Central Karakoram National Park

Central Karakoram National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Map of the park within Pakistan
Location	Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Asia
Nearest city	Skardu
Coordinates	36°N 75°E / 36°N 75°E / 36; 75Coordinates: 36°N 75°E / 36°N 75°E / 36; 75
Established	1993

Central Karakoram National Park or Karakoram National Park is situated in the Gilgit-Baltistan administrative region of Pakistan. It encompasses some of the world’s highest peaks and largest glaciers. Internationally renowned for mountaineering, rock climbing and trekking opportunities, it covers an area of about 10,000 sq. km and contains the greatest concentration of high mountains on earth. It has four peaks over 8,000 m including K2 (8611 m), Gasherbrum-I (8068 m), Gasherbrum-II (8035 m) and Broad Peak (8051 m), and sixty peaks higher than 7,000 m.

The Central Karakoram National Park is the highest national park in the world and the largest protected area in Pakistan. It covers about 10,557 km² (4,100 sq mi) in the Central Karakoram mountain range. It varies in altitude from 2,000 m (6,562 ft) above sea level to the summit of K2, the world's second highest mountain at 8,611 m (28,251 ft). There are three other mountains over 8,000 m (26,247 ft), Gasherbrum I (8,068 m (26,470 ft)), Gasherbrum II (8,035 m (26,362 ft)) and Broad Peak (8,051 m (26,414 ft)), and sixty mountains over 7,000 m (23,000 ft). The park also includes the Baltoro, Panmah, Biafo and Hispar glaciers and their tributary glaciers and is considered to be one of the most beautiful national parks in Pakistan. In 2013 it was stated that the exact boundaries of the park were unclear because, twenty years after its formation, the park still lacked a management plan. At the time of its creation in 1993, four coordinates were provided to delineate the boundaries of the park. The International Union for Conservation of Nature put forward a proposed management plan in 1994, but that was not approved at the time. A management plan should cover all aspects of the park including such things as forestry, mining, other natural resources, tourism, grazing land and waste management, and without an appropriate plan, the park could not be properly administered.