Wakhan

Wakhan refers to a historic and geographic region in the far northeast of Afghanistan, best known for the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of Afghan territory that extends toward the border with China. The corridor runs roughly 300–350 kilometers from the town of Ishkashim in the west to the Wakhjir Pass at the eastern border with China, and is bordered to the north by Tajikistan and to the south by the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges. The landscape is rugged, with high valleys carved by streams feeding into the Amu Darya.

The population is small and dispersed, with communities that speak Wakhi and Ishkashimi languages, and smaller groups of Tajiks and Kyrgyz. Traditional livelihoods are largely pastoral, with limited agriculture in river valleys and sparse market activity along the corridor.

Historically, Wakhan was part of the ancient Pamir region and a corridor of trade routes linking Central Asia with South Asia. In the 19th century, as part of the Great Game between the Russian Empire and British India, the corridor was delineated in the 1895 Anglo-Russian Convention to serve as a buffer zone between empires. Since then, it has remained part of Afghanistan, subject to its difficult geography and limited state presence.

Economy and infrastructure are modest: transport relies on a rough road network that is often cut by weather, and cross-border movement is limited to a few official points with Tajikistan; access to the Chinese border is via the Wakhjir Pass and remains restricted.

See also: Wakhan Corridor, Pamir Mountains, Ishkashim.