The Wakhan Corridor

The Wakhan Corridor is the thin pan handle of land that points east towards
China. It was created as a geo-political entity by the British who wanted to ensure
that Russia would not share a border with their interests in India. The northern
boundary with Tajikistan is demarked by the river Oxus or Amu Darya, the
southern boundary by the Durrand Line, an artificial construct named after the
British diplomat who created it. The area is extremely mountainous and has been
known as "the roof of the world".

Climate; being at high altitude and 1700km from the sea, the winters are long
and cold. Temperatures at night drop below freezing from late September until
early April in the valley bottom. In December and January, the night-time
temperature may fall below minus 25 degrees, and the day-time temperature
does not rise above freezing. Temperatures in the Kirghiz settlements in the
Pamirs drop to minus 35 degrees. In the summer months the maximum
temperature in the valley bottom is around 30 degrees. In the winter, dry snow may
fall on about 6 occasions, but snowfall rarely exceeds 30cm in total in a year.
From April to October, rain will fall on up to 10 occasions, but the total amount is
not great (no hard data available). The best time to visit is between
June-September.

The Pamirs are cold in the evening & early morning, even during summber it is not
uncommon to wake up to frost. Warm clothing is a must, high winds also bring in a
wind chill.

Villages; There are a number of villages along the Wakhan Corridor. During the
summer the Wakhis move up to their summer pastures for higher grazing grounds
for the livestock.

The Kyrgyz are settled in the Pamirs at an altitude of 4000m + they also move
settlements but only a few km at a time.

Population; In any measure of poverty, Afghanistan comes in the bottom 10
countries in the world. The Wakhan is the poorest district in one of the poorest
provinces of Afghanistan. This single mountain valley is home to 13 500 people,
12 000 Wakhi and 1500 Kirghiz nomads in the Pamir mountains. The Wakhi are
subsistence farmers in the valley bottom. The soil is poor and yields are low. Many
struggle to feed their families. In 2002, one third of children died before their 5th
birthday, and 2% of pregnancies ended in the death of the mother. Only 14% of
adult men and 2% of adult women are literate.

"In the earlier part of the expedition
we had been suspicious of the
Afghans, half anticipating deceit or
even attack. Now, upon reaching the
village of Tilli, we knew enough of
the language to say 'four days - no
food!'. Almost immediatley some hot
tea was produced, and every family
gave us a loaf of bread. The villages,
young and old, gathered around us
in a concerned and intrested
semi-circle, gazing from beneath
their strange medieval hats. Looking
back at them we felt for the first time
a physical sensation of trust and
friendship that passes race"

1972 Nottingham University Expedition