Think mountain ranges, climbing expeditions, avalanches, crevasses, glaciers, snouts, moraines, cliffs, ice walls, eight-thousanders, seven-thousanders, and any other word associated with mountains or mountaineering and the next word that would cross your mind would probably be Pakistan. No other country in the world is as richly blessed with mountains and hills as Pakistan. And that’s the reason Pakistan has been adorably called “Mountaineers’ Paradise”, “Climbers’ Heaven”, and “Trekkers Kingdom” within the mountaineering circles.

Out of top 20 highest peaks in the world 8 are located in Pakistan alone. Five out of 14 highest independent peaks (also called Eight-thousanders) are situated in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to 108 peaks with height 7000 feet and above. There has never been a count of Six-thousanders, Five-thousanders and there probably is a Four-thousanders for every household in Pakistan (just a little exaggeration). The aim of this article is to present a brief overview of major mountain ranges, prominent peaks and famous glaciers in Pakistan. The article will be periodically updated based on feedback from the readers and opinions of the editors. References will be cited where necessay.

Major Mountain Ranges

Out of ten highest mountain ranges on planet Earth, Pakistan has the lion share of top three namely Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush. Now that’s a country being born with a golden spoon and a silver cradle! Isn’t that true? A satellite image from google maps below shows the confluence of these three mighty ranges at Jaglot, a small town in Gilgit-Baltistan Region of Pakistan. Brief description of the three ranges and few smaller ranges follows:

The Karakoram Range

Karakoram (pronounced 'qaraqoram'), Karakorum Shan or K’a-la-k’un-lun Shan is the second highest mountain range in the world that extends into five countries to include Pakistan, China, India, Afghanistan and Tajkistan. Major part and some of the highest points including K2, the second highest peak in the world, are situated in Pakistan. Beginning with mild ascent at Wakhan Corridor (Afghanistan) the range gains height as it enters into Pakistan and yields some of the mightiest mountains in the world until it slowly tapers down into a North Easterly spur spanning into China and another Easterly spur that descends into Ladakh region of Indian Occupied Kashmir.

As mentioned earlier Pakistan has the largest share of peaks and summits yielded by karakoram. Within the territory of Pakistan, the mighty Karakoram has four Eight-thousanders to include K2 (8,611 m) mentioned earlier and Gasherbrum I (8,080 m), Broad Peak (8,051 m) and Gasherbrum II (8,035 m). Besides it has at least 13 peaks above 7,500 meters located in Pakistan alone namely Gasherbrum III (7,952 m), Gasherbrum IV (7,932 m), Distagil Sar (7,885 m), Khunyang Chhish (7,852 m), Masherbrum (7,821 m), Batura Sar (7,795 m), Kanjut Sar (7,790 m), Rakaposhi (7,788 m), Chogolisa (7,665 m), Shispare (7,611 m), Trivor (7,577 m), Shyang Kangri (7,545 m), and Yukshin Gardan Sar (7,530 m).

The Karakoram range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length. Because of its great height, the Karakoram yields some of the most heavy glaciated valleys and frozen rivers ouside the polar region. Of special significance are are the ones on the southern slopes. Glaciers emanating from the central (and the highest) mountains include Chogo Lungma, Hispar, Braldu, Biafo, Baltoro (popular for its Concordia ), and Siachen. The Siachen Glacier (76 km long) and the Biafo Glacier at 63 kilometres (39 mi) rank as the world's second and third longest glaciers

The Himalayan Range

The Himalayan Mountain System, commonly called the Himalayan Range, Himalya or Himale, is by and large the worlds highest mountain system. The range is home to 10 out of 14 highest peaks in the world including Mount Everest (8,850), the world's highest.

Pakistan inherits a sizeable part of the Himalayan Range with Nanga Parbat (8,126 m) being 9th hihgest peak in the Himalyan region and the second highest peak in Pakistan. A Seven-thousander named Rakhiot Peak(7,070 m) is also part of the Himalayas in Pakistan. There are countless Six-thousanders and Five-thousanders located in the Himalayan region of Pakistan.

The Hindu Kush Range

The Hindu Kush, meaning "Hindus' Ordeal" or "Surround the Hindus/Hind", also referred to as "Caucasus Indicus" in the ancient Greek is an 800 km (500 mi) long mountain range that stretches into Afghanistan at its center to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan and into China and Tajkistan. In Pakistan it yields the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region which is the westmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram and the Himalayas. It disects the two major valleys of Amu Darya to the north and Indus River to the south.

Hindu Kush also called Koh Hindu Kush has numerous Seven-thousander snow-covered peaks in its highest regions in Pakistan with Tirich Mir or Terichmir (7,708 m) in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan being the highest point of the Hindu Kush mountain system. Some of the other mountains of significant altitude include Noshaq (7,492 m) and Akher Chhish (7,020 m). There are countless Six-thousanders and Fiv-tousanders located in Pakistan as part of the Hindu Kush Range

The region of Hindu Kush historically has been a significant centre of Buddhism with sites such as the Bamiyan (Afghanistan) and Taxila (Pakistan). Major Buddhist monastries and centers of excellence were located along the valleys formed by Hindu Kush Range. The passes along the Hindu Kush Range also served as important trade networks and had attraction for travelers and traders between Central Asia and South Asia. The Hindu Kush range has also been a major gateway during the invasions of the Indian subcontinent and continues to be important to the modern-day geopolitics in the region. It is believed that who ever controls the crossings over Amu Darya controls Afghanistan.

Conclusion

In this article I tried to cover a brief overview of the three big mountain ranges in Pakistan. In the next update I would cover some of the other mountain ranges, major glaciers and fresh water lakes located in and around these major mountains. If you would like me to cover another subject that may be of interest to you or you have some idea of your own, please share with me in the comments section. I am also open to co-authoring on subjects of mutual interest. Thanks for reading.