is the highest town in Tajikistan (and of the former Soviet Union ) at 3,650 meters above sea level. It is where the Pamir Highway crosses the Bartang river. The Pamir Highway goes north to Sary-Tash and on to Osh in Kyrgyzstan and southwest to the region's capital Khorugh . Another road goes east over the Kulma Pass to the Karakoram Highway in China connecting to Tashkurgan to

759-589: The first three months after the pass opened, an official tally by the Tajik Ministry of Traffic and Roads counted legal crossings of just 17 trucks, 10 buses, 240 tons of cargo, and 171 people over a three-month period. Unofficial transits are believed to be more common, as many locals lack passports needed to cross the pass legally. From May to August 2006, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce registered 649 cargo shipments totaling 11,218.5 metric tons of goods. In

792-417: The glacier snowline (ELA ) as altitude limit between glacier nourishing area and ablation zone, was about 820 to 1250 metres lower than it is today. Under the condition of comparable proportions of precipitation there results from this a glacial depression of temperature of at least 5 to 7.5 °C. Coal is mined in the west, though sheep herding in upper meadowlands is the primary source of income for

825-793: The north, they join the Tian Shan mountains along the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan . To the east, they extend to the range that includes China 's Kongur Tagh , in the "Eastern Pamirs", separated by the Yarkand valley from the Kunlun Mountains . Since the Victorian era , they have been known as the " Roof of the World ", presumably a translation from Persian . The Pamir region is home to several different cultures, peoples and languages. In some of these languages,

858-623: The north-east through the Gez valley up to c.1850 m asl (meters above sea level) and thus as far as to the margin of the Tarim basin. This outlet glacier received inflow from the Kaiayayilak glacier from the Kongur north flank. From the north-adjacent Kara Bak Tor (Chakragil, c. 6800 or 6694 m) massif, the Oytag valley glacier in the same exposition flowed also down up to c. 1850 m asl. At glacial times

891-564: The region. The lapis lazuli found in Egyptian tombs is thought to come from the Pamir area in Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. About 138 BCE Zhang Qian reached the Fergana Valley northwest of the Pamirs. Ptolemy vaguely describes a trade route through the area. From about 600 CE, Buddhist pilgrims travelled on both sides of the Pamirs to reach India from China. In 747 a Tang army was on

924-406: The same three months the following year, traffic volume reached 1,836 cargo shipments and 30,556 metric tons. In all, travelers made 12,500 trips through the pass in 2007 transporting 56,300 metric tons of goods worth US$ 250 million. Commonly traded goods include automobiles, construction materials, machinery, electronics, furniture, eggs, and rice. In 2013, 31,000 tons of goods were shipped through

957-469: The south and Kashgar to the north. From 1892 to 1893, a fortification named Shadzhansky Post (Russian: Шаджанский пост ) existed on the site of the current town of Murghob. Some historical records attest that, in 1893, Russian soldiers established Pamirsky Post (Russian: Памирский пост , lit.   ' Pamir post ' ) in the area as the main Russian fortification in the Pamir Mountains. It

990-569: The western margin of the Tarim Basin an east–west extension of c. 200 km. Its north–south extension from King Ata Tagh up to the northwest Kunlun foothills amounts to c.170 km. Whilst the up to 21 km long current valley glaciers are restricted to mountain massifs exceeding 5600 m in height, during the last glacial period the glacier ice covered the high plateau with its set-up highland relief, continuing west of Mustagh Ata and Kongur. From this glacier area an outlet glacier has flowed down to

1023-455: The year, the Pamirs have long and bitterly cold winters , and short, cool summers , which equals an ET (tundra climate) according to Köppen climate classification ( EF above the snow line). Annual precipitation is about 130 mm (5 in), which supports grasslands but few trees . The East-Pamir, in the centre of which the massifs of Mustagh Ata (7620 m) and Kongur Tagh (Qungur Shan, 7578, 7628 or 7830 m) are situated, shows from

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1056-649: Was the only such deposit known until the discovery of gem-quality material in the Taymyr region of Siberia , in 2000. The earliest known evidence of human cannabis use was found in tombs at the Jirzankal Cemetery. The Pamir Highway , the world's second highest international road, runs from Dushanbe in Tajikistan to Osh in Kyrgyzstan through the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province , and

1089-462: Was to be their most advanced military outpost into Central Asia . Other records published much later state that Pamirsky Post was actually established elsewhere on 26 July 1903, as new barracks near the village of Kuni Kurgan. The modern town of Murghob was constructed during the period of Soviet rule in Tajikistan as a rest stop along the Pamir Highway . The old Soviet military outpost closed in 2002, causing economic hardship partially offset by

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