35°36′N 74°39′E / 35.600°N 74.650°E
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|---|---|
| قومی شاہراہ ٣٥ | |
| Karakoram Highway شاہراہ قراقرم | |
 | |
| Route information | |
Part of  AH4 Asian Highway | |
| Maintained by National Highway Authority (Pakistan) and Transport Department of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (China) | |
| Length | 1,300 km (810 mi) Pakistan: 887 km (551 mi) China: 413 km (257 mi) |
| Existed | 1966–present |
| History | Completed in 1979, open to the public since 1986 |
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  Kashgar, Xinjiang, China.svg){kind=small} China National Highway 314 (Khunjerab Pass–Kashgar–Ürümqi) Khunjerab Pass |
N-35 N-15 | |
| South end | Hasan Abdal, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Location | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Major cities | Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Besham, Pattan, Dasu, Chilas, Gilgit, Aliabad, Gulmit, Sust, Tashkurgan, Upal, Kashgar |
| Highway system | |
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| Karakoram Highway | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 喀喇昆仑公路 | ||||||
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The Karakoram Highway (Urdu: شاہراہ قراقرم, Śāhirāh-i Qarāquram), also known as the KKH, National Highway 35 (Urdu: قومی شاہراہ ۳۵), N-35, and the China–Pakistan Friendship Highway, is a 1,300 km (810 mi) national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab Pass in Gilgit-Baltistan, where it crosses into China and becomes China National Highway 314. The highway connects the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plus Gilgit-Baltistan with China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The highway is a popular tourist attraction and is one of the highest paved roads in the world, passing through the Karakoram mountain range, at 36°51′00″N 75°25′40″E / 36.85000°N 75.42778°E at maximum elevation of 4,714 m (15,466 ft) near Khunjerab Pass.[1][2][note 1] Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions under which it was constructed, it is often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.[3][4][5] The highway is also a part of the Asian Highway AH4.
- ^ "Karakoram Hindu Kush". Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ Lonely Planet Karakoram Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "World record highways – Karakoram". Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ Mahnaz Z. Ispahani (June 1989). Roads and Rivals: The Political Uses of Access in the Borderlands of Asia (First ed.). Cornell University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0801422201.
- ^ Tanveer Naim (2010). "South Asia". UNESCO Science Report (Report). UNESCO. p. 342. ISBN 978-9231041327. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
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