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{{For|other roadways name M41|M41 (disambiguation)}}
{{For|other roadways name M41|M41 (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox road
{{Infobox road
| country =
| country = ASIA
| header_type = historic
|province=
|state=
|type=Highway
|route=
|subtype=
|header_type= historic
| type = Highway
| name = M41 highway
| name = M41 highway
| alternate_name = Pamir Highway, Pamirsky Trakt, Памирский тракт
| alternate_name = Pamir Highway
| map = Pamir Highway Route.jpg
| map = Pamir Highway Route.jpg
|map_notes = The historical Pamir Highway travels through the Central Asian nations of [[Afghanistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyzstan]]. The modern M41 extends further from [[Osh]] to [[Kara-Balta]] in the western suburbs of [[Bishkek]]
| map_notes = The historical Pamir Highway travels through [[Afghanistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]] in Central Asia. The modern M41 extends further from [[Osh]] to [[Kara-Balta]] in the western suburbs of [[Bishkek]]
| photo = From Khargush to Murghab, Tajikistan (43546170954).jpg
| photo = From Khargush to Murghab, Tajikistan (43546170954).jpg
| photo_notes = Pamir highway from Khargush to Murghab, Tajikistan
| photo_notes = Pamir highway from Khargush to Murghab, Tajikistan
| length_mi =
| length_km = 1252
| length_ref = <ref>{{cite web |first1=Audrey |last1=Scott |first2=Daniel |last2=Noll |title=Driving one of the world's most remote highways |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20141211-driving-one-of-the-worlds-most-remote-highways |date=18 December 2014 |access-date=18 October 2022 |website=[[BBC Online]] |language=en |df=dmy}}</ref>
| length_km =
| length_ref =
| established =
| established =
| established_by =
| established_by =
| direction_a =
| direction_a =
| terminus_a =
| terminus_a =
| junction =
| junction =
| direction_b =
| direction_b =
| terminus_b =
| terminus_b =
| countries = [[Afghanistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]]
| previous_type =
| e-road = {{Jct|country=EUR|E|008|E|007}}
| previous_route =
| next_type =
| e-road-shield =
| history = The road formed one link of the ancient [[Silk Road]] trade route
| next_route =
| marker_image =
| translation =
}}
}}The '''M41''', known informally and more commonly as the '''Pamir Highway''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: "Pamirsky Trakt", Памирский тракт) is a road traversing the [[Pamir Mountains]] through [[Afghanistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyzstan]] in [[Central Asia]]. It is the only continuous route through the difficult terrain of the mountains and serves as the main supply route to Tajikistan's [[Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region]]. The route has been in use for millennia, as there are a limited number of viable routes through the high Pamir Mountains. The road formed one link of the ancient [[Silk Road]] trade route. M41 is the Soviet road number, but no road number is generally signposted along the road today, only destinations.
The '''M41''', known informally and more commonly as the '''Pamir Highway''' ({{langx|ru|Памирский тракт|translit=Pamirsky Trakt}}), is a road traversing the [[Pamir Mountains]] through [[Afghanistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]] with a length of over 1,200 km. It is the only continuous route through the difficult terrain of the mountains and is the main supply route to Tajikistan's [[Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region]]. The route has been in use for millennia, as there are a limited number of viable routes through the high Pamir Mountains. The road formed one link of the ancient [[Silk Road]] trade route. M41 is the Soviet road number, but it only remains as an official designation in post-Soviet [[Uzbekistan]], as confirmed by official decree.<ref name="Uzbek Number">Decree of the Republic of Uzbekistan Cabinet. Approval of the List of Public Roads of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 5 August 2010. [https://lex.uz/docs/-1664887 https://lex.uz/docs/-1664887]</ref> [[Kyrgyzstan]]<ref name="Kyrgyz Number">Procedure. Classification and numbering of public highways in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. 18 August 2017. [http://cbd.minjust.gov.kg/act/view/ky-kg/100245?cl=ky-kg http://cbd.minjust.gov.kg/act/view/ky-kg/100245?cl=ky-kg]</ref> and [[Tajikistan]]<ref name="Tajik Number">Assessment of Economic Impacts from Disasters Along Key Corridors. Final Report. The World Bank. May 2021. [https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/545481624287902413/pdf/Assessment-of-Economic-Impacts-from-Disasters-Along-Key-Corridors.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/545481624287902413/pdf/Assessment-of-Economic-Impacts-from-Disasters-Along-Key-Corridors.pdf]</ref> have passed decrees abolishing Soviet numbering of highways and assigning their own national numbering.


==Route description==
==Route description==
Sources disagree on the termini of the highway, with [[Mazari Sharif|Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan]]; [[Termiz, Uzbekistan]]; [[Dushanbe, Tajikistan]]; and [[Khorog, Tajikistan]] all being offered as the beginning of the highway. All sources, however, agree that the highway ends in [[Osh]], Kyrgyzstan. Today, the route is part of the M41 highway, which starts at Termiz at {{coord|37|12|39|N|67|16|20|E|}} and ends at [[Kara-Balta]] to the west of [[Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan]] at {{coord|42|49|40|N|73|52|53|E|}}.<ref>{{cite map|title=[[Google Maps]]|publisher=Google}}</ref><ref>{{cite map|title=[[Bing Maps]]|publisher= [[Microsoft]] and [[Harris Corporation]] Earthstar Geographics LLC}}</ref> The route passes northward through Termiz before turning east and crossing into Tajikistan. It then follows a general eastward route through Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to [[Khorog]], crossing the [[Kafirnigan River|Kafirnigan]], [[Vakhsh River|Vakhsh]], and [[Bartang River|Bartang]] Rivers. From there, it continues east for about 310 kilometers to [[Murghab, Tajikistan|Murghab]], where it crosses the [[Murghab River (Tajikistan)|Murghab River]]. The highway then passes through the 4,655-meter (15,270&nbsp;ft) high [[Ak-Baital Pass]] and past [[Karakul (Tajikistan)|Lake Karakul]] before crossing into Kyrgyzstan to its terminus in Osh.
Sources disagree on the termini of the highway, with [[Mazari Sharif|Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan]]; [[Termiz, Uzbekistan]]; [[Dushanbe, Tajikistan]]; and [[Khorog, Tajikistan]] all being offered as the beginning of the highway. All sources, however, agree that the highway ends in [[Osh]], Kyrgyzstan. Today, the route is part of the M41 highway, which starts at Termiz at {{coord|37|12|39|N|67|16|20|E|}} and ends at [[Kara-Balta]] to the west of [[Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan]] at {{coord|42|49|40|N|73|52|53|E|}}.<ref>{{cite map |title=[[Google Maps]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |title=[[Bing Maps]]}}</ref> The route passes northward through Termiz before turning east and crossing into Tajikistan. It then follows a general eastward route through Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to [[Khorog]], crossing the [[Kafirnigan River|Kafirnigan]], [[Vakhsh River|Vakhsh]], and [[Bartang River|Bartang]] Rivers. From there, it continues east for about 310 kilometers to [[Murghab, Tajikistan|Murghab]], where it crosses the [[Murghab River (Tajikistan)|Murghab River]]. The highway then passes through the 4,655-meter (15,270&nbsp;ft) high [[Ak-Baital Pass]] and past [[Karakul (Tajikistan)|Lake Karakul]] before crossing into Kyrgyzstan to its terminus in Osh.


The road was constructed partly in the end of 19th century (during [[The Great Game]]),<ref>{{cite web|title=Pamir Highway History|url=https://samarkandtours.com/tajikistan/pamir-highway/history/|access-date=August 15, 2021}}</ref> and mostly in 1930s by the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/out-of-eden-walk/articles/2017-08-sliding-off-the-roof-of-the-world/ |quote=We walk along the Pamir highway—Soviet-built in the 1930s, crumbling back into the elements, and the second highest road in the world after the Karakoram. |first=Paul |last=Salopek |title=Sliding off the Roof of the World |magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |date=August 15, 2017}}</ref>
The road was constructed partly in the end of 19th century (during [[The Great Game]]),<ref>{{cite web |title=Pamir Highway History |url=https://samarkandtours.com/tajikistan/pamir-highway/history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111084420/https://samarkandtours.com/tajikistan/pamir-highway/history/ |archive-date=11 November 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=18 October 2022}}</ref> and mostly in 1930s by the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/out-of-eden-walk/articles/2017-08-sliding-off-the-roof-of-the-world/ |quote=We walk along the Pamir highway—Soviet-built in the 1930s, crumbling back into the elements, and the second highest road in the world after the Karakoram. |first=Paul |last=Salopek |title=Sliding off the Roof of the World |magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |date=8 October 2022}}</ref>


In 2000s Pamir Highway was connected with China and [[Karakoram Highway]].<ref>[http://www.geo.ru/zhizn-u-dorogi Жизнь у дороги], [[GEO (magazine)|GEO, Russian Edition]], 4 May 2011</ref>
In 2000s Pamir Highway was connected with China and [[Karakoram Highway]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Жизнь у дороги |lang=ru |url=http://www.geo.ru/zhizn-u-dorogi |publisher=[[GEO (magazine)|GEO]] |date=4 May 2011|access-date=18 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528195410/http://www.geo.ru/zhizn-u-dorogi |archive-date=28 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


The Pamir Highway is designated as route M-41 over much of its length in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and is known as the second highest [[altitude]] international highway in the world (4,655 m). The section between Dushanbe and [[Murghab, Tajikistan|Murghab]] has the [[European route]] number [[European route E008|E 008]]. The section between [[Sary-Tash]] and [[Osh, Kyrgyzstan]] has the European route number [[European route E007|E 007]].
The Pamir Highway is designated as route M-41 over much of its length in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and is known as the second highest [[altitude]] international highway in the world (4,655 m). The section between Dushanbe and [[Murghab, Tajikistan|Murghab]] has the [[European route]] number [[European route E008|E 008]]. The section between [[Sary-Tash]] and [[Osh, Kyrgyzstan]] has the European route number [[European route E007|E 007]].


Construction and maintenance levels vary substantially along the highway. The roadway is unpaved in some areas, but otherwise paved most of the way.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://caravanistan.com/tajikistan/pamir-highway/#road|title=Pamir Highway Travel Guide|website=Caravanistan}}</ref> Except for its stretches in Kyrgyzstan and nearing Dushanbe, the road is heavily damaged in most of its length by [[erosion]], [[earthquake]]s, [[landslide]]s, and [[avalanche]]s.
Construction and maintenance levels vary substantially along the highway. The roadway is unpaved in some areas, but otherwise paved most of the way.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://caravanistan.com/tajikistan/pamir-highway/#road |title=Pamir Highway Travel Guide |website=Caravanistan |date=3 June 2022 |access-date=18 October 2022}}</ref> Except for its stretches in Kyrgyzstan and nearing Dushanbe, the road is heavily damaged in most of its length by [[erosion]], [[earthquake]]s, [[landslide]]s, and [[avalanche]]s.

Sometimes referred to as the "Heroin Highway," much of the ninety tonnes of [[heroin]] that are trafficked through Tajikistan each year pass along this route.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stephenmbland.com/road-of-sorrow |title = Road of Sorrow - Trafficking and Ethnicity on the Pamir Highway |access-date=18 October 2022 |date=4 September 2014 |first=Stephen |last=Bland}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/i-took-a-road-trip-down-tajikistans-heroin-highway |title = I Took a Trip Down Tajikistan's 'Heroin Highway' |first=Stephen |last=Bland |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date=18 October 2022 |date=18 June 2014}}</ref>

===Main points on the Pamir highway===
If Pamir Highway is followed from Osh, the route of the highway can be written as follows:

Osh city&nbsp;– [[Taldyk]] lane (3615 m, pass through the [[Alay Range]])&nbsp;– [[Gülchö|Gulcha village&nbsp;– Gulcha]] river valley&nbsp;– Kyrgyzstan lane (3541 m)&nbsp;– [[Sary-Tash|Sary-Tash village]] (Alay valley)&nbsp;– [[Kyzylart Pass|Kyzylart]] lane (4250 m, pass through the [[Trans-Alay Range|Trans-Alay range]], entrance to the territory of [[Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region]], border crossing between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan)&nbsp;– Markansu river valley&nbsp;– Uybulak lane (4200 m)&nbsp;– lake [[Karakul (Tajikistan)|Karakul]]&nbsp;— [[Ak-Baital Pass]] lane (4655 m)&nbsp;— Murghab&nbsp;— Naizatash Lane (4314 m)&nbsp;— Alichur valley&nbsp;— Khargush Lane (4091 m) + Tagarkaty Lane (4168 m)&nbsp;— Sulu-Tagarkaty river valley&nbsp;— Koi-Tezek Lane (4251 m)&nbsp;— [[Gunt|Gunt river valley]]&nbsp;— Khorog&nbsp;— [[Panj (river)|Panj river valley]]&nbsp;— [[Qal'ai Khumb|Qal'ai Khumb village]]&nbsp;— Khaburabot lane (3720 m)&nbsp;— Obihingou river valley&nbsp;— [[Vakhsh (river)|Vakhsh river valley]]&nbsp;— Dushanbe city.

Currently, the Pamir Highway is part of the M41 highway.

*{{KGZ}}<ref name="Kyrgyz Number"/>
**{{RouteBox|ЭМ-05||#1E90FF}} ЭМ-05 Road: [[Osh]] - [[Taldyk Pass]] - [[Sary-Tash]]
**{{RouteBox|ЭМ-06||#1E90FF}} ЭМ-06 Road: [[Sary-Tash]] - [[Karamyk]] - Border of [[Tajikistan]]
*{{TJK}}<ref name="Tajik Number"/>
**{{RouteBox|РБ07||red}} РБ07 Road: Border of [[Kyrgyzstan]] - [[Jirgatol]] - [[Obi Garm]] - [[Vahdat]]
**{{RouteBox|РБ04||red}} РБ04 Road: [[Vahdat]] - [[Dushanbe]]
**{{RouteBox|РБ02||red}} РБ02 Road: [[Dushanbe]] - [[Tursunzoda]]
*{{UZB}}<ref name="Uzbek Number"/>
**{{RouteBox|M41||#0000CD}} M41 Road: Border of [[Tajikistan]] - [[Denov]] - [[Termez]]

==History==

===Old Pamir Highway===
{{Needs more references|section|date=July 2024}}
At the end of the 19th century&nbsp;— the beginning of the 20th century in Central Asia between the British and Russian empires continued a sharp geopolitical rivalry for influence in the region, which received the name "Great Game" in world history. The military department of the Russian Empire, concerned about the activity of the British in the Pamirs, decided to build a strategic military road along which it would be possible to quickly transfer troops from Fergana to the Alay Valley and carry out their effective supply. The construction was planned and carried out in deep secrecy and for a long time the existence of a road through the Alay Range in Russian [[Turkestan]] in Europe was not known.

In the summer of 1903, an officer of the Russian army, military geographer [[Nikolai Korzhenevskiy|Nikolai Korzhenevsky]], climbing the Taldyk Pass (Kyrgyzstan) with a height of 3615 meters, discovered a memorial pillar with the names of people who took part in the design and laying of a road along the [[Hissaro-Alay]] in the "Russian" of Turkestan. They were Lieutenant Colonel [[Bronislav Grombchevsky|Bronisław Grombczewski]], railway engineers Mickiewicz, Burakovsky, Zarakovsky and [[Podporuchik]] Irmuth. For a long time, Europeans believed that the first road through the Taldyk Pass was built in 1916 by Austrians captured in the First World War. Korzhenevsky's diary testifies to something else. He believed that in 1893 it was built by Russian sapper units. However, according to other sources, the first road connecting Osh and Gulcha in Kyrgyzstan through the Taldyk Pass was built in 1876 by a Russian detachment under the command of General [[Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov]]. Later, this small section of the road (88 versts - 1.1 km) from [[Fergana]] to the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan was called the "Old Pamir Highway". According to the testimony of Korzhenevsky, in 1910 only a dangerous pack trail went further from Gulchi to the south, through the Eastern Pamirs. Along the Panj, from Darvaz to Rushan in 1915, Russian units, with the help of the local population, also laid a pack trail, cargo was transported by packs on horses and donkeys. Rockfalls, landslides, avalanches, waterfalls, floods often destroyed the trail. By 1930, according to eyewitnesses, this trail was in terrible condition, even packhorses could hardly pass through it, they had to be constantly unloaded in order to transfer them to the ovrings.

With the completion in 1937, in Soviet era, of the construction of a highway connecting the cities of Osh and Khorog, the Old Pamir Highway became an integral part of the large Pamir Highway.

By the decree of the [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] of the USSR of March 5, 1941, the tract was named after Stalin.

=== 2022 Tajik protests ===
During the {{Interlanguage link|Gorno-Badakhshan protests (2022)|lt=2022 protests in Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region|tg|Эътирозҳо дар Вилояти Мухтори Кӯҳистони Бадахшон (2022)}}, the Pamir Highway was temporarily blocked by a group of protestors led by [[Muhammadboqir Muhammadboqirov]]. Muhammadboqirov was later killed on 23 May 2022, and the road reopened.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-22 |title=Tajikistan: Local residents say Pamiri leader killed by government troops |url=https://eurasianet.org/tajikistan-local-residents-say-pamiri-leader-killed-by-government-troops |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Eurasianet]]}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Levi-Sanchez |first=Suzanne |date=2022-08-03 |title=The assassination that shook the Pamir Mountains to the core |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/gorno-badakhshan-mamadboqirov-tajikistan-pamir-mountains/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[openDemocracy]] |language=en}}</ref>


Sometimes referred to as the "Heroin Highway," much of the ninety tonnes of heroin that are trafficked through Tajikistan each year pass along this route.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stephenmbland.com/road-of-sorrow|title = Road of Sorrow}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/i-took-a-road-trip-down-tajikistans-heroin-highway|title = I Took a Trip Down Tajikistan's 'Heroin Highway'}}</ref>
==Popular culture==
==Popular culture==
In the 1985 film ''[[Spies Like Us]]'', the decoy GLG-20s played by [[Chevy Chase]] and [[Dan Aykroyd]] are told to meet their contacts on the "road to Dushanbe," a reference to the M41 highway.
In the 1985 film ''[[Spies Like Us]]'', the decoy GLG-20s played by [[Chevy Chase]] and [[Dan Aykroyd]] are told to meet their contacts on the "road to Dushanbe," a reference to the M41 highway.


==Galley==
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="230" perrow="5">
<gallery perrow="5" mode="nolines" widths="240">
File:Pamir Highway - Tajikistan.jpg|Pamir highway in Tajikistan
File:Pamir Highway - Tajikistan.jpg|Pamir highway in Tajikistan
File:Transport-dush-khorog.jpg|The Pamir Highway between Dushanbe and Khorugh
File:Transport-dush-khorog.jpg|The Pamir Highway between Dushanbe and Khorugh
File:Pamyr highway near Kizil-Art.jpg|Pamyr highway near [[Rushan]]
File:Pamyr highway near Kizil-Art.jpg|Pamyr highway near [[Rushon|Rushan]]
File:IMG Afghánistán 20180730 110200.jpg|Pamir highway in Afghanistan
File:Along the Afghan border (8) (30886746896).jpg|Pamir highway along the Afghan border
File:Into the Wakhan Valley (4) (31528121094).jpg|[[Wakhan River|Wakhan river]] valley
File:Fertile agricultural landscape (2) (31578094153).jpg|Agricultural landscape near Pamir highway
</gallery>
</gallery>


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{{Commons category|Pamir Highway}}
{{Commons category|Pamir Highway}}
*[http://www.cypis.pl/Podroze/relacje_pliki/2010.03-06%20Mongolia/TAJIKISTAN/PAMIR1/galeria1.html 'Pamir Highway M41 - The road between the Kyzyl Art pass and the Murgab City - photographs]
*[http://www.cypis.pl/Podroze/relacje_pliki/2010.03-06%20Mongolia/TAJIKISTAN/PAMIR1/galeria1.html 'Pamir Highway M41 - The road between the Kyzyl Art pass and the Murgab City - photographs]
*[http://www.cypis.pl/Podroze/relacje_pliki/2010.03-06%20Mongolia/TAJIKISTAN/PAMIR2/galeria1.html 'Pamir Highway M41 - The road between the Koi Tezek pass and the Khorugh (Khorog) City - photographs]
*[http://www.cypis.pl/Podroze/relacje_pliki/2010.03-06%20Mongolia/TAJIKISTAN/PAMIR2/galeria1.html 'Pamir Highway M41 - The road between the Koi Tezek pass and the Khorugh (Khorog) City - photographs]
*[http://rosset.org/photography/asie04/m41/index.htm 'The M41 in Tajikistan - photographs]
*[http://rosset.org/photography/asie04/m41/index.htm 'The M41 in Tajikistan - photographs]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160620165847/http://www.panoramio.com/user/3474627/tags/M41 'The M41 in Kyrgyzstan - photographs]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160620165847/http://www.panoramio.com/user/3474627/tags/M41 'The M41 in Kyrgyzstan - photographs]

Latest revision as of 00:01, 27 October 2024

M41 highway
Pamir Highway
The historical Pamir Highway travels through Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. The modern M41 extends further from Osh to Kara-Balta in the western suburbs of Bishkek
From Khargush to Murghab, Tajikistan (43546170954).jpg
Pamir highway from Khargush to Murghab, Tajikistan
Route information
Part of E008 / E007
Length1,252 km[1] (778 mi)
HistoryThe road formed one link of the ancient Silk Road trade route
Location
CountriesAfghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan
Highway system

The M41, known informally and more commonly as the Pamir Highway (Russian: Памирский тракт, romanizedPamirsky Trakt), is a road traversing the Pamir Mountains through Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with a length of over 1,200 km. It is the only continuous route through the difficult terrain of the mountains and is the main supply route to Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. The route has been in use for millennia, as there are a limited number of viable routes through the high Pamir Mountains. The road formed one link of the ancient Silk Road trade route. M41 is the Soviet road number, but it only remains as an official designation in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, as confirmed by official decree.[2] Kyrgyzstan[3] and Tajikistan[4] have passed decrees abolishing Soviet numbering of highways and assigning their own national numbering.

Route description

[edit]

Sources disagree on the termini of the highway, with Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan; Termiz, Uzbekistan; Dushanbe, Tajikistan; and Khorog, Tajikistan all being offered as the beginning of the highway. All sources, however, agree that the highway ends in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Today, the route is part of the M41 highway, which starts at Termiz at 37°12′39″N 67°16′20″E / 37.21083°N 67.27222°E / 37.21083; 67.27222 and ends at Kara-Balta to the west of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan at 42°49′40″N 73°52′53″E / 42.82778°N 73.88139°E / 42.82778; 73.88139.[5][6] The route passes northward through Termiz before turning east and crossing into Tajikistan. It then follows a general eastward route through Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to Khorog, crossing the Kafirnigan, Vakhsh, and Bartang Rivers. From there, it continues east for about 310 kilometers to Murghab, where it crosses the Murghab River. The highway then passes through the 4,655-meter (15,270 ft) high Ak-Baital Pass and past Lake Karakul before crossing into Kyrgyzstan to its terminus in Osh.

The road was constructed partly in the end of 19th century (during The Great Game),[7] and mostly in 1930s by the Soviet Union.[8]

In 2000s Pamir Highway was connected with China and Karakoram Highway.[9]

The Pamir Highway is designated as route M-41 over much of its length in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and is known as the second highest altitude international highway in the world (4,655 m). The section between Dushanbe and Murghab has the European route number E 008. The section between Sary-Tash and Osh, Kyrgyzstan has the European route number E 007.

Construction and maintenance levels vary substantially along the highway. The roadway is unpaved in some areas, but otherwise paved most of the way.[10] Except for its stretches in Kyrgyzstan and nearing Dushanbe, the road is heavily damaged in most of its length by erosion, earthquakes, landslides, and avalanches.

Sometimes referred to as the "Heroin Highway," much of the ninety tonnes of heroin that are trafficked through Tajikistan each year pass along this route.[11][12]

Main points on the Pamir highway

[edit]

If Pamir Highway is followed from Osh, the route of the highway can be written as follows:

Osh city – Taldyk lane (3615 m, pass through the Alay Range) – Gulcha village – Gulcha river valley – Kyrgyzstan lane (3541 m) – Sary-Tash village (Alay valley) – Kyzylart lane (4250 m, pass through the Trans-Alay range, entrance to the territory of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, border crossing between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) – Markansu river valley – Uybulak lane (4200 m) – lake Karakul — Ak-Baital Pass lane (4655 m) — Murghab — Naizatash Lane (4314 m) — Alichur valley — Khargush Lane (4091 m) + Tagarkaty Lane (4168 m) — Sulu-Tagarkaty river valley — Koi-Tezek Lane (4251 m) — Gunt river valley — Khorog — Panj river valley — Qal'ai Khumb village — Khaburabot lane (3720 m) — Obihingou river valley — Vakhsh river valley — Dushanbe city.

Currently, the Pamir Highway is part of the M41 highway.

History

[edit]

Old Pamir Highway

[edit]

At the end of the 19th century — the beginning of the 20th century in Central Asia between the British and Russian empires continued a sharp geopolitical rivalry for influence in the region, which received the name "Great Game" in world history. The military department of the Russian Empire, concerned about the activity of the British in the Pamirs, decided to build a strategic military road along which it would be possible to quickly transfer troops from Fergana to the Alay Valley and carry out their effective supply. The construction was planned and carried out in deep secrecy and for a long time the existence of a road through the Alay Range in Russian Turkestan in Europe was not known.

In the summer of 1903, an officer of the Russian army, military geographer Nikolai Korzhenevsky, climbing the Taldyk Pass (Kyrgyzstan) with a height of 3615 meters, discovered a memorial pillar with the names of people who took part in the design and laying of a road along the Hissaro-Alay in the "Russian" of Turkestan. They were Lieutenant Colonel Bronisław Grombczewski, railway engineers Mickiewicz, Burakovsky, Zarakovsky and Podporuchik Irmuth. For a long time, Europeans believed that the first road through the Taldyk Pass was built in 1916 by Austrians captured in the First World War. Korzhenevsky's diary testifies to something else. He believed that in 1893 it was built by Russian sapper units. However, according to other sources, the first road connecting Osh and Gulcha in Kyrgyzstan through the Taldyk Pass was built in 1876 by a Russian detachment under the command of General Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov. Later, this small section of the road (88 versts - 1.1 km) from Fergana to the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan was called the "Old Pamir Highway". According to the testimony of Korzhenevsky, in 1910 only a dangerous pack trail went further from Gulchi to the south, through the Eastern Pamirs. Along the Panj, from Darvaz to Rushan in 1915, Russian units, with the help of the local population, also laid a pack trail, cargo was transported by packs on horses and donkeys. Rockfalls, landslides, avalanches, waterfalls, floods often destroyed the trail. By 1930, according to eyewitnesses, this trail was in terrible condition, even packhorses could hardly pass through it, they had to be constantly unloaded in order to transfer them to the ovrings.

With the completion in 1937, in Soviet era, of the construction of a highway connecting the cities of Osh and Khorog, the Old Pamir Highway became an integral part of the large Pamir Highway.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 5, 1941, the tract was named after Stalin.

2022 Tajik protests

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During the 2022 protests in Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region [tg], the Pamir Highway was temporarily blocked by a group of protestors led by Muhammadboqir Muhammadboqirov. Muhammadboqirov was later killed on 23 May 2022, and the road reopened.[13][14]

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In the 1985 film Spies Like Us, the decoy GLG-20s played by Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd are told to meet their contacts on the "road to Dushanbe," a reference to the M41 highway.

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References

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  1. ^ Scott, Audrey; Noll, Daniel (18 December 2014). "Driving one of the world's most remote highways". BBC Online. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b Decree of the Republic of Uzbekistan Cabinet. Approval of the List of Public Roads of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 5 August 2010. https://lex.uz/docs/-1664887
  3. ^ a b Procedure. Classification and numbering of public highways in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. 18 August 2017. http://cbd.minjust.gov.kg/act/view/ky-kg/100245?cl=ky-kg
  4. ^ a b Assessment of Economic Impacts from Disasters Along Key Corridors. Final Report. The World Bank. May 2021. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/545481624287902413/pdf/Assessment-of-Economic-Impacts-from-Disasters-Along-Key-Corridors.pdf
  5. ^ Google Maps (Map).
  6. ^ Bing Maps (Map).
  7. ^ "Pamir Highway History". Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  8. ^ Salopek, Paul (8 October 2022). "Sliding off the Roof of the World". National Geographic. We walk along the Pamir highway—Soviet-built in the 1930s, crumbling back into the elements, and the second highest road in the world after the Karakoram.
  9. ^ "Жизнь у дороги" (in Russian). GEO. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 28 May 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Pamir Highway Travel Guide". Caravanistan. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  11. ^ Bland, Stephen (4 September 2014). "Road of Sorrow - Trafficking and Ethnicity on the Pamir Highway". Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  12. ^ Bland, Stephen (18 June 2014). "I Took a Trip Down Tajikistan's 'Heroin Highway'". Vice. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Tajikistan: Local residents say Pamiri leader killed by government troops". Eurasianet. 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  14. ^ Levi-Sanchez, Suzanne (2022-08-03). "The assassination that shook the Pamir Mountains to the core". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
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