Karakoram Highway
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) | |
| Length | 1,300 km (810 mi) Pakistan: 887 km (551 mi) China: 413 km (257 mi) |
| Existed | 1966–present |
| History | Completed in 1979, open to the public since 1986 |
| Major junctions | |
| North end | Kashgar, Xinjiang, China China National Highway 314 (Khunjerab Pass–Kashgar–Ürümqi) Khunjerab Pass |
| N-35 N-15 | |
| South end | Hasan Abdal, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Location | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Major cities | Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Besham, Pattan, Dasu, Chilas, Gilgit, Aliabad, Gulmit, Sust, Tashkurgan, Upal, Kashgar |
| Highway system | |
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| Karakoram Highway | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 喀喇昆仑公路 | ||||||
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The Karakoram Highway (Urdu: شاہراہ قراقرم, romanized: śāhirāh qarāquram; known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 (Urdu: قومی شاہراہ ۳۵) or 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 at maximum elevation of 4,714 m (15,466 ft) near Khunjerab Pass. 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. The highway is also a part of the Asian Highway AH4.