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Pakistan is the hub of the World's Greatest Mountain Chains. The
Karakoram, Himalaya, Hindu-Kush and the Pamir. These Mountains are the
walls that form Pakistan's long and
carefully guarded frontiers with China, India, Afghanistan and across the narrow Wakhan
Corridor towards Central Asia. The Karakoram and Himalaya are the
newest mountains in the World. About 55 million years ago, the
northward drifting Indian geological plate collided with the Asian
Plate, its northern edge nosing underneath the Asian Plate and pushing
up the mountains.
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Broad Peak |
The Indian Plate is
still driving northwards at about five centimeters (two inches) per
year, causing the mountains to rise about seven millimeters (1/4th
inch) in the same period. Pakistan has the largest concentration of
high mountains in the World. There are more than 100 peaks over 7,000
meters (23,000 feet) are within a radius of 180 kilometers. The
statistics are amazing. The K2 (8,611 meters) is the second highest on
Planet Earth and is situated in the Karakoram. The five above 8,000
meter peaks out of the World's fourteen (14) 8,000 meter peaks are in
Pakistan. Peaks above 3,000 to 6,000 meters are countless and remain
unclimbed and unnamed. Out of 100 highest peaks in the world, more
than 50 are in Pakistan.
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