Roof of the World

Top of the world today is a metaphorical term for the highest altitude regions of Central Asia, which also represent the most sweeping, soaring into the atmosphere, on average, more than 4,500 m the world's landmass in the Tibetan highlands. Often this term is still used for smaller areas or part of this large region, for

  • The Pamirs,
  • Tibet and the Tibetan highlands
  • And the Himalaya Mountains.

In older reference works the term is used exclusively for the Pamir highlands, the Great Brockhaus 1928 et seq. " Roof of the world name for the highlands of → Pamir" or The Columbia Encyclopedia of 1942 the latter explains even the word " Pamir " itself as a Persian word meaning" roof of the world "as it had already done similar to the Encyclopaedia Britannica :" ( Bam -i - dunya = roof of the World " ) - and also on the English homepages of Pamir is this word as the " roof of the World " is interpreted. The name goes back to John Wood (1812-1871), a Scottish explorer, who on behalf of the English East India Company explored as a naval officer, the Indus valley and the Pamir valleys. In 1838 he reported that the " local expression " Bam -i - Duniah or " Roof of the World" ( probably from the Iranian Wachi dialect) is common for the Pamir.

According to Big Brockhaus, however, the word " Pamir" is Turkish and means " cold steppe pasture. " That Pamir highlands was " crossroads of the mountain systems of the Tien Shan, Kun Lun, Karakoram, Himalayas and the Hindu Kush, therefore called the roof of the world." In recent however, Brockhaus spending is " therefore " with " also " shall be replaced and the Pamir as "nodes of large mountain systems " is defined somewhat differently: "Tian Shan, Alai Mountains, Trans - Alai, Kunlun, Karakoram and Hindu Kush ".

Since the awakening of public interest in Tibet, Pamir highlands, however, is the beginning of the 20th century " best explored region of High Asia " came as out of the limelight, and the term " Roof of the World " has been transferred to an increasing extent on Tibet.

Referred to as the "roof of the world" ( " Toit du monde " ) - also the peak of Mount Everest, the highest point on earth, is - especially in French

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