View source for Kulma Pass

{{Short description|Mountain pass between China and Tajikistan}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Kulma Pass
| photo = 
| photo_caption = 
| elevation_m = 4362.7
| elevation_ref = 
| map = China Xinjiang Southern#Tajikistan#Pamir
| map_caption = Location of the Kulma Pass within the greater [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] region
| map_size = 
| label = Kulma Pass
| label_position = top
| location = [[China]]–[[Tajikistan]] border
| range = [[Sarikol Range]], [[Pamir Mountains]]
| coordinates = {{coord|type:pass|display=title,inline}}
| topo = 
| embedded    = {{Infobox mapframe |wikidata=yes |zoom=6 |coord={{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}
}}
{{infobox Chinese
|s=阔勒买山口
|t=闊勒買山口
|l=Kulma Pass
|p=kuòlèmǎi shānkǒu
|s2=卡拉苏口岸
|t2=卡拉蘇口岸
|l2=Karasu Port
|p2=kǎlāsū kǒu'àn
|c=|j=|mi=|ci=|altname=}}

The '''Kulma Pass'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/150/state-border-of-the-republic-of-tajikistan-with-the-peoples-republic-of-china|title=State border of the Republic of Tajikistan with the People's Republic of China|date=1 March 2013|accessdate=31 January 2020|website=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan]]|quote=“Kulma” pass is the only international passage through the border between the Republic of Tajikistan and the People’s Republic of China}}</ref> ([[Tajik language|Tajik]]: {{lang|tg|Перевал Кульма}},<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mfa.tj/ru/main/view/150/tadzhiksko-kitaiskaya-gosudarstvennaya-granitsa|script-title=tg:Таджикско-китайская Государственная граница|date=1 March 2013|accessdate=31 January 2020|website=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan]]|language=tg|quote={{lang|tg|Перевал Кульма является единственным международным коридором через границу между Республикой Таджикистан и Китайской Народной Республикой,}}}}</ref> {{lang-zh|s=阔勒买山口}}) or '''Qolma Pass''',<ref name="caravanistan_qolma"/> also referred to as '''Karasu Pass''',<ref name="book_Cent">{{Cite book
| title = Central Asia: Views from Washington, Moscow, and Beijing
| last1 = Rumer
| first1 = Eugene B.
| last2 = Trenin
| first2 = Dmitri
| last3 = Zhao
| first3 = Huasheng
| publisher = Routledge 
| year = 2016
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=p5IYDQAAQBAJ&dq=Karasu+Pass&pg=PT183
| language =  
| page = 183
| isbn = 9781315289519
}}</ref> is a [[mountain pass]] across the [[Pamir Mountains]] on the border between [[Murghob District]], [[Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region]] in [[Tajikistan]] and [[Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County]], [[Kashgar Prefecture]], [[Xinjiang|Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region]] in [[China]].  [[Asian Highway Network|Asian Highway]] [[AH66]] runs through the pass, which provides for the only modern day overland [[border crossing]] along the 450&nbsp;km boundary between the two nations.<ref name="news_中塔卡拉">{{Cite web
| title = 中塔卡拉苏口岸进入"冬歇期" 明年5月恢复通关
| author = 赵春晖
| website = news.xinhuanet.com
| publisher = Xinhua News Agency
| date = 2006-12-24
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2006-12/24/content_5526026.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090209130415/http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2006-12/24/content_5526026.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = February 9, 2009
| language = zh
| quote = 
}}</ref>

The pass has an elevation of {{convert|4362.7|m|ft}}<ref name="border_agreement">{{cite wikisource |title=中华人民共和国和塔吉克斯坦共和国关于中塔国界的补充协定 |trans-title=China-Tajikistan Border Agreement |wslanguage=zh |quote=该界点在4362米阔勒买大坂(原苏联地图为4362.7米库利玛山口)上 |date=2002-05-17}}</ref> and opens from the north to the southeast, and is 500&nbsp;m wide from north to south and 1&nbsp;km in length from east to west with a gentle incline not exceeding 20 percent. On the Tajik side, the pass is 80&nbsp;km by road to [[Murghab, Tajikistan|Murghab]] and about 850&nbsp;km to [[Dushanbe]].  On the Chinese side, the pass is 13.9&nbsp;km from [[Qarasu, Xinjiang|Karasu]] ({{lang|zh|卡拉苏口岸}}), a [[port of entry]] on the [[Karakorum Highway]] which leads to [[Tashkurgan Town|Tashkurgan]] (60–70&nbsp;km) and [[Kashgar]] (220&nbsp;km).  In the past, the pass used to be open from the 16th to the 30th day of each month from May to November. In most recent years it is open all weekdays all year round (except for national festivities).
[[File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-43-5th-ed.jpg|thumb|right|Map including the Kulma Pass area; from the [[International Map of the World]] ([[Army Map Service|AMS]], 1966){{efn|From map: "DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES MUST NOT BE CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE"}}]]
[[File:Txu-oclc-224033229-nj43-06.jpg|thumb|right|Map including the Kulma Pass area (1988)]]

The pass was closed for many years due to political tensions between the [[Sino-Soviet Split|Soviet Union and China]], and then the [[Tajikistani Civil War]].  In 1997, China and Tajikistan signed an agreement to develop a commercial corridor between the two countries through the pass.  The opening of the pass reduced cargo travel time between the two countries by ten to fifteen days, obviating lengthy detours into Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

==Karasu Port of Entry==
The Karasu Port of Entry opened on May 25, 2004, and traffic volume grew considerably.  In the first three months after the pass opened, an official tally by the Tajik Ministry of Traffic and Roads counted legal crossings of just 17 trucks, 10 buses, 240 tons of cargo, and 171 people over a three-month period.  Unofficial transits are believed to be more common, as many locals lack [[passport]]s needed to cross the pass legally.<ref name="Townsend">{{Cite web
| title = China and Afghan Opiates: China and Afghan Opiates: Assessing the Risk
| first = Jacob
| last = Townsend
| website = Silk Road Paper
| publisher = [[Institute for Security and Development Policy]]
| date = June 2005
| accessdate = 2017-02-03
| url = https://www.silkroadstudies.org/resources/pdf/SilkRoadPapers/2005_06_SRP_Townsend_Opiates.pdf
| language =  
| quote = 
| pages = 48–54
}}</ref>

From May to August 2006, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce registered 649 cargo shipments totaling 11,218.5 metric tons of goods.<ref name="mofcom">{{Cite web
| title = 卡拉苏口岸过货量提前突破万吨关
| author = 木合塔尔
| website = xinjiang.mofcom.gov.cn
| publisher = [[Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China]]
| date = 2006-09-04
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://xinjiang.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/sjshangwudt/200609/20060903058049.html
| language = zh
| quote = 
}}</ref> In the same three months the following year, traffic volume reached 1,836 cargo shipments and 30,556 metric tons.<ref name="chinawuliu">{{Cite web
| title = 喀什：卡拉苏口岸过货量突破三万吨
| author = 令治清
| website = chinawuliu.com.cn
| publisher = China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing
| date = 2007-09-20
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://www.chinawuliu.com.cn/cflp/newss/content/200709/652_85722.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110901014157/http://www.chinawuliu.com.cn/cflp/newss/content/200709/652_85722.html
| archive-date = 2011-09-01
| language = zh
| quote = 
}}</ref>  In all, travelers made 12,500 trips through the pass in 2007 transporting 56,300 metric tons of goods worth US$250 million. Commonly traded goods include automobiles, construction materials, machinery, electronics, furniture, eggs, and rice.

In 2013, 31,000 tons of goods were shipped through the Kulma Pass and processed at the Karasu Border Crossing.<ref name="finance_people">{{Cite web
| title = 中塔唯一口岸卡拉苏口岸正式开关
| author = 李晓玲, 唐乾清
| work = finance.people.com.cn
| publisher = [[People's Daily]]
| date = 2014-04-21
| accessdate = 2017-02-05
| url = http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2014/0421/c1004-24924334.html
| language = zh
| quote = 
}}</ref>

The bilateral agreement signed between China and Tajikistan includes the opening of the pass for nationals of all countries. After an initial period where foreigners were still turned back, since 2017, foreign travelers have been passing regularly and without extra problems.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://caravanistan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=439#top|title = Qolma pass (from China) - report|date = |accessdate = November 11, 2015|website = caravanistan.com |publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref><ref name="caravanistan_qolma">{{Cite web
| title = Qolma Pass
| author = 
| website = caravanistan.com
| date = 
| accessdate = 2015-11-11
| url = http://caravanistan.com/border-crossings/tajikistan/qolma-pass/
| quote = 
}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[China–Tajikistan border]]
* [[China National Highway 314]]
* [[Beyik Pass]]
* [[Nezatash Pass]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Xinjiang topics}}
{{Mountain passes of China}}

[[Category:Mountain passes of China]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of Tajikistan]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Transport in Xinjiang]]
[[Category:China–Tajikistan border crossings]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of the Pamir]]
[[Category:Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County]]