A report on Trans-Karakoram Tract

Central Intelligence Agency map of the former British Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmir with present-day borders, showing the Trans-Karakoram Tract in the northern part of the state (hatched red)
The Shaksgam Valley (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) photographed in August 2008
Detailed map showing part of the Trans-Karakoram Tract near the Shaksgam River (United States Army Map Service, 1953)
Official alignment of the Government of Pakistan in 1962. The border is in the extreme north and is depicted as a dotted line with the caption Alignment Official Pakistan Map 1962
Broad Peak lies on the border of the Tract

Area of approximately 2050 sqmi north of the Karakoram watershed, including the Shaksgam valley and Raskam .

- Trans-Karakoram Tract
Central Intelligence Agency map of the former British Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmir with present-day borders, showing the Trans-Karakoram Tract in the northern part of the state (hatched red)

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Overall
Political map of the Kashmir region, showing the Pir Panjal range and the Kashmir Valley or Vale of Kashmir

Kashmir

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Northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent.

Northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent.

Political map of the Kashmir region, showing the Pir Panjal range and the Kashmir Valley or Vale of Kashmir
Pahalgam Valley, Kashmir
Nanga Parbat in Kashmir, the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, is the western anchor of the Himalayas
Map of India in 1823, showing the territories of the Sikh empire (northermost, in green) including the region of Kashmir
1909 Map of the Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu. The names of regions, important cities, rivers, and mountains are underlined in red.
The prevailing religions by district in the 1901 Census of the Indian Empire
A white border painted on a suspended bridge delineates Azad Kashmir from Jammu and Kashmir
Topographic map of Kashmir
K2, a peak in the Karakoram range, is the second highest mountain in the world
The Indus River system
Large Kashmir Durbar Carpet (detail), 2021 photo. "Durbar", in this context, means Royal or Chiefly.
A Muslim shawl-making family shown in Cashmere shawl manufactory, 1867, chromolithograph, William Simpson
A group of Pandits, or Brahmin priests, in Kashmir, photographed by an unknown photographer in the 1890s
Brokpa women from Kargil, northern Ladakh, in local costumes

Today, the term encompasses a larger area that includes the Indian-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.

Xinjiang

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Landlocked autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia.

Landlocked autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia.

Dzungaria (Red) and the Tarim Basin or Altishahr (Blue)
Northern Xinjiang (Junggar Basin) (Yellow), Eastern Xinjiang- Turpan Depression (Turpan Prefecture and Hami Prefecture) (Red) and Altishahr/the Tarim Basin (Blue)
Physical map showing the separation of Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin (Altishahr) by the Tien Shan Mountains
Map of Han Dynasty in 2 CE. Light blue is the Tarim Basin protectorate.
Old Uyghur/Yugur art from the Bezeklik murals
The Tarim Basin in the 3rd century AD
A Sogdian man on a Bactrian camel. Sancai ceramic statuette, Tang dynasty
Mongol states from the 14th to the 17th centuries: the Northern Yuan dynasty, Four Oirat, Moghulistan and Kara Del
The Dzungar–Qing Wars, between the Qing Dynasty and the Dzungar Khanate
The Battle of Oroi-Jalatu in 1756, between the Manchu and Oirat armies
The Qing Empire ca. 1820
Scene from the 1828 Qing campaign against rebels in Altishahr
Yakub Beg, ruler of Yettishar
19th-century Khotan Uyghurs in Yettishar
Kuomintang in Xinjiang, 1942
Governor Sheng Shicai ruled from 1933 to 1944.
The Soviet-backed Second East Turkestan Republic encompassed Xinjiang's Ili, Tarbagatay and Altay districts.
Close to Karakoram Highway in Xinjiang.
Pamir Mountains and Muztagh Ata.
Taklamakan Desert
Tianchi Lake
Black Irtysh river in Burqin County is a famous spot for sightseeing.
Kanas Lake
Largest cities and towns of Xinjiang
Statue of Mao Zedong in Kashgar
Nur Bekri, Chairman of the Xinjiang Government between 2007 and 2015
The distribution map of Xinjiang's GDP per person (2011)
Ürümqi is a major industrial center within Xinjiang.
Wind farm in Xinjiang
Sunday market in Khotan
Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport
Karakorum highway
This flag (Kök Bayraq) has become a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement.
"Heroic Gesture of Bodhisattvathe Bodhisattva", example of 6th-7th-century terracotta Greco-Buddhist art (local populations were Buddhist) from Tumxuk, Xinjiang
Sogdian donors to the Buddha, 8th century fresco (with detail), Bezeklik, Eastern Tarim Basin
A mosque in Ürümqi
People engaging in snow sports by a statue of bodhisattva Guanyin in Wujiaqu
Christian Church in Hami
Catholic Church in Urumqi
Temple of the Great Buddha in Midong, Ürümqi
Taoist Temple of Fortune and Longevity at the Heavenly Lake of Tianshan in Fukang, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture
Emin Minaret
Id Kah mosque in Kashgar, largest mosque in China
Erkin Tuniyaz, the incumbent Chairman of the Xinjiang Government

The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions, both administered by China, are claimed by India.

Map of Central Asia (1873) from T. Douglas Forsyth. Khotan is near top right corner. The border claimed by the British Indian Empire is shown in the two-toned purple and pink band with Shahidulla and the Kilik, Kilian and Sanju Passes north of the border.

Aksai Chin

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Region administered by China as part of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang and Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet.

Region administered by China as part of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang and Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet.

Map of Central Asia (1873) from T. Douglas Forsyth. Khotan is near top right corner. The border claimed by the British Indian Empire is shown in the two-toned purple and pink band with Shahidulla and the Kilik, Kilian and Sanju Passes north of the border.
The map shows the Indian and Chinese claims of the border in the Aksai Chin region, the Macartney-MacDonald line, the Foreign Office Line, as well as the progress of Chinese forces as they occupied areas during the Sino-Indian War.
The map given by Hung Ta-chen to the British consul at Kashgar in 1893. The boundary, marked with a thin dot-dashed line, matches the Johnson line:pp. 73, 78
Postal map of China published by the Republic of China in 1917. The boundary in Aksai Chin is as per the Johnson line.
Map including the Aksai Chin region (AMS, 1950)
A 1988 CIA map of the western Indo-Chinese border, showing Aksai Chin and other contested territories
The Tarim River Basin, 2008
Northern plains of Aksai Chin looking towards Qitai Daban (Khitai Dawan)

The nearby Trans-Karakoram Tract is also the subject of ongoing dispute between China and India in the Kashmir dispute.

The Gilgit Agency at the northern periphery of Jammu and Kashmir under the British Raj (1946 map)

Gilgit Agency

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Agency established by the British Indian Empire over the subsidiary states of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir at its northern periphery, mainly with the objective of strengthening these territories against Russian encroachment.

Agency established by the British Indian Empire over the subsidiary states of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir at its northern periphery, mainly with the objective of strengthening these territories against Russian encroachment.

The Gilgit Agency at the northern periphery of Jammu and Kashmir under the British Raj (1946 map)
Present day Gilgit-Baltistan
British Westland Wapitis based at an airfield in Gilgit around 1930

In 1963, Pakistan entered into a treaty with China to transfer part of the Gilgit Agency to China, (the Trans-Karakoram Tract), with the proviso that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute.

Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County

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Autonomous county of Kashgar Prefecture in Western Xinjiang, China.

Autonomous county of Kashgar Prefecture in Western Xinjiang, China.

Map including Taxkorgan (T'a-shih-k'u-erh-kan) (DMA, 1985)
Map including Taxkorgan (labeled as Tashkargan) (1917)
Map including areas in the southern part of today's Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County (AMS, 1955)
Map including areas in the southern part of today's Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County (ACIC, 1969)

The territorial expanse of the county is 178 km from north to south and 140 km from east to west, the total area is about 25000 km2, with an average altitude above 4000 m. The county includes a significant part of the Trans-Karakoram Tract, disputed by India and Pakistan in the ongoing Kashmir conflict; while Pakistan and China settled the border issue in 1963, India continues to claim it as part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.