Wakhan Corridor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wakhan Corridor or Wakhan Salient (also spelt as Vakhan; Persian: واخان ) is a narrow (in some places less than 10 mi. wide) corridor in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. It is located in the Pamir mountain region, with Tajikistan to the north, Pakistan-administered Kashmir to the south and China to the east. It was created at the end of 19th century by the British Empire, to act as a buffer against potential Russian ambitions in India during the Great Game.
Historically the Wakhan has been an important region for thousands of years as it is where the Western and Eastern portions of Central Asia meet. Before the advent of Islam the region was disputed between Tibet and China.
At the eastern end, the Wakjir is a pass through the Hindu Kush at 4,923 m, and has the sharpest official change of clocks of any international frontier (+4:30 UTC in Afghanistan to +8 UTC in China). The border here with China is among the highest in the world. According to the paper by J.Townsend (2005), the pass "is closed for at least five months a year and is open irregularly for the remainder."
The Corridor is sparsely populated. The main people present in the corridor are the Wakhi, along with smaller numbers of Kyrgyz.
J. Townsend (2005) discusses the possibility of drug smuggling from Afghanistan to China via Wakhan Corridor and Wakhjir Pass, but concludes that, due to the difficulties of travel and border crossings, even if such trafficking occurs, it is minor compared to that conducted via Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast or even via Pakistan, which both have much more accessible connections into China.
[edit] Books
M. Nazif Mohib Shahrani, "The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War". University of Washington Press, 2002. ISBN 0295982624.
