Khardung La

Khardung La
Tibetan: མཁར་གདོང་ལ་
Khardung La is located in Ladakh
Khardung La
Location of Khardung La
Khardung La is located in India
Khardung La
Khardung La (India)
Elevation5,359 m (17,582 ft)
LocationLadakh, India
RangeHimalaya, Ladakh Range
Coordinates34°16′42″N 77°36′15″E / 34.27833°N 77.60417°E / 34.27833; 77.60417

Khardung La (Tibetan: མཁར་གདོང་ལ་, Wylie: mkhar gdong la, THL: khar dong la) or Khardung Pass is a mountain pass in the Leh district of the Indian union territory of Ladakh.

The pass is on the Ladakh Range, north of Leh, and connects the Indus river valley and the Shyok river valley. It also forms the gateway to the Nubra Valley, beyond which lies the Siachen Glacier. A motorable road through the pass was built in 1976, and opened to public motor vehicles in 1988. Maintained by the Border Roads Organisation, the pass is strategically important to India as it is used to carry supplies to the Siachen Glacier. The road is one of the world's highest motoroable roads.[1]

The elevation of Khardung La is 5,359 m (17,582 ft).[2] Local summit signs and dozens of stores selling shirts in Leh incorrectly claim its elevation to be in the vicinity of 5,602 m (18,379 ft) and that it is the world's second highest motorable pass.

  1. ^ "Top 13 Highest Motorable Passes or Roads in the World". 5 February 2015.
  2. ^ "DGPS Document supplied by the Cartographic Institute of Catalonia" (PDF).