Khunjerab Pass (; ; ) is a -high mountain pass in the Karakoram Mountains, in a strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan (Gilgit–Baltistan's Hunza and Nagar Districts) and on the southwest border of China (Xinjiang).
Mutsjliga Pass  is a -high mountain pass at      near Khunjerab Pass.
Etymology
Its name is derived from two words of the local Wakhi language: "khun" means blood and "jerab" means a creek coming from a spring or waterfall.
Notability
The Khunjerab Pass is the highest-paved international border crossing in the world and the highest point on the Karakoram Highway.
The roadway across the pass was completed in 1982, and has superseded the unpaved Mintaka and Kilik Passes as the primary passage across the Karakoram Range.
The choice of Khunjerab Pass for Karakoram Highway was decided in 1966: China citing the fact that Mintaka would be more susceptible to air strikes recommended the steeper Khunjerab Pass instead.
On the Pakistani-administered side, the pass is  from the National Park station and checkpoint in Dih,  from the customs and immigration post in Sost,  from Gilgit, and  from Islamabad.
On the Chinese side, the pass is the southwest terminus of China National Highway 314 (G314) and is  from Tashkurgan,  from Kashgar and some  from Urumqi.
The Chinese port of entry is located  along the road from the pass in Tashkurgan County.
The long, relatively flat pass is often snow-covered during the winter season and as a consequence is generally closed for heavy vehicles from November 30 to May 1 and for all vehicles from December 30 to April 1.
The reconstructed Karakoram Highway passes through Khunjerab Pass.
Since June 1, 2006, there has been a daily bus service across the boundary from Gilgit to Kashgar, Xinjiang.Road widening work has begun on  of the highway.
thumb|Road sign giving distances to cities in Pakistan
This is one of the international borders where left-hand traffic (Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan) changes to right-hand traffic (China) and vice versa.
Highest ATM in the world
The Pakistani side features the highest ATM in the world, administered by the National Bank of Pakistan and 1LINK.World's Highest ATM Atlas Obscura (www.atlasobscura.com).
Retrieved on 2019-07-26.
Railway
In 2007, consultantsOnline Asia Times South Asia Feb 24, 2007.
"China-Pakistan rail link on horizon."
Syed Fazl-e-Haider.
were hired to evaluate the construction of a railway through this pass to connect China with transport in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan.
A feasibility study started in November 2009 for a line connecting Havelian  away in Pakistan and Kashgar  in Xinjiang.
However, no progress has been made thereafter and this project is also not part of the current CPEC plan.
Gallery
File:China Border, Pakistan.jpg|Khunjerab Pass, border crossing between China and Pakistan File:Khunjerab Pass Road.jpg|Khunjerab Pass Road File:Chinese and Pakistan border guards at Khunjerab Pass IMG 7721 Karakoram Highway.jpg|Chinese and Pakistani soldiers at Khunjerab Pass File:On the way to Pak-China Border (Khanjrab Pass) near Beautiful Tunnels at atabad lake Hunza Valley.jpg|China–Pakistan friendship monument near the border See also
China–Pakistan border
Mustagh Pass
Sost
Khunjerab National Park
Karakoram Highway
Gilgit–Baltistan
Nathu La
Abra del Acay
References
Citations
Sources
Curzon, George Nathaniel.
1896.
The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus.
Royal Geographical Society, London.
Reprint: Elibron Classics Series, Adamant Media Corporation.
2005.  (pbk)
;  (hbk).
King, John 1989.
Karakoram Highway : the high road to China.
Hawthorn, Victoria, Lonely Planet Publications.
Episode 13/30 of the NHK television series The Silk Road, a series originally shown in Japan in the early 1980s.
External links
