MOUNTAIN RANGES OF THE WORLD

 MOUNTAIN RANGES OF THE WORLD

S. No	Name	Continent(s)	Country/ies	Highest point	Altitude (metres above sea level)
1	Himalayas	Asia	India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Pakistan	Everest	8848
2	Karakoram	Asia	Pakistan, China, India	K2	8611
3	Hindu Kush	Asia	Afghanistan, Pakistan	Tirich Mir	7708
4	Pamirs	Asia	Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan	Kongur Tagh	7649
5	Hengduan Mountains	Asia	China, Myanmar	Mount Gongga	7556
6	Tian Shan	Asia	China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan;	Jengish Chokusu	7439
7	Kunlun	Asia	China	Liushi Shan	7167
8	Transhimalaya	Asia	China	Mount Nyenchen Tanglha	7162
9	Andes	South America	Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela	Aconcagua	6961
10	Hindu Raj	Asia	Pakistan	Koyo Zom	6873
11	Alaska Range	North America	United States	Denali	6194
12	Saint Elias Mountains	North America	United States, Canada	Mount Logan	5959
13	Caucasus Mountains	Europe and Asia	Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan	Mount Elbrus	5642

Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamirs, Hengduan Mountains, Transhimalaya mountain ranges are the part of Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH)

 Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH):

                The Hindu Kush is an 800-kilometre-long (500 mi) mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan into north-western Pakistan and far south-eastern Tajikistan.

                Hindu Kush is generally translated as "Killer of Hindus” or "Hindu-Killer" by most writers. The term was earliest used by Ibn Battuta. According to him Hindu Kush means Hindu Killer as slaves from the Indian subcontinent died in the harsh climatic conditions of the mountains while being taken from India to Turkestan.

                According to Nigel Allan, the term Hindu Kush has two alternate meanings i.e. 'sparkling snows of India' and 'mountains of India', with Kush possibly being a soft variant of the Persian Kuh ('mountain'). Allan states that Hindu Kush was the frontier boundary to Arab geographers. Yet others suggest that the name may be derived from ancient Avestan, meaning 'water mountain

                The range forms the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH) to the north, near its north-eastern end, the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamir Mountains near the point where the borders of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan near their border.

Towards its Southern end, it connects with the Spin Ghar Range near the Kabul River. It divides the valley of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus) to the north from the Indus River valley to the south.

The range has numerous high snow-capped peaks, with the highest point being Tirich Mir or Terichmir at 7,708 metres (25,289 ft) in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

                The Hindu Kush range region was a historically significant center of Buddhism, with sites such as the Bamiyan Buddhas. The range and communities settled in it hosted ancient monasteries, important trade networks and travellers between Central Asia and South Asia.

Important Facts for Prelims and Other PSC Exams:

                The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will collaborate with meteorological agencies in China and Pakistan, among others, to provide climate forecast services to countries in the Hindu-Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region.

• The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has proposed for establishment of regional climate centres in Islamabad, Delhi and Beijing.
  
  
• These centres are expected to provide forecasting services and climate analyses.
• They would also provide data sharing services, training and capacity-building, research and development.

§  The HKH region spans Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

§  It traverses about 5 million square kilometres and hosts a large and culturally diverse population.

§  It is considered the Third Pole (after the North and South Poles), and has significant implications for climate.

§  It contains vast cryospheric zones and is also the world’s largest store of snow and ice outside the polar region.

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A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has highlighted the threat to the HKH region from global warming.

§  Floods would become more frequent and severe in the mountainous and downstream areas of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, because of an increase in extreme precipitation events.

§  Also, the severity of floods is expected to more than double towards the end of the century.

 

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