Pamirsalso called Pamir, highland region of Central Asia. The Pamir mountain area centres on the nodal orogenic uplift known as the Pamir Knot, from which several south-central Asian mountain ranges radiate; these include , including the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram Range, the Kunlun Mountains, and the Tien Shan. Most of the Pamirs lie within Tajikistan, but the fringes penetrate Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and Kyrgyzstan. The core of the Pamirs is situated in the highlands of Tajikistan, with the highest mountains in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous oblast (province).

The word pamir in the local Turkic language of the region denotes the high undulating grasslands that are a feature of the eastern portion of the mountains, especially where they abut Afghanistan and China. Deep river valleys mark the boundaries of the Pamirs in the north beyond the ridges of the Trans-Alay Alai Range, and the valleys of the Vākhān region (Wakhan Corridor) of Afghanistan defines form the southern extentlimit. The Sarykol pamir in the Uighur Uygur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang Xinjiang in western China bounds the eastern margin, and a series of southwestern-aligned valleys that eventually drain into the Vakhsh and Panj rivers serrate the western boundary.

Physical features

The Pamirs are a combination of east-west and north-south ranges, with the former predominating. The east-west Trans-Alay Alai Range, which forms the northern frame of the Pamirs, falls steeply to the intermontane Alay Alai Valley. The high central part of the rangeTrans-Alai, between the Tersagar Pass on the west and Kyzylart on the east, averages between 19,000 and 20,000 feet (5,800 and 6,100 metres), reaching its highest point at Lenin (Ibn Sīnā) Peak, 23,405 feet (7,134 metres). South from the Trans-Alay Alai extend three north-south ranges. Of these the western, the Akademii (Akademiya) Nauk Range, and the central, Zulumart, are relatively short; and the eastern, the Sarykol Range, forms the eastern border of the Pamirsborder between Tajikistan and China. The area mountains east of the Sarykol Range is are sometimes called the Chinese Pamirs.






Some meltwater from the Pamirs flows to the Tarim Basin in western China, but the vast bulk drains into the Panj River and its Vakhsh rivers and their tributaries. There are large irrigation projects associated with the Kyzylsu-Surkhob-Vakhsh river system (each of the rivers flows successively into the next). The Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River), formed by the confluence of the Vakhsh and the Panj, conveys meltwater to other irrigation projects downstream. Seismic activity periodically interrupts the flow of rivers; Earthquakes occasionally generate landslides that dam rivers to produce lakes. Lake Sarez in the Murgab River valley was formed is dammed by a massive landslides that dammed the riverlandslide that was probably initiated during an earthquake.


The Pamirs are divided into three broad zones according to the characteristics of their rock formations: the northern, central, and southern Pamirs. The southern zone consists of metamorphic rocks (gneiss, quartzite, marble, and others) to which a majority of most researchers attribute a Precambrian age (more than 540 million years agoold). The zone on the whole represents a huge anticline, or series of stratified arches. The central zone of the Pamirs contains limestone, sandstone, and shale rocks of the Jurassic, Triassic, and Permian periods (286 about 300 to 144 145 million years ago) and also red-coloured rocks of the Early Cretaceous Period (144 145 to 97.5 100 million years ago). There are some marine rocks from the first half of the Paleozoic Era (i.e., about 540 to 400 440 million years ago) and lava and tuffaceous rocks of the Paleocene Epoch (66.4 to 57.8 65 to 55 million years ago). The structure of the central Pamirs is that of a huge syncline downwarp (an inverted arch caused by fracturing); it is separated from the northern Pamirs by a deep fracture.

In the structure of the northern Pamirs, two subzones can be discerned: a Paleozoic zone subzone and a zone beyond the Alay MountainsTrans-Alai subzone, which is composed of more recent deposits. The Paleozoic subzone of the northern Pamirs is a huge anticline uplift with a complex internal structure. It is separated from the Trans-Alay Alai subzone by the Karakul fracture, through which flows the Kyzylsu-Surkhob-Vakhsh river system. The Trans-Alay Alai subzone is highly complex. Its western part is a fan-shaped anticline in the centre of which emerge Jurassic deposits; radiating outward are more recent, dislocated rocks of the Early Cretaceous period. The eastern part has Cretaceous and Paleocene deposits in a system of conflicting folds. Because of the numerous overthrusts, or horizontal faults, in some places the layers overlap each other. On the north the Trans-Alay Alai subzone is bounded by the deep Trans-Alay Alai fracture, separating the Pamirs from the Alay Alai system. Seismic records register some 2,500 earthquakes each year, with a major event occurring approximately every 15 years. Mudflows from severe storms also constitute a natural hazard.


The climate of the Pamirs is arid and continental, typified by frigid winters and warm, relatively dry summers. In the western valleys, convectional storms, in combination with cyclonic storms, are common in the summer. Many of the region’s weather patterns of the region are associated with the so-called Afghan winds that form in northwestern Afghanistan, intensify over the horseshoe ridges of the lower Pamirs, and bring summer dust storms and subsequent rain to the western mountains. Snowfall is substantial in the western valleys; the village of Sangvor, for example, at an elevation of 7,000 feet (2,100 metres), has a snow cover of up to four feet 4 feet (1.2 metres) from November to April. The growing season lasts 200 days in Sangvor but reaches 230 days in the deep valley of the Panj at Khorugh Khorog and Qalaikhum. At the highest elevations, snowfall equals that of the Karakorams to the southeast; , and glaciation is considerable. Temperatures range from summer daily highs of 73° F (23° C73 °F (23 °C) and winter lows of 1° F (−17° C1 °F (−17 °C) at Murghob in the high eastern Pamirs to 81° F (27° C81 °F (27 °C) in summer and 21° F 21 °F (− 6° C6 °C) in winter at Garm in the lower western Pamirs; isolated outposts in the eastern Pamirs record temperatures below −58° F (−50° C−58 °F (−50 °C) in winter.

Plant life

In their vegetation, the eastern Pamirs bear a striking resemblance to the treeless western portion of the Plateau of Tibet. Large expanses of bog, interspersed with artemisia and ephedra plants of the Artemisia and Ephedra genera on higher ground, typify the flora of these both regions. The western Pamirs present a striking contrast. The forced emigration of mountain residents, which started in the late 1930s, has halted the overgrazing and cutting of firewood that has continued in adjoining ranges such as the Hindu Kush and the Karakorams. Since the exodus, juniper has regenerated on the valley slopes, caespitose shrubs have become established on the drier margins, and erosion has halted. Watercourses above 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) are lined with willowwillows, thornbushes, oleander, poplarpoplars, and occasional birchbirches. High-altitude elevation pastures, above 10,000 feet (3,000 metres), are rarely grazed by cattle.

Animal life

The high tablelands of the eastern Pamirs are the prime breeding area of the mountain goat and the argali (Marco Polo) wild sheep; occasional sightings of blue sheep and urial are reported. Ibex are common where human activity is minimal, and markhor inhabit the lower ranges between the Panj and Vakhsh rivers. Brown bear bears feed on the abundant marmots, as do wolves. Relatively strict prohibitions against the hunting of wild sheep and goats have resulted in sufficient prey to support a small population of snow leopards. The lammergeier Lammergeiers (bearded vulture) and the Himalayan griffon griffons frequent the highest peaks, while partridgepartridges, pheasant, and snow cock cocks are found in the western mountains. Large numbers of migratory waterfowl flying between Siberia and South Asia visit the eastern Pamirs.

The people People and the economy

Turkic-speaking Kyrgyz populate the eastern Pamirs, while Mountain Tajik and other Tajik groups Tajiks live in the western valleys. The Mountain Tajik are Ismāʿīlī Shīʿite Muslims who formerly spoke Wakhi, a language related to those spoken in the Vākhān and Badakhshān regions of Afghanistan, in northernmost Chitrāl and Gilgit districts of Pakistan, and in the Sarykol region of western China. They presently speak several eastern Iranian languages (the most common are Wakhi and Shugni), and almost all , in addition, also speak the Persian dialect common to Tajiki language of the lowland-dwelling people Tajiks of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, who are largely Sunnite Sunni Muslims.

In the portion of the Pamirs in the GornoKǔhistoni-Badakhshan Badakhshon autonomous region of Tajikistan, nine-tenths the great bulk of the population lives above 5,000 feet (1,500 metres), and no settlement is located below 11,500 feet (3,500 metres) in the Kyrgyz sector. Of those residing in the eastern area, three-fifths most migrate in the course of their annual pastoral tasks. At high altitudeelevations, the Kyrgyz exhibit much greater longevity and lower infant mortality than the TajikTajiks. Substantial population movement has occurred since 1940, when the majority of the residents of the western Pamirs were forcibly removed to the irrigated cotton communes established on the broad river plains in Tajikistan. Agropastoral activities, often associated with communal farms, occupy the remaining inhabitants of the Pamirs. Population pressure in Tajikistan—which has a high birth rate and a large proportion of its population living in poverty—has made it necessary to establish new settlements and farms in the western Pamir valleys. This resettlement of formerly depopulated valleys is most evident in the Surkhob and Obikhingou valleys upstream from the huge hydroelectric dams at Norak and Rogun (Ragoon) Roghun on the Vakhsh River.

Khorugh Khorog and Qalaikhum in Gorno-Badakhshan, both on the right bank of the Panj River, are the major southern southwestern centres; Gharm, Tojikobod, and Jirgatol in Tajikistan are modern small towns in the northnorthwest; and Murghob in GornoKǔhistoni-Badakhshan Badakhshon is the focus of activity in the eastern Pamirs. T’a-shih-k’u-erh-kan (Tashikuergan) Taxkorgan is the only town in the Chinese Pamirs. In the Vākhān region during the 1980s, the Kyrgyz abandoned their settlements, and the dispersed Mountain Tajik communities gathered into tight clusters as a result of civil strife caused by the Afghan War.

The high-elevation pastoralism practiced in the eastern Pamirs is devoted to yaks and related crossbreeds, sheep, and goats; barley and potatoes, pulses, rapeseed, potatoes, and other root vegetables constitute are the main crops of this region. In the valleys of the western Pamirs, the former Soviet government has mandated the cultivation of cotton and other crops. Large orchards—notably of appleapples, pearpears, and apricotapricots, as well as vineyards—line many western valleys and foothills between 5,000 and 6,500 feet (1,500 and 2,000 metres). Wheat is the dominant grain and corn (maize) the chief winter fodder. Cattle are replacing sheep and goats as principal livestock in the western valleys.

Motor-vehicle tracks reach all settlements in the Pamirs, and there is frequent air service to many small towns. Large passenger helicopters serve isolated locations on an infrequent basis. Jeep tracks constructed in the 1980s support the Mountain Tajik living in the Vākhān region of Afghanistan. A major frontier road facilitates the movement of military garrisons in the Tajik and Kyrgyz portions of the Pamirs , and jeep tracks constructed in the 1980s support the Mountain Tajik living in the Vākhān region of Afghanistanand links Tajikistan with the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan. A major route through along the old Karatikin Silk Road up the Surkhob and Kyzylsu rivers and the Alay Alai Valley links Tajikistan with the major city of Osh in Kyrgyzstanruns from Tajikistan through southern Kyrgyzstan to China. In the Chinese Pamirs, the extension of the Karakoram Highway serves the Sarykol and Subashi pamir through the western extension of the Kunlun Mountains.

Study and exploration

From the 1st through the 7th century AD CE, three branches of the Silk Road crossed the Pamirs. The 2nd-century Alexandrian scholar Ptolemy referred to the mountains as Comedae in his Guide to Geography. Troops of T’angTang-dynasty China invaded the Pamirs in 747 but withdrew shortly thereafter. The Venetian traveler Marco Polo may have traversed the Vākhān region en route to Cathay (China), but it was not known to Europe until 1603 when the Spanish Jesuit missionary Benedict de Goes traveled reported on his travels through the area and news of his findings was reported that it became known to Europe. As Konstantin Petrovich Kaufmann conquered successive Central Asian khanates for Russia during the mid-19th century, British representatives—such as John Wood in the 1830s—sought a suitable physiographic boundary between Russian Central Asia and British India. The legendary journeys of the Englishman Ney Elias brought an enlightened European view of the region and its peoples, one without military or political bias. Political control of the mountains was settled in 1891 when tsarist forces rebuffed the British at Bozai Gombaz (Bazai Gombad) in the southern Pamirs. Russian and British negotiators subsequently established the new buffer state of Afghanistan—including the narrow Wakhan Corridor (now the Vākhān region)—between their respective territories. The boundaries between China and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the Pamirs, however, have remained in dispute.


During the Soviet period, explorations in the Pamirs became systematic. In 1928 an expedition explored the region of the Fedchenko Glacier, making possible the first accurate topographical maps of the northwestern Pamirs. This was followed in the early 1930s by the establishment of a high-altitude elevation hydrologic and meteorologic observatory—the first of its kind—at an altitude elevation of about 15,700 feet (4,800 metres) on a lateral moraine of the glacier. The laboratory has produced much valuable scientific data on the physical properties of the Pamirs. In one study, the superior adaption adaptation to high-altitude elevation living by the Asiatic Kyrgyz, compared to the European Tajik, has been a subject of physiological research. Many mountain-climbing and trekking groups visit the Pamir region each year; most activity occurs in the Trans-Alay Alai Range, including Lenin Peak.

For the Pamirs, T.E. Gordon, The Roof of the World: Being a Narrative of a Journey Over over the High Plateau of Tibet to the Russian Frontier and the Oxus Sources on Pamir (1876, reprinted 19711994), surveys the area before the setting of boundaries. Ole O. Olufsen, Through the Unknown Pamirs: The Second Danish Pamir Expedition, 1898–99 (1904, reprinted 1969), describes the last European scientific expedition to the Pamirs before they were closed to foreign scientific expeditions for 90 years. N.S. Ginzburg, “A Microgeography of Settlement in the Pamir Highlands,” Soviet Geography, 27(6):398–434 (1986), examines both the abandoned and currently populated settlements in the Pamirs in what was then the Gorno-Badakhshān Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the U.S.S.R. (now in Tajikistan). V.V. Ginzburg, Gornye tadzhiki (1937), is a classic work of anthropology of on the mountain Mountain Tajik of Karatigan and Darvaz. Isidor Levin (ed.), Märchen vom Dach der Welt (1986), is a collection of German translations of folk tales of the Pamir peoples, illustrating their traditions. A useful reference on the geological setting and seismology is J.R. Arrowsmith and M.R. Strecker, “Seismotectonic Range-Front Segmentation and Mountain-Belt Growth in the Pamir-Alay Region, Kyrgyzstan (India-Eurasia Collision Zone),” The Geological Society of America Bulletin, 111(11):1665–83 (November 1999).