Hunza

Deep in the mountains of the Hindu Kush in present-day northern Pakistan, high above sea level, lies a valley called Hunza. The Hunza valley is surrounded by the Karakoram Mountain Range, which extends from present-day India to Pakistan and into Jammu and Kashmir; its highest peak is K2 (8,611 meters), and sixty of its peaks in all tower around 6,700 meters. The Hunza River itself lies in Jammu and Kashmir, in the area controlled by Pakistan, and flows west and then south for 193 kilometers. Though most of the Hunza valley is located in Pakistan, it crosses the borders of today's Afghanistan and China. Karimabad, a grouping of six villages, is the principal populated area in this fertile valley.

The Hunza valley is dotted with glacial lakes and rivers that form in concurrence with glacial ice flows in the mountains. Due to these glacial flows, the Hunza valley is fertile and has sustained isolated populations of Hunza people, who speak a language unrelated to any other, throughout the centuries. As these glaciers melt, the glacial water (sometimes referred to as glacial milk due to its opaque white color from the minerals found in it) flows through the valley, and the people living in Hunza use it to irrigate their crops. The entire valley is well cultivated; every inch of arable land is put to use. Perhaps because of the mineral-rich water and fertile soil, the Hunza people are famous for their long lives, some living to be 120 years old.

Elphinstone, Mountstuart. ([1839] 1972) An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul. Reprint. Karachi, Pakistan, and New York: Oxford University Press.