Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in the context of "Badakhshan"

The Wakhjir Pass, also spelled Vakhjir Pass, is a mountain pass on the Afghanistan–China border, between the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains at the eastern end of the Wakhan Corridor. It is the only potentially navigable pass between Afghanistan and China in the modern era. It links the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan with the Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China, at an altitude of 4,923 m (16,152 ft). As of 2025, the pass has no official border crossing point. With a difference of 3.5 hours, the Afghanistan–China border has the sharpest official change of clocks of any international frontier (UTC+04:30 in Afghanistan to UTC+08:00, in China). China refers to the pass as South Wakhjir Pass (Chinese: 南瓦根基达坂), as there is a northern pass on the Chinese side.

In China, the terms "Tajik" and "Tajik nationality" (Chinese: 塔吉克族; pinyin: Tǎjíkèzú) encompass three distinct ethnic subgroups: the Sarikolis, Wakhis, and Tor Tajiks. The Sarikolis and Wakhis are ethnic Pamiris who live in the Pamir Mountains of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, in Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang. The Tor Tajiks are ethnic Tajiks who reside in the village of Tor, also in Kashgar Prefecture. The Tajik nationality is one of 56 nationalities or ethnicities officially recognized by the Chinese government.

Tashkurgan, historically known as Sarikol and Shitoucheng, is a town in the far west of China, close to the country's border with Tajikistan. It is seat of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, in the autonomous region of Xinjiang. Tajiks – ethnic Pamiris who live in the Pamir Mountains of Xinjiang – make up a little over half of Tashkurgan's population.

Tashkurgan was a significant stop on the Silk Road, with roads leading to major centers of trade such as Kashgar. It also served as the capital of a number of ancient and pre-modern kingdoms.

Akto County (also known as Aqtu, Aktu, or Aketao; Chinese: 阿克陶县; pinyin: Ākètáo Xiàn) is a county in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The county borders Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and has five towns, six townships, one ethnic township, and five other township-level divisions under its jurisdiction. The county seat is Akto Town. The county has an area of 24,176 km (9,334 sq mi). In 2015 its population was 221,526; in 2017 it was 231,756.

Occupying the westernmost portion of China, Akto County is highly mountainous, with the Pamir Mountains and Kunlun Mountains both passing through the county. It is bordered by Ulugqat County and Shufu County to the north, by Shule County and 41st Regiment of the XPCC across Yopurga River (岳普湖河) to the northeast, by Yengisar County (Yingjisha), Yarkant County (Shache) to the east, and by Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County (Tashkurgan) to the south. The west and south-west share a border with Kyrgyzstan and a border with Tajikistan; the total border line is more than 380 kilometres (240 mi) long.

The Tashkurgan River (Chinese: 塔什库尔干河; pinyin Tǎshíkù'ěrgàn hé) is a river in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China. The Tashkurgan River runs through Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County and is one of the tributaries of the Yarkand River in the Tarim Basin.

The river is formed by the joining of several mountain streams originating in the Karakoram Range and northern Hindu Kush Mountains. It flows due north to Tashkurgan. Then, it turns right flowing through the mountains and joining the Yarkand River.

Taghdumbash Pamir (Chinese: 塔克敦巴什帕米尔 or historically Chinese: 塔德八士) or Taxkorgan Nature Reserve is a pamir or high valley in the south west of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, in Xinjiang, China. It lies to the west of the Karakoram Highway. It is inhabited by Wakhi, Kirghiz and Sarikolis animal herders, who graze yaks and other animals on the grasslands of the Pamir.

The name Taghdumbash Pamir is also sometimes applied to the mountain ranges surrounding the Pamir, on the borders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan with China, straddling the Pamir Mountains along the Sarikol Range, the Hindu Kush, the Mustagh mountains, and the Wakhan. The range divides Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan.