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The Wakhan Corridor (alternatively Vakhan Corridor, or Wakhan) is the narrow strip of territory in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from Pakistan. The corridor, wedged between the Pamirs to the north and the Karakoram range to the south, is about long and wide.〔(International Boundary Study of the Afghanistan-USSR Boundary (1983) ) by the US Bureau of Intelligence and Research Pg. 7〕 Inside the Wakhan Corridor is a high mountain valley from which the Panj and Pamir Rivers emerge and form the Amu Darya. A trade route through the valley has been used by travelers going to and from East, South and Central Asia since antiquity. ''Wakhan Corridor'' can also refer to the valley and the trade route. The closure of the Afghan-Chinese border crossing at the Wakhjir Pass at the east end of the Wakhan Corridor, however, has turned the valley into a cul de sac inhabited by nomads. The corridor was a political creation of The Great Game. On the corridor's north side, agreements between Britain and Imperial Russia in 1873 and between Britain and Afghanistan in 1893 effectively split the historic region of Wakhan by making the Panj and Pamir Rivers the border between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire.〔 On its south side, the Durand Line agreement of 1893 marked the boundary between British India and Afghanistan. This left a narrow strip of land as a buffer between the two empires, which became known as the Wakhan Corridor in the 20th century. As of 2010, the Wakhan Corridor had 12,000 inhabitants. The northern part of the Wakhan is also referred to as the ''Pamir''.〔(Aga Khan Development Network (2010): ''Wakhan and the Afghan Pamir'' ) p.3〕 ==Geography== The Wakhan Corridor forms the panhandle of Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province. At its western entrance near the Afghan town of Ishkashim, the corridor is wide.〔 The western third of the corridor varies from in width and widens to in the central Wakhan.〔 At its eastern end, the corridor forks into two prongs that wrap around a salient of Chinese territory, forming the two countries' boundary.〔 The Wakhjir Pass, on the southeastern prong is about from Ishkashim.〔 The easternmost point of the northeastern prong is about from Ishkashim.〔 On the Chinese side of the border is Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The northern border is formed by the Pamir River and Lake Zorkul in the west and the high peaks of the Pamir Mountains in the east. To the north is Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous region. In the south, the corridor is bounded by the high mountains of the Hindu Kush and Karakoram. The Broghol and Irshad Passes along the southern flank offer access, respectively, to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan on Pakistan's side of the border. The Dilisang Pass is disused.〔The pass was crossed by a couple in 1950 and by a couple in 2004. See (J.Mock and K. O'Neil: Expedition Report )〕 The corridor is higher in the east (the Wakjir Pass is in elevation) and descends to about at Ishkashim.〔(FACTBOX-Key facts about the Wakhan Corridor ). Reuters. June 12, 2009〕 The Wakhjir River emerges from an ice cave on the Afghan side of the Wakhjir Pass and flows west, joining the Bozai Darya near the village of Bozai Gumbaz and forms the Wakhan River. The Wakhan River then joins the Pamir River near Kala-i-Panj to form the Panj River, which then flows out of the Wakhan Corridor at Ishkashim. Chinese descriptions of the Wakhan Corridor include the Taghdumbash Pamir, a high mountain valley east of the Wakhjir Pass that is about long.〔(Chinese) (新疆边境行：记者抵达瓦罕走廊中方最西端(图) 环球时报 ) 2011-07-07〕〔(Chinese) (小资料：瓦罕走廊 ) 2009-05-05〕 This valley, through which the Tashkurgan River flows, is generally about wide and less than at its narrowest point.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wakhan Corridor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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