Geography of Tajikistan - Pamir Mountains

Pamir Mountains

Tajikistan is home to some of the highest mountains in the world, including the Pamir and Alay ranges. 93% of Tajikistan is mountainous with altitudes ranging from 300 m (980 ft) to almost 7,500 m (24,600 ft), and nearly 50% of Tajikistan's territory is above 3,000 m (9,800 ft).

The massive mountain ranges are cut by hundreds of canyons and gorges at the bottom of which run streams that flow into larger river valleys where the majority of the country's population lives and works. The Pamirs in particular are heavily glaciated, and Tajikistan is home to the largest non-polar glacier in the world, the Fedchenko Glacier.

The Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan lie in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province (GBAO) in the east half of the country. The northern border is formed by the Trans-Alay Range (Independence Peak 7,174 m (23,537 ft), Kyzylart Pass 4,280 m (14,040 ft)). The highest peak is Ismoil Somoni Peak (7,495 m (24,590 ft)) (formerly known as Stalin Peak and Communism Peak), on the north-western edge of GBAO. It lies between Ibn Sina Peak (7,134 m (23,406 ft)) (also known as Lenin Peak) on the border with Kyrgyzstan to the north and Peak Korzhenevskaya (7,105 m (23,310 ft)) in Akademii Nauk Range (6,785 m (22,260 ft)) further south. The southern border is formed by the northernmost ridges of the Karakoram Range, with Mayakovskiy Peak (6,096 m (20,000 ft)), Karl Marx Peak (6,726 m (22,067 ft)), Engels Peak (6,510 m (21,360 ft)), and Concord Peak (5,469 m (17,943 ft)) stretching west to east along the border to Afghanistan.