FlossiePolglaze: Starting initial stub w/ refs

2025-12-20T07:25:58Z

Starting initial stub w/ refs

New page

{{Short description|Valley in Xinjiang, China}}
__NOTOC__
{{Infobox valley
| name = Karachukar Valley
| other_name = Chalachigu Valley
| photo =
| photo_size =
| photo_alt =
| photo_caption =
| map = China Xinjiang Southern#China
| map_size = 200
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location of Karachukar Valley in Xinjiang##Location of Karachukar Valley in China
| location = [[Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County]], [[Kashgar Prefecture]], [[Xinjiang]], [[China]]
| relief = 1
| label =
| label_position =
| coordinates = {{coord|37|9|N|74|42|E|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref =
| elevation =
| elevation_m = 4100
| elevation_ref =
| direction =
| length =
| width =
| area =
| depth =
| type =
| age =
| boundaries =
| region =
| source =
| topo =
| towns =
| traversed =
| watercourses = Karachukar River
| footnotes =
| embed =
}}

'''Karachukar Valley'''<ref>{{citation |author=周连宽 |title=Dà táng xīyù jì shǐ dì yánjiū cóng gǎo |script-title=zh:大唐西域记史地研究丛稿 |trans-title=Datang Western Regions History and Geography Research Series |publisher=新华书店北京发行所发行 |year=1984 |page=192 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QltAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Karachukar%22}}</ref>{{efn|Alternative spellings: '''Karachikar'''<ref>{{citation |last=Woodman |first=Dorothy |title=Himalayan Frontiers: A Political Review of British, Chinese, Indian, and Russian Rivalries |publisher=Praeger |year=1969 |url=https://archive.org/details/himalayanfrontie00wood/page/n385 |via=archive.org |url-access=registration |pages=366–367}}</ref> and '''Karachukur'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Travel & Sport in Turkestan |author=J. N. Price Wood |publisher=D. Appleton and Company |date=1910 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cEwNAAAAYAAJ&dq=Karachukur&pg=PA33 |quote=Descending the Killik Pass we emerged into the Karachukur Valley, here about two miles wide ... forms a wedge of Chinese territory driven in between Russia and India, and joins at its western end a similar narrow tongue of Afghanistan.}}</ref>}}
or '''Chalachigu Valley''' ({{zh|c=卡拉其古河谷}}) is a valley in [[Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County]], [[Xinjiang]], [[China]].
It contains the basin of the '''Karachukar River''', a tributary of the [[Tashkurgan River]],<ref name="port_Natu">{{Cite book
| title = Nature reserves of the Himalaya and the mountains of Central Asia
| author = Green, Michael J. B.
| year = 1993
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = https://archive.org/stream/naturereservesof93gree#page/120/mode/2up
| language =
| page = 121
| quote = The western part is drained by the Chalachigu River, a branch of the Taxkorgan River which meets the Yarkant River north of the reserve.
| isbn = 0195629221
}}</ref>
and is regarded as part of [[Taghdumbash Pamir]].{{sfn|Kreutzmann|2003|loc=p. 217, Figure 1}}
The valley borders [[Afghanistan]] ([[Wakhan Corridor]] or [[Little Pamir]]) to the west and northwest, [[Tajikistan]] to the north, and [[Pakistan]] ([[Gojal]] or upper [[Hunza District|Hunza]]) to the south.<ref name="fws">{{Cite magazine
| title = Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Threatened Status for Argali
| author = USFWS
| author-link = United States Fish and Wildlife Service
| magazine = Federal Register
| publisher = [[United States Department of the Interior|USDOI]]
| date = 1990-10-05
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = https://www.fws.gov/ecos/ajax/docs/federal_register/fr1770.pdf
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170225182301/https://www.fws.gov/ecos/ajax/docs/federal_register/fr1770.pdf
| archive-date = 2017-02-25
| language =
| quote = consisting of fewer than 150 animals, was confined to the western part of the Chalachigu Valley, a finger of land extending between Afghanistan on the north and Pakistan to the south.
}}</ref> The name of the valley is from [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]], meaning "black cave".<ref name="photo81cn">{{Cite web
| title = 坚守在帕米尔高原上的边防军人
| author = 姬文志
| author2 = 王宝福
| author3 = 王飞
| publisher = photo.81.cn
| date = 2015-07-30
| access-date = 23 December 2019
| url = http://photo.81.cn/jrfc/2015-07/30/content_6606545.htm
| language = zh
| quote = 卡拉其古柯尔克孜语是“黑洞”的意思，是古丝绸之路的重要关卡，也是瓦罕走廊中国通向境外的第一站，环境恶劣，位置重要。
}}</ref>

The valley is part of the [[Taxkorgan Nature Reserve]].<ref name="icimod">{{Cite web
| title = Taxkorgan Nature Reserve
| author =
| publisher = [[International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development]]
| website = icimod.org
| date =
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://www.icimod.org/hkhconservationportal/PA.aspx?ID=60
| language =
| quote = Basically flat and in places more than 5km wide, the Taxkorgan Valley (the Taghdumbash Pamir on old maps) was part of the ancient Silk Route known viable population of Marco Polo sheep in China was confined to the western part of Chalachigu Valley
| archive-date = 2016-08-12
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160812180506/http://icimod.org/hkhconservationportal/PA.aspx?ID=60
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> The protected [[Marco Polo sheep]] is only found in the wild around this area.<ref name="fws"/> The region is often referred to by the Chinese as the Chinese portion of the [[Wakhan Corridor]].<ref name="ChineseWakhan">{{Cite web
| title = 新疆边境行：记者抵达瓦罕走廊中方最西端(图)
| trans-title = Xinjiang Border Tour: Reporter arrived at the Chinese westernmost point of Wakhan Corridor
| author =
| website = Sina News
| publisher = [[Global Times]]
| date = 2011-07-07
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://news.sina.com.cn/c/p/2011-07-07/114022773076.shtml
| language = zh
| quote =
}}</ref> There is an ethnic [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] village called '''Bayik''' ({{zh|排依克村}} or {{zh|阿特加依里村}}).<ref>{{Cite web
| title = 穿越瓦罕走廊（且行且思）
| trans-title = Through the Wakhan Corridor
| author = 杨雪梅
| work = people.gov.cn
| publisher = [[People's Daily]]
| date = 2016-09-09
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://www.people.gov.cn/rmrb/html/2016-09/09/nw.D110000renmrb_20160909_4-15.htm
| language = zh
| quote = 这里是瓦罕走廊第一村——排依克村
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170205183210/http://www.people.gov.cn/rmrb/html/2016-09/09/nw.D110000renmrb_20160909_4-15.htm
| archive-date = 2017-02-05
| url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref name="xinhuanet">{{Cite web
| title = 瓦罕走廊转场日记
| author = 赵戈
| work = xj.xinhuanet.com
| publisher = [[Xinhua News Agency]]
| date = 2016-06-13
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://www.xj.xinhuanet.com/2016-06/13/c_1119035207.htm
| language = zh
| quote = 瓦罕走廊中国境内唯一的村庄--阿特加依里村
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170205182401/http://www.xj.xinhuanet.com/2016-06/13/c_1119035207.htm
| archive-date = 2017-02-05
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

The entire Chalachigu Valley is closed to visitors. However, local residents and herders from the area are permitted access.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In March 2017, [[CCTV-7]]'s ''Documentary for Military'' program<ref>{{Cite web
| title = 军事纪实
| trans-title = Documentary for Military
| author =
| publisher = CCTV-7
| date =
| access-date = 23 December 2019
| url = http://tv.cctv.com/lm/jsjs/
| language =
| quote =
}}</ref> produced a mini-series covering the numerous border outposts in Chalachigu Valley.<ref>{{Citation|title=The frontier in the eyes of a company commander|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQuNjVfuv6w|language=en|access-date=2021-08-25}}</ref> In 2025, the border was found by an Austrian journalist to have been fenced over by China.<ref name="Fern 2025">{{cite web | title=The Taliban's Plan to Control Global Trade |publisher=Fern| website=YouTube | date=15 December 2025| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAPcW7OAv98 | access-date=20 December 2025
}}</ref>

==Mountain Passes==
[[File:Afghanistan-China Boundary. 4-69. LOC gm70003373 cropped.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The western section of the Karachukar Valley]]
{{chinese |showflag=p
|title=Chalachigu Valley
|s=卡拉其古河谷<ref name="photo81cn"/>
|t=卡拉其古河谷
|p=Kǎlāqígǔ xiágǔ
|altname=Karachukur Valley
|s2=喀拉其库尔河谷
|t2=喀拉其庫爾河谷
|p2=Kālāqíkùěr hégǔ
|uig=قاراچۇقار جىلغىسى
|lang1 = [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]
|lang1_content= قاراچۇقار ۅرۅۅنۉ
}}
The valley was a significant thoroughfare of the [[Silk Road]] during ancient times.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} Around the valley are numerous passes connecting to other countries:

* Tajikistan - [[Beyik Pass]]
* Afghanistan - [[Wakhjir Pass]], [[Tegermansu Pass]]
* Pakistan - [[Kilik Pass]], [[Mintaka Pass]]

Of the above passes, it is believed that the famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim [[Xuanzang]] traveled through [[Wakhjir Pass]] on his return trip back to China around [[649 AD]].<ref name="book_Unit">{{Cite magazine
| last = Stein
| first = M. Aurel
| authorlink = Aurel Stein
| title = Exploration in Chinese Turkestan
| magazine = [[United States Congressional Serial Set]]
| number = 748
| page = 752
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Neg3AQAAIAAJ&dq=wakhjir+pass&pg=PA752
| publisher = [[Smithsonian Institution]]
| location = Washington, D.C.
| date = 1903-06-30
| accessdate = 2017-02-03
| language =
| quote =
}}</ref> Some Chinese historians argue that he also used Beyik Pass on his way to India.<ref name="thepaper">{{Cite web
| title = 访谈︱侯杨方：追寻玄奘，在帕米尔复原丝绸之路
| author = 于淑娟
| website = The Paper (thepaper.cn)
| date = 2014-12-24
| accessdate = 2017-02-02
| url = http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1285744
| language = zh
| quote = 玄奘从这里东南行经过排依克山口到达羯盘陀国...他经过的这个山口就是符合以上这些条件的唯一路径
}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Afghanistan–China border]]
*[[China–Pakistan border]]
*[[China–Tajikistan border]]
*[[Dafdar]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
; Sources
* {{citation |first=Hermann |last=Kreutzmann |title=Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot: survival of Wakhi and Kirghiz in a harsh environment and global contexts |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=169 |number=3 |date=September 2003 |pages=215–235 |doi=10.1111/1475-4959.00086 |url=http://www.juldu.com/Pamir/HERMANN%20KREUTZMANN.pdf}}

==External links==
* [https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/14187735#map=9/37.1734/75.0421 Kalachukur river basin], OpenStreetMap, retrieved 27 May 2022.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Valleys of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County]]

Karachukar Valley - Revision history

FlossiePolglaze: Starting initial stub w/ refs