{"id":361608,"date":"2026-04-27T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=361608"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:18:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:48:04","slug":"hindu-kush-himalaya-hkh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/hindu-kush-himalaya-hkh\/","title":{"rendered":"Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH)\u00a0Region"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a new report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region has recently recorded its lowest snow persistence, at 27% below the long-term average for the winter season from November 2025 to March 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">About Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Region<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 493px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com\/indiatoday\/images\/story\/202402\/hindu-kush-himalayas-biosphere-at-risk-facts-on-the-3-500-km-mountain-range-080158599-16x9_0.png?resize=493%2C277&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Hindu Kush Himalayas \" width=\"493\" height=\"277\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: India Today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Hindu Kush is a <strong>great mountain system of Central Asia.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is also known as the<\/span><b> greater Himalayan region<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>\u2018the roof of the world.\u2019<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Spread:<\/strong> It extends about<b> 3,500 km<\/b> and spreads across <b>eight countries &#8211;<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Afghanistan<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Bangladesh<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Bhutan<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">China<\/span><\/span>, <strong><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">India<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Myanmar<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Nepal<\/span><\/span>, and <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Pakistan<\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Boundaries: Its western boundary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> extends to <\/span><b>Afghanistan, and its eastern boundary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> extends to<\/span><b> Myanmar.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It runs from<\/span><b> northeast to southwest <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><b> separates the Amu Darya valley in the north<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the<\/span><b> Indus River valley in the south.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has the<\/span><b> largest area covered by glaciers and permafrost <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">outside the Polar Regions, and is therefore often also referred to as the <\/span><b>`Third Pole\u2019.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Physiography:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is a<\/span><b> geo-morphologically unique region <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with the <\/span><b>mighty Himalayas acting as the geological buffer<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> protecting the lush green southern slopes<\/span><b> from the dry and arid winds of the north<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> thus supporting a unique mosaic of biota and eco-regions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Rivers: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is the<\/span><b> source of ten large Asian river systems <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 the Amu Darya,<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/question\/consider-the-following-statements-regarding-the-indus-river-system-1-the-indus-originates-near-lake-mansarovar-in-tibet-and-flows-through-india-before-entering-pakistan-2-the-jhelum-and-chenab-are\/\"> Indus<\/a>, Ganges, <a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/key-facts-about-brahmaputra-river\/\">Brahmaputra<\/a> (Yarlungtsanpo), Irrawaddy,<\/strong> Salween (Nu), <a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/mekong-river\/\">Mekong<\/a> (Lancang), Yangtse (Jinsha), Yellow River (Huanghe), and Tarim (Dayan).\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>It is known as the &#8220;<strong data-start=\"1071\" data-end=\"1096\">Water Tower of Asia&#8221;.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Mountains: <\/b>The Hindu Kush is divided into<b> three parts:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The eastern section<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (from <strong>Karambar Pass to Dor\u0101h Pass<\/strong> near Mount Tirich Mir),\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>The central section <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(up to <strong>Shebar Pass near Kabul<\/strong>), and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>The western section,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also called the <strong>B\u0101b\u0101 Mountains, <\/strong>which slopes down to the Kerm\u016b Pass <strong>(<span class=\"N9Q8Lc\">Afghanistan<\/span><span class=\"uJ19be notranslate\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-wiz-uids=\"t9PUeb_h,t9PUeb_i\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><span class=\"vKEkVd\" data-animation-atomic=\"\" data-wiz-attrbind=\"class=t9PUeb_g\/TKHnVd\" data-processed=\"true\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" data-processed=\"true\">)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Highest peaks: <\/strong>The\u00a0<b><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/question\/with-reference-to-the-hindukush-mountain-range-consider-the-following-statements-1-it-has-the-largest-concentration-of-frozen-water-on-earth-after-the-north-pole-and-south-pole-2-nepal-and-bhuta\/\">Terich Mir<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the<\/span><b> highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the<\/span><b> highest mountain in the world<\/b><strong> outside of the Himalayas\u2013Karakoram range.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Geology and climate:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Hindu Kush and the Pamir mountains form the <strong>world\u2019s most active zone for intermediate-depth earthquakes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The area generally <strong>experiences rainy or snowy summers (July to September) and dry winters.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The central and western Hindu Kush are <strong>influenced by a Mediterranean-type climate, with hot, dry summers and cold winters.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Importance: <\/b>It is home to over <strong>240 million people, and 1.7 billion people live<\/strong> in the river basins downstream, while <strong>food grown in these basins reaches three billion people.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is home to:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>4 biodiversity hotspots<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>6 UNESCO natural World Heritage sites<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>30 Ramsar sites<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>330 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) <\/strong>and <strong>53 Important Plant Areas (IPAs)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Threat:<\/strong> The HKH region is <strong>under stress<\/strong> as <strong>snow in the river basins is decreasing and glaciers are shrinking <\/strong>quickly due to climate change<strong>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: According to a new report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region has recently recorded its lowest snow persistence, at 27% below the long-term average for the winter season from November 2025 to March 2026. About Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Region The Hindu Kush is a great&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/hindu-kush-himalaya-hkh\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH)\u00a0Region<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,11209,12039],"tags":[11872,10504],"class_list":["post-361608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-geography-in-news","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-down-to-earth","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}