The Karakoram Mountains extend 500 kilometers (310 miles) from India's Ladakh Himalaya, northwest through Pakistan to the Afghan Hindu Kush. The icy summits separate South Asia's Pakistan and part of India to the southwest from Central Asia's far western China and Tibet to the northeast. The colliding Indian Ocean and Eurasian tectonic plates have uplifted over forty peaks above 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) into numerous parallel ridges occupying 207,000 square kilometers (80,000 square miles). All four non-Himalayan 8,000-meter (26,250 feet) peaks are located here, of which K2 (8,611 meters; 28,251 feet) is second only to Mount Everest. The longest midlatitude glaciers (five exceed 48 kilometers; 30 miles) in length supply meltwater for 10 million downstream farmers along the Indus (South Asia) and Tarim (Central Asia) Rivers. The summer monsoon brings Indian Ocean moisture into the parched southern Karakoram, but high peaks create a rain shadow north of the crest where annual precipitation averages just 100 millimeters (4 inches).
Human settlement is concentrated on the moister southern slopes of the Pakistan Karakoram. The towns of Gilgit and Skardu number 40,000 people. The population in the Ladakh region of India is localized in Leh (9,000 people) and in over one hundred small villages throughout the mountains. Shiʿite Muslims predominate in Pakistan, while Tibetan Buddhists prevail in Ladakh. Minority Tajiks, Kyrgyz, and Uighurs are common in the more remote northern Karakoram. Subsistence farming and livestock raising dominate the economy. The primary crops are wheat, barley, buck-wheat, corn, and potatoes. Apricots and walnuts are an important but declining food source.
Since 1975, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought on the Siacheen Glacier to adjudicate their international frontier. National pride, ethnic enclaves, and the headwaters of the mighty Indus River are at stake. In 1994, the governments of China and Pakistan opened the Karakoram Highway to the public. This renewed tourism, commerce, and immigration along this ancient Silk Road artery.
Further Reading
Allan, Nigel J. R. (1988) "Highways to the Sky: The Impact of Tourism on South Asian Mountain Culture." Tourism and Recreation Research 13: 11–16.
Rowell, Galen. (1986) In the Throne Room of the MountainGods. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
The Karakoram Mountains as seen from the Dras Valley in Ladakh, northern India, in 1975. (CHARLES & JOSETTE LENARS/CORBIS)
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