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Wakhan or "the Wakhan" (also spelt Vakhan; Persian, and (パシュトー語:واخان), (タジク語:Вахон)) is a very mountainous and rugged part of the Pamir and Karakoram regions of Afghanistan. Wakhan District is a district in Badakshan Province. ==Geography== The Wakhan is located in the extreme north-east of Afghanistan. It contains the headwaters of the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, and was an ancient corridor for travellers from the Tarim Basin to Badakshan. Until 1883 the Wakhan included the whole valley of the Panj River and the Pamir River, as well as the upper flow of the Panj River known as the Wakhan River.〔(Hermann Kreutzmann (2005): ''The Significance of Geopolitical Issues for Development of Mountainous Areas of Central Asia ) Map at p.12〕 An 1873 agreement between UK and Russia split the Wakhan by delimiting spheres of influence for the two countries at the Panj and Pamir rivers, and an agreement between Britain and Afghanistan in 1893 confirmed the new border.〔(International Boundary Study of the Afghanistan-USSR Boundary (1983) ) by the US Bureau of Intelligence and Research〕 Since then, the name Wakhan is now generally used to refer to the Afghan area south of the two rivers. The northern part of the historic Wakhan is now part of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan. The only road into the Wakhan is a rough track from Ishkashim past Qila-e Panja to Sarhad-e Broghil. Paths lead from the end of the road to the Wakhjir Pass, a mountain pass leading to China which is closed to travellers. The western part of the Wakhan, between Ishkashim and Qila-e Panja, is known as ''Lower Wakhan'', which includes the valley of the Panj River. The valleys of the Wakhan River, the Pamir River and their tributaries, and the terrain between, are known as ''Upper Wakhan''. The eastern extremity of Upper Wakhan is known as the ''Pamir Knot'', the area where the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges meet. West of the Pamir Knot is the Little Pamir, a broad U-shaped grassy valley 100 km long and 10 km wide,〔(Aga Khan Development Network (2010): ''Wakhan and the Afghan Pamir'' ) p.3〕 which contains Chaqmaqtin Lake, the headwaters of the Aksu or Murghab River. At the eastern end of the Little Pamir is the Tegermansu Valley, from where the closed Tegermansu Pass (4,827 m) leads to China. The Great Pamir or ''Big Pamir'', a valley 60 km long valley south of Zorkol lake, drained by the Pamir River, lies to the northwest of the Little Pamir. The mountain range that divides the two Pamirs is known as the Nicholas Range.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Pamir and Wakhan Geography )〕 West of the Nicholas Range, between the Great Pamir and the lower valley of the Wakhan River, is the ''Wakhan Range'', which culminates in the ''Koh-e Pamir'' (6,320 m). The roads in the region have small shrines to Ismaili Muslim pirs and are adorned with "special stones and curled ibex and sheep horns", which are symbols of purity in the Hindu and Zorastrian faiths, once present in the region before the arrival of Islam. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wakhan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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