Wakhjir Pass
Photo of the valley before the pass byAurel Stein
Elevation	4,923 m (16,152 ft)
Location	Wakhan,Badakhshan,Afghanistan - Taxkorgan,Kashgar,Xinjiang,China
Range	Pamir Mountains
Coordinates	37°05′14″N74°29′03″E / 37.0872°N 74.4842°E /37.0872; 74.4842
Wakhjir Pass
Interactive map of Wakhjir Pass

TheWakhjir Pass,^[1] also spelledVakhjir Pass, is amountain pass on theAfghanistan–China border, between theHindu Kush andPamir Mountains at the eastern end of theWakhan Corridor. It is the only potentially navigable pass betweenAfghanistan andChina in the modern era.^[2] It links theWakhan District ofBadakhshan Province in Afghanistan with theTashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County inXinjiang, China, at an altitude of 4,923 m (16,152 ft).^[3] As of 2025, the pass has no official border crossing point.^[4] With a difference of 3.5 hours, the Afghanistan–China border has the sharpest official change of clocks of any international frontier (UTC+04:30in Afghanistan toUTC+08:00,in China).^[5] China refers to the pass asSouth Wakhjir Pass (Chinese:南瓦根基达坂), as there is a northern pass on the Chinese side.^[3]

There is no road across the pass. On the Chinese side, the immediate region is only accessible to military personnel.^[6] A 92 km-long (57 mi) barbed wire fence was erected on the border, and there is a Chinese border guard outpost at Keketuluke just 20 km (12 mi) east of the pass.^[7] In the summer of 2009, theChinese Ministry of National Defense began construction of a new road to within 10 km (6.2 mi) of the border for use by border guards.^[8] The road leads through theTaghdumbash Pamir to theKarakoram Highway 80 km (50 mi) away. The valley to the east of Wakhjir Pass on the Chinese side is theChalachigu Valley. It is entirely closed to visitors; however, local residents and herders from the area are permitted access.^{[citation needed]} The Chinese refer to it as the portion of Wakhan Corridor in China.

On the Afghan side, the nearest major settlement isSarhad (also known as Sarhad-e Broghil), about 100 km (62 mi) from the pass by paths.^[9] Just below the pass on the Afghan side is an ice cave, at an altitude of 4,554 m (14,941 ft). This is the source of the Wakhjir River, which ultimately flows to theAmu Darya (Oxus). The cave is therefore claimed as a source of the Amu Darya. Dilisang Pass, to Pakistan, is in the same valley about 20 km (12 mi) away.^[6]

Construction of the road from Sarhad toBazai Gonbad and then to the Wakhjir Pass in the northeast has started in late 2023.^[10][11] In July 2024, the road construction completed and reached the Wakhjir Pass.^[12]

Traditionally, the pass is inaccessible for at least five months out of the year and is accessible irregularly for the remainder of the year.^[13] The terrain is extremely difficult, althoughAurel Stein reported that the immediate approaches to the pass were "remarkably easy".^[14] There are few records of successful crossings by foreigners. Historically, the pass was a trading route betweenBadakhshan andYarkand used by merchants fromBajaor.^[14] Wakhjir Pass is part of theSilk Road. It is believed that the Chinese Buddhist pilgrimXuanzang traveled via this pass on his return trip to China in approximately649 AD.^[15]Marco Polo purportedly crossed the pass when he traveled through the Pamirs, although he did not mention the pass by name.^[16] The Jesuit priestBenedict Goëz crossed from the Wakhan to China between 1602 and 1606. The next oldest accounts are from the period ofthe Great Game in the late 19th century.^[17] In 1868, apundit known as the Mirza, working for theGreat Trigonometric Survey ofIndia, crossed the pass.^[18] There were further crossings in 1874 by CaptainT.E. Gordon of the British Army,^[19] in 1891 byFrancis Younghusband,^[20] and in 1894 byLord Curzon.^[21] In May 1906, Sir Aurel Stein crossed the pass and reported that at that time, the pass was used by only 100 pony loads of goods each way annually.^[22] Since then, the only Westerner to have crossed the pass seems to have beenH.W. Tilman in 1947.^[23]

In 1895 the pass was established as the border between China and Afghanistan in an agreement between the British and the Russians, although the Chinese and Afghans did not finally agree on the border until 1963.^[3][24]

It is believed that in more recent times, the pass is sometimes used as a low-intensity drug smuggling route, and is used to transport opium made in Afghanistan to China.^[25] Afghanistan has asked China on several occasions to open the border in the Wakhan Corridor for economic reasons or as an alternative supply route for fighting theTaliban insurgency. However, China has resisted, largely due to unrest in its far western province ofXinjiang, which borders the corridor.^[26][27] In December 2009^[update], it was reported that the United States had asked China to open the corridor.^[28]

Wakhjir Pass has atundra climate (Köppen:ET) with anice cap climate (EF) characteristics, With cold to frigid weather year-round. The warmest months of July and August are slightly above freezing. The area lies incontinuous permafrost zone as the mean annual temperature is −11.7 °C (10.9 °F).

• Tegermansu Pass
• Beyik Pass
• Kilik Pass
• Mintaka Pass
• China–Tajikistan border
• China–Pakistan border

• "Wakhjir Pass"(3D visual). Google Earth.
• Wakhan & the Afghan Pamir - In the footsteps of Marco Polo - Brochure of the region byAga Khan Foundation

• Mountain passes of China
• Mountain passes of Afghanistan
• Mountain passes of Xinjiang
• Wakhan
• Afghanistan–China border
• Landforms of Badakhshan Province
• Sites along the Silk Road
• Mountain passes of the Pamir

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