Khunjerab Pass
mountain pass in Pakistan and China
Khunjerab Pass (Chinese: 红其拉甫口岸; Urdu: درہ خنجراب ; Uyghur: قونجىراپ ئېغىزى) is a mountain pass on the Karakoram Highway in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan bordering Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. It is a high-altitude mountain pass lying at an elevation of 4,693 metres (15,397 ft) above sea level in the Karakoram. It holds a significant strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan, specifically in the Gilgit-Baltistan's Hunza and Nagar districts. Additionally, it is positioned on the southwestern border of China with Pakistan, in the Xinjiang region.
Near Khunjerab Pass, there is another pass known as Mutsjliga Pass, which stands at an elevation of 5,314 metres (17,434 ft) and is located at approximately 36.97374°N 75.2973°E / 36.97374; 75.2973.
Etymology
The word "خنجراب" in the local Wakhi language means 'waterfall house'. It is derived from two words, "خون"-"Khun" means house and "جراب"-"Jerab" means a creek coming from a spring or a waterfall.
Notability
The Khunjerab Pass holds several distinctions, including being the highest paved international border crossing globally and serving as the highest point along the Karakoram Highway. The construction of the road across this pass was completed in 1982, and it has since supplanted the previously unpaved Mintaka and Kilik passes as the principal route across the formidable Karakoram Range.
The decision to use the Khunjerab Pass for the Karakoram Highway was made in 1966.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Khunjerab Pass” as mountain pass in Pakistan and China. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as mountain pass in Pakistan and China. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1137017. Authority coordinates are 36.850, 75.428. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982 and 1966.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Khunjerab Pass” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.