This article is about the mountain range. For the city in Mongolia, see Karakorum. Karakoram Range Baltoro glacier in the central Karakoram with 8000ers Gasherbrum I & II. Countries Pakistan, India, China Regions Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh, Xinjiang Borders on Ladakh Range, Pamirs, Hindu Raj (Hindu Kush) Highest point K2  - elevation 8,611 m (28,251 ft)  - coordinates 35°52′57″N 76°30′48″E / 35.8825°N 76.51333°E / 35.8825; 76.51333 Highest Karakoram peaks as seen from International Space Station Karakoram (or Karakorum) is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan), Ladakh (India), and Xinjiang region, (China). It is one of the Greater Ranges of Asia, a part of the greater Himalaya while north of the actual Himalaya Range. The Karakoram is home to the highest concentration of peaks over five miles in height to be found anywhere on earth,1 including K2, the second highest peak of the world (8,611 m/28,251 ft). K2 is just 237 m (778 ft) lower than the 8,848 m (29,029 ft) tall Mount Everest.

The range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length, and is the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier at 70 km and the Biafo Glacier at 63 km rank as the world's second and third longest glaciers outside the polar regions.2 The Karakoram is bounded on the northeast by the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, and on the north by the Pamir Mountains. The southern boundary of the Karakoram is formed, west to east, by the Gilgit, Indus, and Shyok Rivers, which separate the range from the northwestern end of the Himalaya range proper as these rivers converge southwestward towards the plains of Pakistan. Contents 1 Exploration 2 Name 3 Geological importance 4 Highest peaks 4.1 K-names 5 Subranges 6 Passes 7 Cultural references 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links Exploration This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011) Due to its altitude and ruggedness, the Karakoram is much less inhabited than parts of the Himalayas further east. European explorers first visited early in the 19th century, followed by British surveyors starting in 1856.

The Muztagh Pass was crossed in 1887 by the expedition of Colonel Francis Younghusband and the valleys above the Hunza River were explored by General Sir George K. Cockerill in 1892. Explorations in the 1910s and 1920s established most of the geography of the region. Name Karakoram is a Kyrgyz term meaning black gravel. The name was first applied by local traders to the Karakoram Pass.3 Early European travellers, including William Moorcroft and George Hayward, started using the term for the range of mountains west of the pass, although they also used the term Muztagh for the range now known as Karakoram.34 Later terminology was influenced by the Survey of India, whose surveyor Thomas Montgomerie in the 1850s gave the labels K1 to K6 (K for Karakoram) to six high mountains visible from his station at Mount Haramukh in Kashmir. The name Karakoram was used in the early 20th century, for example by Kenneth Mason,3 for the range now known as the Baltoro Muztagh. The term is now used to refer to the entire range from the Batura Muztagh above Hunza in the west to the Saser Muztagh in the bend of the Shyok River in the east. Geological importance The Karakoram and the Himalaya are important to Earth scientists for several reasons. They are one of the world's most geologically active areas, at the boundary between two colliding continents. Therefore, they are important in the study of plate tectonics.

A significant part, 28-50% of the Karakoram Range is glaciated, compared to the Himalaya (8-12%) and European Alps (2.2%).5 Mountain glaciers may serve as an indicator of climate change, advancing and receding with long-term changes in temperature and precipitation. A study by the Universities of California and Potsdam found that the Karakoram glaciers are mostly stagnating,6 because, unlike in the Himalayas, many Karakoram glaciers are covered in a layer of rubble which has insulated the ice from the warmth of the sun. Where there is no such insulation, the rate of retreat is high.7 Highest peaks K2 The notable peaks of the Karakoram are: K2 (8,611 m) Gasherbrum I (8,068 m) Broad Peak (Phalchen Kangri) (8,047 m) Gasherbrum II (8,035 m) Gasherbrum III (7,952 m) Gasherbrum IV (7,925 m) Distaghil Sar (7,885 m) Kunyang Chhish (7,852 m) Masherbrum I (7,821 m) Batura I (7,795 m) Rakaposhi (7,788 m) Batura II (7,762 m) Kanjut Sar (7,760 m) Saltoro Kangri (7,742 m) Batura III (7,729 m) Saser Kangri (7,672 m) Chogolisa (7,665m) Haramosh Peak (7,397 m) Baintha Brakk (7,285 m) Muztagh Tower (7,273 m) The majority of the highest peaks are in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Baltistan has more than 100 mountain peaks exceeding 6,100 metres (20,000 ft) height from sea level. K-names K1E: Masherbrum East K1W: Masherbrum West K2 K3: Gasherbrum IV K3a: Gasherbrum III K4: Gasherbrum II K5: Gasherbrum I K6: Chogolisa I K7: 6,934 m peak near Charakusa Valley K9: approx. 7,000 m peak near Trango Towers K10: Saltoro Kangri K11: Saltoro Kangri II K12: subsidiary peak of Saltoro Kangri K22: Saser Kangri Subranges View of the moon over Karakoram Range in Pakistan

The naming and division of the various subranges of the Karakoram is not universally agreed upon. However, the following is a list of the most important subranges, following Jerzy Wala.8 The ranges are listed roughly west to east. Batura Muztagh Rakaposhi-Haramosh Mountains Spantik-Sosbun Mountains Hispar Muztagh South Ghujerab Mountains Panmah Muztagh Wesm Mountains Masherbrum Mountains Baltoro Muztagh Saltoro Mountains Siachen Muztagh Rimo Muztagh Saser Muztagh Passes From west to east Kilik Pass Mintaka Pass Khunjerab Pass (the highest paved international border crossing at 4,693 m/15,397 ft) Shimshal Pass Mustagh Pass Karakoram Pass Sasser Pass The Khunjerab Pass is the only motorable pass across the range. The Shimshal Pass (which does not cross an international border) is the only other pass still in regular use. Cultural references The Karakoram mountain range has been referred to in a number of novels and movies. Rudyard Kipling refers to the Karakorum mountain range in his novel Kim, which was first published in 1900. Marcel Ichac made a film titled Karakoram, chronicling a French expedition to the range in 1936. The film won the Silver Lion at the Venice film festival of 1937.

Greg Mortenson details the Karakoram, and specifically K2 and the Balti, extensively in his book Three Cups of Tea, about his quest to build schools for girls in the region. In the Gatchaman TV series, the Karakoram range houses Galactor's headquarters. See also Karakoram Highway List of mountain ranges of the world List of highest mountains (a list of mountains above 7,200 m/23,622 ft) Mount Imeon Notes ^ BBC, Planet Earth, "Mountains", Part Three ^ Tajikistan's Fedchenko Glacier is 77 km long. Baltoro and Batura Glaciers in the Karakoram are 57 km long, as is Bruggen or Pio XI Glacier in southern Chile. Measurements are from recent imagery, generally supplemented with Russian 1:200,000 scale topographic mapping as well as Jerzy Wala,Orographical Sketch Map: Karakoram: Sheets 1 & 2, Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, Zurich, 1990. ^ a b c Mason, Kenneth (1928). Exploration of the Shaksgam Valley and Aghil ranges, 1926. pp. 72ff. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LrbVqD06aXYC.  ^ Close C, Burrard S, Younghusband F et al. (1930). "Nomenclature in the Karakoram: Discussion". The Geographical Journal (Blackwell Publishing) 76 (2): 148–158. doi:10.2307/1783980. http://jstor.org/stable/1783980.  ^ Gansser, 1975, Geology of the Himalays, Interscience Publishers, London ^ author missing (2011 [last update]). "Debris on certain Himalayan glaciers may prevent melting". sciencedaily.com. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110124162708.htm. Retrieved January 30, 2011.  ^ Daily Telegraph 27 January 2011 ^ Jerzy Wala, Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram, Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, Zurich, 1990. References Curzon, George Nathaniel. 1896. The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus. Royal Geographical Society, London. Reprint: Elibron Classics Series, Adamant Media Corporation. 2005. ISBN 1-4021-5983-8 (pbk); ISBN 1-4021-3090-2 (hbk). Kreutzmann, Hermann, Karakoram in Transition: Culture, Development, and Ecology in the Hunza Valley, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780195472103 Mortenson, Greg and Relin, David Oliver. 2008. Three Cups of Tea. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0141034263 (pbk); Viking Books ISBN 978-0670034826 (hbk); Tantor Media ISBN 978-1400152513 (MP3 CD). Kipling, Rudyard 2002. Kim (novel); ed. by Zohreh T. Sullivan. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 039396650X—This is the most extensive critical modern edition with footnotes, essays, maps, etc. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karakoram Blankonthemap The Northern Kashmir Website Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma Great Karakorams Karakorams.com : Travel and Trekking in the karakorams v · d · eGeography of South Asia Mountains and Plateaus Himalayas · Western Ghats · Eastern Ghats · Aravalli Range · The Nilgiris · Vindhya Range · Satpura Range · Garo Hills · Shivalik Hills · Khasi Hills · Annamalai Hills · Cardamom Hills · Sulaiman Mountains · Toba Kakar Range · Karakoram · Hindu Kush · Chittagong Hill Tracts · Deccan Plateau · Thar Desert · Makran · Chota Nagpur · Naga Hills · Mysore Plateau · Ladakh Plateau  · Gandhamardan Hills Lowlands and Islands Indo-Gangetic plain · Indus River Delta · Ganges Basin · Ganges Delta · Atolls of Maldives · Coromandel Coast · Konkan · Lakshadweep · Andaman and Nicobar Islands · Sundarbans · Greater Rann of Kutch · Little Rann of Kutch · Protected areas in Tamil Nadu Countries India · Pakistan · Nepal · Bhutan · Sri Lanka · Bangladesh · The Maldives v · d · eMountain ranges of China Geography of China Ailao Mountains · Altai Mountains · Argu Tagh · Changbai Mountains · Daba Mountains  · Dabie Mountains  · Dalou Mountains  · Daxue Mountains · Dzungarian Alatau · Greater Khingan · Helan Mountains · Hengduan Mountains · Himalayas · Jiuling Mountains · Jiuyi Mountains · Karakoram · Kunlun Mountains · Lesser Khingan · Luoxiao Mountains · Lüliang Mountains · Huangshan · Jingshan Mountains  · Mount Lang · Min Mountains · Mufu Mountains · Nanling Mountains · Pamir Mountains · Qian Mountains · Qinling Mountains · Qionglai Mountains · Taihang Mountains · Tarbagatai Mountains · Tian Shan · Tanggula Mountains · Wandashan Mountains · Wudang Mountains · Wuling Mountains · Wuyi Mountains · Xuefeng Mountains · Yengisogat · Yin Mountains · Yunling Mountains · Zhongtiao Mountains Landforms of China

Coordinates: 36°N 76°E / 36°N 76°E / 36; 76

Coordinates: 36°N 76°E / 36°N 76°E / 36; 76

Coordinates: 36°N 76°E / 36°N 76°E / 36; 76

Coordinates: 36°N 76°E / 36°N 76°E / 36; 76