Meanings
- The highest paved international road in the world, which connects Xinjiang, China, to Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of 4,693 metres (15,397 feet).
The Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan and China remains a strategic route.
1998, “Pakistan”, in Saul B. Cohen, editor, The Columbia Gazetteer of the World, volume 3, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 2340–23414 more examples
In mid-1978 the 800-km. Karakoram highway was opened, linking Xinjiang province in the People’s Republic of China with Havelian, north of Islamabad, after being under construction for 20 years.
1981, “Pakistan”, in The Far East and Australasia 1981-82, 13th edition, Europa Publications, →ISBN, →ISSN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 986, column 1The Karakoram Highway (KKH) connects the Silk Road oasis of Kashgar with Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, via the 4730m Khunjerab Pass, the semi-mythical Hunza Valley and the trading post of Gilgit.
1998, John S. King, Bradley Mayhew, Karakoram Highway (Lonely Planet), 3rd edition, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 9In September of 2008, a woman with piercing green eyes named Nasreen Baig embarked on an arduous journey from her home in the tiny Pakistani village of Zuudkhan south along the Indus River and down the precipitous Karakoram Highway to the bustling city of Rawalpindi.
2009, Greg Mortenson, “Introduction”, in Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace through Education in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Penguin Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 3This border outpost on the Karakoram Highway, slashed through the glacier-strewn Karakoram mountains to join China and Pakistan by road, boasts a new world record: It has the world’s highest automated bank teller machine.
2017 November 3, Rina Saeed Khan, “Pakistan’s glaciers face new threat: Highway’s black carbon”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 17 May 2022, APAC
Origin
From Karakoram mountain range.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 喀喇崑崙公路 /喀喇昆仑公路
- 喀喇崑崙公路 /喀喇昆仑公路 (Kālākūnlún Gōnglù)highway
Polish Szosa Karakorumska
- Szosa Karakorumskahighway
Urdu شاہراہِ قَراقَرَم
- شاہراہِ قَراقَرَم (śāhrāh-e qarāqaram)highway
Cite this entry
Karakoram Highway. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Karakoram%20Highway
“Karakoram Highway.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Karakoram%20Highway. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Karakoram Highway,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Karakoram%20Highway.
Source: Karakoram Highway on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.