Central Karakoram National Park the world and the largest protected area in Pakistan. It covers about in the Central Karakoram mountain range. It varies in altitude from above sea level to the summit of chogori K2, the world's second highest mountain at . There are three other mountains over , Gasherbrum I (), Gasherbrum II () and phalchanri Broad Peak (), and sixty mountains over . The park also includes the Baltoro, Panmah, Biafo and Hispar glaciers and their tributary glaciers and is considered to be one of the most beautiful national parks in Pakistan. In 2013 it was stated that the exact boundaries
Karakoram and Pamir mountains have been nominated for inclusion in UNESCO in 2010 by the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO and has tentatively been added to the list. Karakoram is a Turkic term meaning "black gravel". The Central Asian traders originally applied the name to the Karakoram Pass. Early European travellers, including William Moorcroft and George Hayward, started using the term for the range of mountains west of the pass, although they also used the term Muztagh (meaning, "Ice Mountain") for the range now known as Karakoram. Later terminology was influenced by the Survey of India,