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{{coord|36|05|N|76|39|E|display=title}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Shaksgam River
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| map =
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = Gilgit Baltistan
| pushpin_map_caption= The junction of the Shaksgam River with the Yarkand River, shown with respect to [[Gilgit-Baltistan]]
| pushpin_map_relief = 1
| source1 = Karakoram range
| source1_location = Gasherbrum Glaciers
| source1_elevation =
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|35.6084|N|77.33|E}}
| mouth = [[Yarkand River]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|36.626697|N|76.202991|E}}
| mouth_elevation =
| progression = {{RYarkand}}
| tributaries_left = Shimshal Braldu river, Oprang river
| tributaries_right =
| basin_landmarks =
| location =
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[China]] (disputed by [[India]])
| subdivision_type2 = Province
| subdivision_name2 = [[Xinjiang]]
| length =
| discharge1_avg =
| basin_size =
| river_system =
}}
The '''Shaksgam River''' ({{zh|c=沙克思干河|p=Shakesigan He}}, {{lang-hi|शक्सगाम नदी|translit=Shaksgām Nadi}}, {{lang-ur|دریائے شکسگام|translit=Daryá-e-Shaksgám}}) is a left tributary of the [[Yarkand River]]. The river is also known as the '''Kelechin River''' （{{lang-zh|克勒青河}}）and '''Muztagh River'''（{{lang-zh|穆斯塔格河}}）.<ref name=ibs>[http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS085.pdf US Bureau of Intelligence and Research ''International Boundary Study No. 85'' (1968)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211132925/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS085.pdf |date=2012-02-11 }}</ref> It rises in the Gasherbrum, Urdok, Staghar, Singhi and Kyagar Glaciers in the [[Karakoram]].<ref>[http://www.itia.ntua.gr/hsj/redbooks/138/iahs_138_0259.pdf Hewitt, K. (1982) ''Natural dams and outburst floods of the Karakoram Himalaya''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721082835/http://itia.ntua.gr/hsj/redbooks/138/iahs_138_0259.pdf |date=2011-07-21 }}</ref> It then flows in a general northwestern direction parallel to the Karakoram ridge line in the Shaksgam Valley. It receives the waters of the Shimshal Braldu river and the Oprang river from the Pakistan-administered [[Hunza District]] before turning east and joining the Yarkand River. The stretch of the river's course between Shimshal Braldu and Oprang is used as the Pakistan–China border.<ref>[https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/2713757#map=9/36.1819/76.8127 Shaksgam river basin], OpenStreetMap, retrieved 13 September 2019.</ref>

Administratively, the Chinese part of the valley is within the southernmost portions of [[Yarkand County]] (the source) and the [[Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County]] (lower course). India claims the entire valley as part of its [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir state]], now part of [[Ladakh]].<ref>[https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/340291900 Boundary of the Trans-Kakarakoram Tract], OpenStreetMap, retrieved 13 September 2019.</ref>

== History ==
The river valley was explored in 1889 by [[Francis Younghusband]] (who referred to the Shaksgam as the Oprang).,<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Younghusband
| first = Francis
| author-link = Francis Younghusband
| title = The Heart of a Continent
| year = 1896
| pages = 200ff
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Avk88OI8bQkC
}}</ref> and again in 1926 by [[Kenneth Mason (geographer)|Kenneth Mason]], who confirmed the sources of the river.<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Mason
| first = Kenneth
| author-link = Kenneth Mason (geographer)
| title = Exploration of the Shaksgam Valley and Aghil ranges, 1926
| year = 1928
| pages = 62ff
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LrbVqD06aXYC
}}</ref>

== Geography ==
The upper river valley is used by climbers approaching the north face of [[K2 (mountain)#North Ridge|K2]]. The approach requires a crossing of the river, which is hazardous. Between its confluence with the Shimshal Braldu River and its confluence with the Oprang River the river forms the border between China and [[Pakistan administered Kashmir]].<ref name=ibs/> The area is used as winter pastures by yak herdsmen from the village of [[Shimshal]].<ref>[http://www.mockandoneil.com/stg-rpt.htm 2000 Mock & O'Neil Oprang Expedition Report]</ref> Historically, the bed of the Yarkand river where Shaksgam joins it, was used for cultivation by farmers from the state of [[Hunza (princely state)|Hunza]]. The rulers of Hunza are said to have obtained these "territorial rights to Raskam" in the distant past.<ref>{{citation |first=Ahmad Hasan |last=Dani |author-link=Ahmad Hasan Dani |chapter=The Western Himalayan States |editor1=M. S. Asimov |editor2=C. E. Bosworth |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV, Part 1 — The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century — The historical, social and economic setting |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18eABeokpjEC&pg=PA215 |date=1998 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1 |pages=215–225}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Mehra |first=Parshotam |title=An "agreed" frontier: Ladakh and India's northernmost borders, 1846-1947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIduAAAAMAAJ |year=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pp=95–97}}</ref>

The average annual temperature in the region can fall below freezing.

== See also ==
* [[Trans-Karakoram Tract]]
* [[Dafdar]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* The Shaksgam river marked on the OpenStreetMap, Upper course: [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452629#map=8/36.356/76.487 1], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452628#map=8/36.356/76.487 2], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452622#map=8/36.356/76.487 3], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452619#map=8/36.356/76.487 4], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452610#map=8/36.356/76.487 5], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/681230415#map=8/36.356/76.487 6], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/681230402#map=8/36.356/76.487 7]; Lower course: [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/28779324#map=8/36.356/76.487 1], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/28779277#map=8/36.356/76.487 2] [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/202062118#map=8/36.356/76.487 3], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/28779190#map=8/36.356/76.487 4], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/202062119#map=8/36.356/76.487 5]

{{Waters of Pakistan}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County]]
[[Category:Rivers of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Rivers of Gilgit-Baltistan]]
[[Category:Karakoram]]
[[Category:China–Pakistan border]]
[[Category:Rivers of Pakistan]]

Shaksgam River - Revision history

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