MAJOR

DOMESTIC
ROUD
ROUTES IN
PAKISTAN
 Karakoram Highway

+ The highway, connecting the Gilgit-Baltistan region to the ancient Silk Road, runs approximately

1,300 km from Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang region of China, to Abbottabad, of Pakistan. An
extension of the highway southwest from Abbottabad, in the form of the N-35 highway, meets the
Grand Trunk Road, N-5, at Hasan Abdal, Pakistan.
+ The highway cuts through the collision zone between the Eurasian and Indian plates, where
China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan come within 250 km of each other. Owing largely to
the extremely sensitive state of the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, the Karakoram
Highway has strategic and military importance to these nations, but particularly Pakistan and
China.
 HISTORY OF KARAKORAM
HIGHWAY
+ The Karakoram Highway, also known as the Friendship Highway in China, was built by the
governments of Pakistan and China. It was started in 1962 and was completed and opened to the
public in 1978. Pakistan initially favored routing through Mintaka Pass. In 1966, China, citing the
fact that Mintaka would be more susceptible to air strikes, recommended the steeper Khunjerab
Pass instead. About 810 Pakistanis and about 200 Chinese workers died, mostly in landslides and
falls, while building the highway. Over 140 Chinese workers who died during the construction are
buried in the Chinese cemetery in Gilgit. The route of the KKH traces one of the many paths of the
ancient Silk Road.
 MAJOR TOWNS NEAR
KARAKORAM HIGHWAY
 Hassan Abdal
 Haripur
 Abbottabad
 Pattan
 Gilgit
 Kohistan
 KARAKORAM HIGHWAY
REALIGNMENT 
+ A large section of the highway was damaged by a landslide in 2010 that created Atta-bad Lake.
The resulting landslides cut off both the Hunza River and Karakoram Highway resulting in the
formation of the reservoir. Prior to the completion of the bypass, all vehicular traffic had to be
loaded onto boats to traverse the new reservoir. Construction of the tunnels began in 2012 and
required 36 months for completion. The 24 km long series of bridges and tunnels was inaugurated
on 15 September 2015 at a cost of $275 million and was hailed as a major accomplishment. The
route comprises five tunnels and several bridges. The longest tunnel is 3,360 m, followed by
2,736 m, 435 m, 410 m and 195 m while the Shishkat Great Bridge on Hunza River is 1,480 m.
The realignment restored the road link between Pakistan and China.
IMPACT OF KARAKORAM HIGHWAY ON AGRICULTURE:
The agriculture and livestock sector was a traditional source of livelihood, but after the
construction of Karakoram Highway a paradigm shift has been recorded by introducing
modern agricultural techniques and motivation for the farmers to cultivate more
rewarding cash crops. It was seen as a means to boost regional trade by using the
Karakoram Highway and onward road links through China for the exchange of
commodities between Pakistan and Kazakhstan.