High-mountain Asia (HMA) is a high-elevation[1]geographic region in central-southAsia that includes numerouscordillera andhighland systems around theTibetan Plateau, encompassing regions ofEast,Southeast,South andCentral Asia. The region wasorogenically formed by thecontinental collision of theIndian Plate into (andunderneath) theEurasian Plate.
According toNASA, the region is the "world's largest reservoir of perennialglaciers andsnow outside of the Earth'spolar ice sheets",[2] and has been nicknamed the "Third Pole". Theirmeltwaters andrunoffs form theheadwaters ofriver systems that support thedrinking water andfood production of nearly 3 billion people, andhydrological andclimate changes in the mountains affect "ecosystem services,agriculture,energy andlivelihood"[3] for all the surrounding areas.[4] NASA has a High Mountain Asia Team (HiMAT) to study the region.[3]
In a 2020 study, the term High Asia or High Mountain Asia was used metaphorically to categoriseKashmir,Hazara,Nuristan,Laghman,Azad Kashmir,Jammu,Himachal Pradesh,Ladakh,Gilgit Baltistan,Chitral,Western Tibet, WesternXinjiang,Badakhshan,Gorno Badakhshan,Fergana,Osh andTurkistan Region. These rich resource areas are surrounded by the five major mountainous systems ofTien Shan,Pamirs,Karakoram,Hindu Kush andWestern Himalayas and the three main river systems ofAmu Darya,Syr Darya andIndus. The work further highlighted the role of United States,China,Russia,UK,India,Pakistan,Afghanistan,Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkey,Iran and other players involved inThe New Great Game over who will dominate High Asia in the 21st century.[5]
High-mountain Asia is centered aroundTibetan Plateau (a.k.a. the "Roof of the World"), and extends to the surrounding regions as numerousmountain ranges:
These mountain range networks containsall 14 peaks above 8,000 m (26,000 ft) andall of the peaks above 7,200 m (23,600 ft), and expand across the mountainousChineseprovinces ofTibet,Xinjiang,Sichuan andYunnan (including the flat and depressedTarim Basin insouthern Xinjiang, which contains China's largest desert, theTaklamakan),[7] northernMyanmar, the Himalayan nations ofNepal andBhutan as well as north/northwesternPakistan and northeasternIndia, and most of the southeasternCentral Asian nations ofKyrgyzstan,Tajikistan andAfghanistan. Theirrain shadows are partly responsible for thecold arid climate in parts of Central Asia and the Mongolian Plateau.