Kulma-Pass

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The Kulma Pass (Chinese阔 勒 买 山口/阔 勒 买 山口, Pinyin kuòlèmài shānkǒu ) is a 4362 m high mountain pass across the Pamirs, which connects the Autonomous Province of Gorno-Badakhshan (Tajikistan ) with the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China. The Kulma Pass is the only official border crossing between Tajikistan and the People's Republic of China along the 414 km long border dar.

The pass is located on the Tajik side 80km from Murghab and 850 km from Dushanbe removed; on the Chinese side is Taxkorgan around 60 km and 220 km from Kashgar through. It connects the Pamir Highway with the Karakorum Highway.

The road over the Kulma Pass was completed in 1999, opened the passport on 25 May 2004. Shortly after the opening of the first -pass effects were recognizable by the availability of Chinese goods in Tajik bazaars. In the first three months after the opening of the Tajik Ministry of Transport had 17 legal border crossings over the Kulma Pass of trucks, buses 10, 240 tons of cargo and 171 people. 2006 over nine thousand tons of freight were transported already worth $ 4.5 million over the pass. By 2007, the pass was only 15 days per month and only available between May and November since 1 May 2008, the pass from May to November is always open except on weekends and holidays - on an extension of opening times for the whole year is considered.

As the local population hardly owns passports, illegal border crossings are probably in the majority.