One of the mountain systems of Central Asia is called Karakoram. This ridge of rocks is the highest on the entire planet. It is located northwest of the Himalayan chain. The name of the Karakoram Mountains has Kyrgyz roots and translated into Russian means “black stone blocks.”

General information about the mountain system

The length of the mountain range is about 550 km. Scientists have conditionally divided it into regions so that there are no difficulties in studying. The Karakoram mountain system has no equal, since on its territory there is the largest possible number of seven-thousanders, as well as various glaciers. The second highest mountain peak in the world is also located here.

The average height of the mountains in this chain is 6,000 m. The ancient routes to the Hindustan Peninsula passed through passes. They are located at an altitude of 4,600-5,700 m. The transition could only be carried out during a certain period, which lasted 1-2 months a year.

Where is the mountain system located?

Central Asia is the leader in having the highest peaks in the world. Here are located such mountain systems as the Himalayas, Pamirs, Tibetan Plateau, Kunlun, as well as the Karakoram. The last of them separates the mighty Tarim and Indus rivers. To find the Karakoram mountain system on the map, you need to know its coordinates: 34.5 o -36.5 o N. and 73.5 o -81 o east.

The main areas of the chain are:

• Agyl-Karakorum. This area is located between the Raskemdar River and its tributary Shaksgama.
• Western Karakoram. Much of this mountain range region is located near the Hunza River. The large Karakoram Highway also passes here. Geographically, most of the western mountain region belongs to Pakistan.
• KarakoramCentral. This mountain range area is simultaneously controlled by several states: India, China and Pakistan. Approximately 70 peaks located in this region have a height of more than 7 and 8 thousand meters. Mount Chogori is also located here. It is the second largest after Everest (Chomolungma).
• Eastern Karakoram. Most of the mountains are under Indian control, with the exception of the northern part of the slope (Siachen Muztagh Range), which belongs to Chinese territory. There are more than 30 peaks in this region whose height exceeds 7,000 m.

Oddly enough, there are human settlements in mountainous areas. Local residents live in the valleys of the intermountain region. They work as guides and porters, helping climbers climb to the top.

Vegetation and animals

The northern part of the Karakoram mountain system has a predominantly desert landscape. Vegetation is extremely rare, and after 2,800 m of altitude, it is completely absent.

Mostly potash (calidium) and ephedra shrubs are found here. Huge territories are continuous stone landscapes. In the place where the Raskemdar River originates, you can find thickets of barberry. Poplar grows among the trees here. Teresken, feather grass and fescue grow on the territory of the mountain steppes.

In the southern part of the Karakoram mountain system there are forests. Coniferous trees grow here: Himalayan cedars and pines. Deciduous trees include poplar and willow. The forest belt extends along the slopes to a height of up to 3,500 m.

The southern slopes are richer in vegetation. The locations of reservoirs (rivers, lakes) serve as pastures. They also engage in farming here. On the mountain slopes (up to 4,000 m altitude) alfalfa, peas and barley are grown, and vineyards and apricot orchards are planted at the foot of the ridges.

The animal world is diverse. A variety of artiodactyls live in the mountains:

• hell's antelope;
• wild mountain goats;
• orongo antelope;
• aurochs and donkeys.

Among the rodents you can find here are gray hamsters, whistling hares and other representatives of the family. From the order of predators, snow leopards and bears live in these places.

A variety of birds live on the mountain slopes:

• partridge;
• red finch;
• sadja;
• Tibetan mountain turkey (ular);
• white-breasted pigeon and others.

Birds of prey that can rise above 5,000 m include kites, falcons, eagles, and black hawks.

Climatic conditions

The climate in this region is quite contrasting. In the valleys located between the mountains, it is predominantly warm and dry. This allows the local population to carry out agricultural activities, but it is still impossible to do without artificial irrigation.

At an altitude of 5,000 m, where the snow line passes, the climatic conditions are more severe. The average air temperature is 4-5 degrees below zero.

During the year, between 1,200 and 2,000 mm of precipitation falls over the Karakoram mountain system. It's mostly snow. The main source of precipitation is cyclones coming from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in spring and autumn. Monsoons brought from the Indian Ocean do not significantly affect the climatic conditions of this region, reaching G or Karakorum, they are weakening significantly.

Maximum rainfall occurs in the south and west of the chain. This also affects the height of the snow line:

• 6,200-6,400 m on the northeastern ridges;
• 5,000-6,000 m in the northern part of the mountain system;
• 4,600-5,000 m on the southwestern slopes.

The largest peaks of the mountain system

The Karakoram chain contains the largest peaks on the planet. Its lowest region is the northern part of the Agyl-Karakorum mountain system. The highest peak is Surukwat Kangri (6,792). There are no mountains here that would overcome the seven thousandth threshold.

The three highest peaks in the eastern part of the chain are:

• Saser Kangri (7,672 m);
• Mamostong Kangri (7,516 m);
• Teram Kangri (7,462 m).

In Western Karakoram the highest are:

• Dastogil (7,885 m);
• Batura (7,795 m);
• Rakaposhi (7,788 m);
• Ogre (7,285 m).

In the Karakoram mountain range, the highest point is located in the central part. It is called Chogori. This mountain is second only to Chomolungma in size. Its height is 8,611 m. There are other giants in the same part:

• Masherbrum (7,806 m);
• Saltoro Kangri (7,742 m);
• Crown (7,265 m).

Mount Chogori

Karakoram is known throughout the world as the place where the second highest mountain is located. This eight-thousander is located on the border of Kashmir (territory controlled by Pakistan, Baltoro ridge) and the Chinese Autonomous Region (Xinjiang Uyghur region). Chogori is translated from the Western Tibetan Balti dialect as “high.” It also has other names: Godwin-Austen, K2 and Dapsang.

A European expedition discovered the peak in 1856. It was given the name K2. Climbers Aleister Crowley and Oscar Eckenstein attempted to climb Mount Chogori in 1902, but their attempt was unsuccessful. For the first time, an Italian expedition managed to reach the summit. In 1954, on July 31, Lino Lacedelli and Achilla Compagnoni became the first climbers to conquer Chogori.

Today there are 10 routes along which the climb to the top is carried out.

Glaciers

The largest non-polar glaciers located in Asia are located on the slopes of the Karakoram mountain range. Baltoro is the largest of them. The area of ​​glaciers is about 15.4 thousand km².

Due to global warming, there is a tendency for ice to melt all over the world. But scientists have identified a place where glaciers, on the contrary, continue to grow - this is the Karakoram mountain system. To understand the reasons for this anomaly, scientists analyzed weather indicators in this region starting in 1861. A tentative forecast up to 2100 was also compiled.

As experts have found out, the growth of ice cover is due to increased humidity, which occurs due to the annual monsoons. Most of the moisture falls in the form of precipitation during winter, which causes a large accumulation of snow layers. So the current rate of warming will most likely not have any effect on the glaciers of the Karakoram. Scientists predict that their growth will continue until 2100.

1. Initially, the name Karakoram was used to refer to the pass that connected India and China. It was located at an altitude of 5,575 m. Over time, the name spread to the entire mountain system.
2. Construction of the Karakoram Highway cost $3 billion.
3. By car you can cross the mountains only through the Khunjerab pass.
4. The highway cycling route is one of the most popular among travelers.
5. The Karakoram Mountains have one of the most challenging wall routes in the world - the Trango Towers climb.

Mountains (peaks) of any part of the globe, in addition to their hierarchies (height, legends, number of dead people, etc., etc.) have differences that we sometimes are not even aware of.

Titles

Everest- the usual name for the highest point on Earth was given to the peak after the head of the Topographical Survey of India, Sir George Everest, and has at least two more names. The Tibetans call this mountain with their old word Chomolungma, and the Nepalese call it no less historical and famous - Sagarmatha. At a time when the debate was in full swing about what name to call the highest mountain, the famous Himalayan professor Günter Oskar Dyrenfurt offered his vision of a solution to the problem. He believed that the neutral and geographically undeniable Khumbu Himal would be more suitable. The Khumbu Himal mountain range is a huge mountain range containing the peaks: Everest (8848m), Lhotse (8516m), Makalu (8463m), Cho Oyo (8201m) and the most beautiful peak in this company - Ama Dablam (6856m). The Ural Mountains - the very name “Ural” appeared on geographical maps only in the second half of the 18th century. Before this, the Ural Mountains were called: “Ural Range”, “Earth Belt”, “Belt Stone” or simply “Stone”. Individual heights were also called such an unusual geographical term: “Pavdinsky Stone”, “Kon-Zhakovsky Stone”, “Denezhkin Stone”. Settlements - villages and hamlets - were named after many of the Stones. Even several rivers got their names from the Stones closest to them. “White Stone” is named for the color of its rock, “Sharp Stone” - for its shape, “Fighter-Stone” - for its character, so to speak: a great many rafts, barges and other ships crashed on this cliff at one time. Pyramid of Carstens. Most climbers who apply for the “7 Summits of the Earth” program know it under this name. It is the highest point of Australia and Oceania - 4884 m and is located in the western part of the island of New Guinea. But the true name of this peak among the locals sounds like Puncak Jaya. The peak and the entire continent of Australia and Oceania are subject to active melting of ice. In 10 years there will be no trace left of the glacier of this mountain. This will mean that in the last 100,000 years, Australia and Oceania will become the first continent completely devoid of ice.

The Puncak Jaya spurs are home to the world's largest gold and copper mines.

Gasherbrum-I And Broad Peak. In the area of ​​the Karakoram Baltoro Glacier there are two eight-thousander peaks with a second name: Gasherbrum I - 8068 m - better known as Hidden Peak ("Hidden Peak"), Broad Peak - 8047 m. has its local name - Falkhan Kangri.

Height priority

Everyone knows that Everest is the highest point on Earth. Is it so? Scientists have not yet finally determined the true height of the peak and, according to various sources, the height of Everest ranges from 8844 to 8852 m. Even in this uncertainty, Everest is still the leader. In relation to the heights of mountains, today the “highest” is conventionally considered to be the distance from the surface of the sea to the very top of any peak, and the “largest” is the distance from the foot of the mountain to its top. Thus, Everest, at an altitude of 8848/8852 m, is the highest mountain in the world, but not the largest. In this regard, there is a point of view that the extinct volcano Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (5895 m), rising directly from the African plain, is larger than Everest. Taking as a basis the fact that Everest stands on the enormous foundation of the Himalayas, we can agree with this. Another example. On the island of Hawaii there is an extinct volcano called Mauna Kea, rising above sea level to only 4206m. But if you measure the depth to its firmament (base) on the seabed, then it grows to 10,200 m. This is almost 1,200 m higher than Everest.

Summit of Mauna Kea

The peak of Mauna Kea is so large that under its own weight it plunges into the depths of the sea. Local aborigines believe that the Hawaiian snow goddess Poliahu lives on the top of the mountain, among the clouds, and representatives of travel companies wring their hands in despair - if not for the lack of oxygen at the top, then a ski holiday on Makuna Kea would be simply amazing.

Priority of independence

Karakoram. It is still unclear whether this mountainous country is an independent mountain system or a separate part of the Himalayas. The Karakoram is separated by river valleys: from the Himalayas - from the south, from Tibet - from the east, and from the Pamirs - from the north. The relief of the Karakoram is distinguished by very sharp forms and deep dissection. The Western Karakoram contains a number of powerful peaks of the world, if you take into account the relativity of its base to the highest point. Thus, the peak of Batur (7795 m) rises above the glacier of the same name by more than 4 km, the peak of Ultar (7388 m) rises above the Hunza valley by 5.5 km. But the absolute record is at the peak of Rakaposhi (7788 m), the northern slope of which rises 6 km above the Hunza valley! In total, there are about 170 peaks in the Karakoram with a height of more than 7000 m. This is a good half of the number of seven-thousanders located in all mountainous regions of the world.

Danger of the mountains

The question is complex and ambiguous. Mountains, in principle, are always dangerous for a person to be in them. But there is a small group of mountains that are included in the “priority” list under the code name “The Most Dangerous Mountains in the World.”

Eiger. (Switzerland). Height 3970 m.

The first number on this list, of course, is the Alpine peak Eiger (Eiger) with its northern wall, almost vertically going down. The upper edge of the wall begins 100 m below the top and stretches down almost 2 km. For a long time they didn’t even try to “take” the mountain from this side. More or less serious attempts were made only in 1935. Since that year, more than 50 climbers have died on the Eiger. The first successful ascent of the northern face took place only in 1938. The conquerors were a team of Germans: A. Heckmeier-L. Fjerg and an Austrian team: F. Kasparek - G. Harrer. Before this, all expeditions ended in the death of the participants. The first people to climb to the top of the Eiger were Greenwald mountain guides Christian Almer and Peter Boren, who made the first ascent together with Irish climber Charles Barrington in 1858. A distinctive feature of the mountain is the Jungfrau railway laid in its body, which stretches from Kleine -Scheidegg and climbs through the Eiger and Mönch to the summit of the Jungfraujoch. The final station, located in the Jungfraujoch mountain, is located at an altitude of 3454 m and is the highest station in Europe, called the “Roof of the World”.

Kanchenjunga, Kanchinjunga. (Nepal, India). Height 8586 m

The third highest peak in the world. Despite the global trend of decreasing mortality during mountain climbing, in the case of Kanchenjunga this rule is constantly violated. In recent years, the number of tragic incidents on it has increased to 22% and it seems that it is not going to decrease. The Kanchenjunga massif consists of 5 peaks, each higher than 8 km, which are often called the “Five Snow Treasures”. Local residents claim that climbing to its peaks is especially dangerous for the fair sex, since Kanchenjunga is a woman who dreams of eclipsing everything around her with her beauty and does not tolerate rivals on her slopes. The main danger when climbing is represented by numerous avalanches and extremely unfavorable weather conditions. The British George Band and Joe Brown first climbed the inaccessible peak, 50 years after the first tragic attempt in 1905. The main ridge of the massif for 6 km exceeds the height of 8000 m. The traverse of all the peaks of Kanchenjunga accomplished by the Soviet team in 1989 remains an unsurpassed event in history in terms of the number of ascents of eight-thousanders by all team members in one expedition.

Nanga Parbat. (Pakistan). Height 8126 m.

The ninth highest peak in the world, Nanga Parbat is the highest peak of the Western Himalayas. This is one of the most severe mountains in the world; for a long time it was first in the so-called “mortality ranking” among eight-thousanders. The first attempt to conquer the top of the “Naked Mountain” (as it is also called) took place back in 1895. Only 58 years later, in 1953, only one climber climbed to its peak - Hermann Buhl. In terms of its complexity and capriciousness of climate and difficulty of climbing, the peak competes with the peak of K2, which is considered the most inaccessible in the world. The snowy slopes of Parbat drop steeply on all sides, and its most famous wall, the Rupal Wall, stretches down 4.6 km from the top and is the longest mountain wall in the world. Due to the difficulty of climbing the Rupal Wall and the number of deaths on it, it is often called the “cannibal wall.” In 1978, the great climber Reinhold Messner made a solo ascent of Nanga Parbat.

K2, Chogori, Kyaogelifeng. (Pakistan, China), Height 8611 m.

The second highest mountain peak after Everest, it is considered the first most difficult to climb among eight-thousander peaks. Hidden almost in the center of the Karakoram, on the border with China, the mountain is surrounded on all sides by fairly high peaks, difficult to cross glaciers and, in addition, a constant danger of avalanches. The mountain is the northernmost eight-thousander. The mortality rate here is very high: every fourth daredevil dies without reaching the coveted point, located at an altitude of 8611 meters. 1902 - the first attempt to climb K2 ended unsuccessfully. Italian climbers Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni first reached the top of K-2 only 52 years later - in 1954. It was an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. In August 2006, while climbing K-2, four Russian climbers died under an avalanche: expedition leader Yuri Vladimirovich Uteshev, Alexander Voigt, Arkady Kuvakin and Petr Kuznetsov. In August 2008, during the ascent of an international team, 11 climbers died in an ice avalanche: two Nepalese, three people from South Korea, a Serb, two Pakistanis, a Norwegian, an Irishman and a Frenchman. Of the 8 female climbers who reached the summit at different times: Wanda Rutkiewicz (June 23, 1986), Lilian Bara (June 23, 1986), Julie Tallis (August 4, 1986), Chantal Madeuy (August 3, 1992), Alison Hargraves (August 13, 1995) ), Edurne Pasaban (July 26, 2004), Nivez Meroy (July 26, 2006) and Yuka Komazu (August 1, 2006), only the latter three survived.

Annapurna. (Nepal). Height 8091 m.

The tenth highest peak in the world, it is a 55 km long mountain range located in the southern spur of the Main Himalayan Range in western Nepal. This mountain has several names: Kali - black (according to the color of the southern wall) Durga - inaccessible Parvati - daughter of the mountains and Annapurna itself: anna - food, purna - giving - “Goddess who gives food” (goddess of fertility). The first eight-thousander peak to be conquered by man. Since the first ascent in 1950 by the team of Maurice Herzog, about 200 people have been to the summit. On May 1, 1970, the first female ascent of Annapurna by Japanese climber Junko Tabei took place. In the danger rating among eight-thousanders, this peak clearly claims first place. The mortality rate during ascent here reaches 40%. To date, there have been fewer successful ascents than on any other eight-thousander, and the mortality rate is the highest. The main problem for climbers is frequent avalanches and weather conditions that cannot be predicted. Here in 1997, the famous Russian climber Anatoly Boukreev, who had previously made 17 ascents of 11 eight-thousanders, died.

This city was the first non-nomadic residence Genghis Khan, which under his successor Ogedei and the following great khans turned into a real sovereign capital, named after the nearby Karakorum mountains (from Turkic - “fence of black stones”).

The heyday of the city lasted only 50 years, and its decline began from the moment when the heirs of the empire began to establish their own capitals on the territory of their newly formed possessions.

Where did the city of Karakorum stand?

For the first time, the assumption that traces of buildings discovered on the site of modern Kharkhorin on the Orkhon in the center of modern Mongolia could be the capital of the Chingizids - the city of Karakorum, was expressed by the head of the expedition of the East Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society N.Ya. Yadrentsev in 1889. In his diaries N.Ya. Yadrentsev wrote: “We found huge ruins, to which it is shameless to associate the city of jewels (Karakorum).” These were the first and only ruins found in the upper reaches of the Orkhon River. They subsequently became identified with Karakorum (founded in 1219, completed in 1235, destroyed by Chinese troops in 1380).

In the collection of works of the Orkhon expedition of 1892, conclusions about the belonging of the ruins to the ancient capital of the Mongols ( I think that the Mughals are more correct) Karakoram is justified by the following words: “To the north of the Erdene-Dzu monastery there are the ruins of an ancient city, surrounded on three sides by a small rampart. In the city itself, small ramparts and hills are noticeable - the remains of former houses, between which two main intersecting streets are clearly visible. On the SE corner of the city there is a huge turtle with a quadrangular hole in the back for inserting a huge gravestone, similar to the monument to Kui-Tegin.

There are no traces left of the slab with the inscriptions. Around the turtle there is a shaft and 5 significant mounds, of which the middle one is of enormous volume. On the territory of the monastery, we described stones with inscriptions brought to the monastery from the surrounding area. Particularly common are stones with the Chinese signs “Ho-lin” and “Ta-ho-lin” (the Chinese name of the city) and with the Persian inscriptions “Shehr Khanbalyk” (the Persian name of the city), translated by us as the name of the city of Karakorum. All these stones, brought to the monastery from a nearby destroyed city, prove that this city was the capital of the first Genghis Khans - Karakorum.

After the fall of the Yuan Empire, in 1380 the city was completely destroyed by Chinese troops. From its former greatness to the present day, only stone turtles have survived - pedestals for stone steles, on which the most important decrees of the central government were carved. According to legend, the city was protected from floods by four granite turtles. Two stone turtles are currently located just near the Erdene-Zuu monastery. One stone turtle can be seen near the walls of the Erdene-Zuu monastery on its northwestern side, the other not far in the mountains, in the southeast.

According to the testimony of the famous European travelers Plano Carpini (1246), William of Rubruk (1254), Marco Polo (1274), Karakorum, at that time, made an unforgettable impression, the splendor of the Khan's palace of Tumen-Amgalan and the famous silver tree were especially noted with a wonderful fountain installed in front of the palace. Four pipes were run inside the tree all the way to its top; the holes of the pipes face downwards, and each of them is made in the form of the mouth of a gilded snake. From one mouth flowed wine, from another - purified milk, from the third - a drink of honey, from the fourth - rice beer.

Karakorum was the only city in that era in a vast area

Large construction work in Karakorum, proclaimed the capital of the Mongol Empire, began under the second Great Khan Ogedei, the third son of Genghis Khan. The Great Khan issued a decree according to which each of his brothers, sons and other nobles was to build a beautiful house in Karakorum. The construction of the city was largely completed in 1236. Its territory in the shape of a quadrangle measuring approximately 2.5 by 1.5 km was surrounded by a low fortress wall. Near the large tower in the fortress stood the beautiful palace of Ogedei Khan - Tumen-amgalan (Ten thousand prosperity or ten thousandfold peace).

The Tummen-Amgalan Palace was erected by Ogedei Khan in 1235. The temple was located in the southwestern part of the city on an embankment platform 1.5 meters high, with walls the length of an arrow's flight distance. According to the description, the palace had 64 columns and stretched from north to south, its appearance resembled a ship, and its two sides were decorated with two rows of columns. The entrance of the palace faces east, the two-tier hipped roofs were decorated with green and red tiles, a large number of sculpted figures, half dragons, half lions.

One of the largest buildings in the city was a large 5-tiered Buddhist temple, built in 1256 on the orders of Munhe Khan. Its height reached 300 chi (1 chi = 0.31 m), its width was 7 jan, or 22 m. On the lower floor, in four walls, there were statues of various deities.

All the threads of government of the huge Mongol Empire converged in Karakorum. Roads were built to it from the main cities of neighboring countries. The traffic was especially good on the Karakorum-Beijing line, which was then called Dadu.

The Genghisids left a huge mark on the history of China. But they didn’t stay there forever.

20 years after the flight of the Chinggisid rulers from China and the accession of the Chinese national Ming dynasty in China, the city of Karakorum, under the Mongol rulers in Dadu (Beijing), was a provincial settlement for 150 years, and for only 20 years again became the capital of the Chingizid khans of Mongolia, accepting them - expelled from Chinese lands, was completely destroyed by Ming troops. And Mongolia itself has become almost 500 times a satellite of China.