The Karakoram Pass (Chinese: 喀喇昆仑山口; Hindi: क़राक़रम दर्रा; Urdu: ‫;درہ قراقرم‬ Uyghur:  ‫قاراقۇرۇم‬

‫ )ئېغىزى‬is a 5,540 m or 18,176 ft[1] mountain pass between India and China in the Karakoram

Range.[2] It is the highest pass on the ancient caravan route
between Leh in Ladakh and Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. 'Karakoram' literally means 'Black
Gravel' in Turkic.[3]

Map including Karaoram Pass (AMS, 1953)[a]

Map including Karakoram Pass (AMS, 1966)[b]

Map including Karakoram Pass (18,307) (1917)

Historically, the high altitude of the pass and the lack of fodder were responsible for the deaths of
countless pack animals while the route was notorious for the trail of bones strewn along the way.
[4]
 There is an almost total absence of vegetation on the approaches to the pass.[5]
Travelling south from the pass involved three days' march across the barren Depsang Plains at
about 5,300 m (17,400 ft).[6] To the north, the country was somewhat less desolate and involved
travellers crossing the relatively easy and lower Suget Dawan (or Suget Pass)[7] before reaching
the lush grazing grounds around Shahidullah or Xaidulla in the upper valley of the Karakash
River.
The pass is in a saddle between two mountains and about 45 metres (148 ft) wide. There is no
vegetation or icecap and it is generally free of snow due to the winds. Temperatures are low,
there are often very high winds, blizzards are frequent, and the extreme altitude often took its toll.
 In spite of all this, the Karakoram Pass was considered a relatively easy pass due to the gradual
ascent on both sides, and lack of summer snow and ice much of the year. Consequently, the
pass was open throughout most of the year.[8] There is no motorable road across the pass, and
the pass currently remains closed to all traffic.

Contents

 1Geopolitical issues
 2Notes
 3References
 4Resources

Geopolitical issues[edit]
The Karakoram pass falls on the boundary between India's union territory of Ladakh and
China's Xinjiang autonomous region.
It also plays a major geographic role in the dispute between Pakistan and India over control of
the Siachen Glacier area immediately to the west of the pass. This situation arose from the Simla
Agreement, signed in 1972 between India and Pakistan, when the treaty failed to specify the last
100 km (60 mi) or so of the cease-fire line from the end of the Line of Control to the border with
China.
A potential China-India-Pakistan tripoint at Karakoram Pass is referenced in a 1963 boundary
treaty between China and Pakistan concerning the Trans-Karakoram Tract, but India was not
party to that treaty nor any tripoint agreement.[9] The current de facto tripoint is about 100 km
west of the pass near Indira Col in the Siachen Muztagh, where the Actual Ground Position
Line between Indian and Pakistani forces meets the border with China.

Notes[edit]
1. ^ From map: "THE DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES ON THIS MAP
MUST NOT BE CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE"
2. ^ From map: "THE DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES MUST NOT BE
CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE"