The mountainous country of Pamir has long attracted adventurers. Once it was the highest mountain region in the USSR. Many people dreamed of conquering the Pamir ... It was not for nothing that he received the name - “the roof of the world”. There are many famous seven thousandths of the planet. And although the Pamir mountains are not as high as, for example, the Himalayas and Karakorum, some of its peaks remained unconquered.
Location of the Pamirs
The Pamirs are mountains, or rather, it is a large mountainous country located in the southern part of Central Asia. The territory of the Pamirs lies within the borders of four states: Tajikistan (the main part), Afghanistan, China and India. The Pamir Highlands formed at the junction of the spurs of mountain systems such as the Hindu Kush, Kunlun, Karakorum and Tien Shan. Cover an area of sixty thousand square kilometers of the Pamirs. The photo below shows how vast this mountainous country is.
There is no consensus on the origin of the name of the mountainous country. Among the decryptions are such as the “roof of Mithra” (the sun god in Mithraism), as well as the “roof of the world”, “the foot of death” and even “bird's paw”.
The highest mountains of the Pamirs
The highest mountains of the Pamirs reach almost eight thousandth of height. The peak of Kongur rises above all the peaks of this mountainous country. It is located in China, and its height is 7.72 km. 200 meters below the peak of Ismail Samani - 7.5 km, which used to be called the peak of Communism in Soviet times, and before that - even the peak of Stalin. The Pamirs, the mountains of which have Russian names, were part of the Soviet Union until the 90s.
Abu Ali Ibn Sina Peak (in the Russian version - Avicenna Peak), named after a medieval scientist and doctor, 7.13 km high, also changed its name twice. In the period before perestroika, it bore the name of Lenin Peak, and initially Kaufman Peak (the end of the 19th century) was called the discoverers.
Also widely known is Korzhenevskaya peak (7.1 km high), named by a Russian scientist in honor of his beloved wife.
Features of the Pamirs
Pamir - mountains, which are an uneven quadrangle with raised edges. The area is rich in deposits of gold, coal, mica, rock crystal, lapis lazuli.
Long, harsh winters (at an altitude of 3.6 km the average temperature in January is 18 degrees Celsius, and the cold season lasts from October to April, including the extreme months), alternating with short and not hot summers (the average temperature of the hottest month is July - is only about 14 degrees Celsius). The humidity regime varies greatly over a wide range, depending on the region, from 60 to 1100 millimeters of precipitation per year.
However, an unusually harsh climate is accompanied by a rather diverse composition of the fauna. Especially memorable animals are argali - large mountain sheep, whose horns alone can reach thirty kilograms of weight. As well as shaggy yaks and a handsome snow leopard. In addition to them, at various heights live several species of goats (cues, markhurs), long-tailed marmots, sheep-ermals, foxes and Tibetan wolves.
In the highlands of the Pamirs, birds such as finch, large lentils, desert bullfinch, and ular live. And at the reservoirs duck-ducks, Indian geese, golden eagles, white-tailed eagles nest.
Among the ichthyological diversity, such endemic fish as naked osman and marinka (the latter belongs to the category of poisonous) can be especially noted.
Conquest History
The history of a systematic study of the mountainous country began in 1928, when the Soviet expedition to the Pamirs took place. In its course, it was possible to open the huge Fedchenko Glacier, to conquer Lenin Peak and make a number of important measurements.
In 1933, the peak of Communism (the highest on the territory of the former USSR) succumbed to Soviet climbers, and in the 50s of the twentieth century the peaks of Korzhenevskaya, Revolution, Muztag-atu (7.55 kilometers) and Konturtyube (7.6 kilometers) were conquered. The highest peak of the Pamirs was reached in 1981 by an English expedition led by Bonengton.
Lakes of the Pamir Highlands. Astrakhan
The largest lake in the mountainous country is Kara-Kul. The name of the lake (Black Lake) has several explanations. According to one of them, it is deserved by a dark shade of water during a strong wind. According to another version, the waters of the Black Lake suddenly rose, flooding the coastal village, and the people's grief from this terrible tragedy is encrypted in the name.
It rises above the East Pamir Lake. Mountains where various large lakes are located. The deepest of them is Sarez (0.5 km deep), and the largest is Kara-Kul. At an altitude of 4000 m, a huge lake with an area of 380 square kilometers and a depth of up to 240 meters is almost lifeless. Since the lake has no runoff, its waters are very salty, and since the slowly melting remains of an ancient glacier lie at the bottom, the water is also extremely cold.
Despite the almost complete absence of the usual flora and fauna in the lake, folk rumor inhabits its waters with various mythical creatures. In particular, it is believed that dragons live in its waters, a flying horse abducting foals, and even mermaids. However, the icy waters of the lake do not have tourists for bathing, and the mermaids, apparently, have to diet.