Karakoram Highway

35°36′N 74°39′E / 35.600°N 74.650°E / 35.600; 74.650

National Highway 35 shield}}
National Highway 35
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)
Length1,300 km (810 mi)
Pakistan: 887 km (551 mi)
China: 413 km (257 mi)
Existed1966–present
HistoryCompleted in 1979, open to the public since 1986
Major junctions
North endChina Kashgar, Xinjiang, China
China National Highway 314 (Khunjerab Pass–Kashgar–Ürümqi)
ChinaPakistan Khunjerab Pass
Major intersections35 N-35
N-15 N-15
South endPakistan Hasan Abdal, Punjab, Pakistan
Location
CountryPakistan
Major citiesHaripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Besham, Pattan, Dasu, Chilas, Gilgit, Aliabad, Gulmit, Sust, Tashkurgan, Upal, Kashgar
Highway system
Map
Karakoram Highway
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese喀喇昆仑公路
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinKālākūnlún Gōnglù
The Karakoram Highway
Aerial View of The Karakoram Highway

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 / 36.85000; 75.42778 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.

  1. ^ "Karakoram Hindu Kush". Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  2. ^ Lonely Planet Karakoram Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "World record highways – Karakoram". Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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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