Wakhan Corridor

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The Wakhan Corridor is a protruding strip of territory mostly in the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province in northeastern Afghanistan. Smaller parts of it are within the Gorno-Badakhshan in eastern Tajikistan. It begins east of Ishkashim District and stretches eastward to the Wakhjir Pass, which connects by road Afghanistan with the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The strip narrowly separates Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. This high mountain valley, part of the wider Wakhan region, rises to a maximum altitude of 4,923 m (16,152 ft), and serves as the source of both the Panj and Pamir rivers, which converge to form the larger Amu Darya River. For countless centuries, a vital trade route has traversed this valley, facilitating the movement of travelers to and from East, South, and Central Asia. The corridor was formed out of the Wakhan Mirdom after the signing of the 1893 Durand Line Agreement and the 1895 Pamir Boundary...

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