Kamchik Pass

Kamchik Pass
Kamchik Pass
Elevation	2,268 m (7,441 ft)
Location	Uzbekistan
Range	Qurama Mountains
Coordinates	Coordinates: 41°06′00.0″N 70°31′05.0″E / 41.100000°N 70.518056°E / 41.100000; 70.518056
Location within Uzbekistan

The Kamchik Pass (Uzbek: Kamchiq dovoni; Russian: Камчик) is a mountain pass in the Qurama Mountains in eastern Uzbekistan. The pass provides a strategically important route as an access for ground transport traveling between the Tashkent and Namangan Regions in the Fergana Valley bypassing neighboring Tajikistan. It connects the capital city of Tashkent with Osh, the second-largest city in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. The peak of the pass reaches 2,268 metres (7,441 ft) above sea level.

The Tashkent-Osh (A373) international highway now winds through the pass. Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles travel through the Kamchik Pass each day.

The Kamchik Pass is frequently closed in the winter due to avalanche hazards. Mudslides and landslides are also threats to vehicles along the route and the nearby villages. In February 2015, the United Nations Development Programme announced it would help aid a disaster risk-reduction project for the Kamchik Pass. The plan is to improve an early warning monitoring system, emergency assistance and education for the people living in remote and rural disaster-prone regions nearby. The project is funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO)

In March 2013, Uzbek Railways announced plans to build a new railway through the Kamchik Pass, which will allow freight traffic to bypass neighboring Tajikistan. The 129 kilometres (80 mi) long electric rail line will connect existing railways at Angren and Pap in order to create a direct route between the cities of Tashkent and Namangan. The new rail would allow Uzbekistan to abandon the Soviet-era line that cuts across Tajikistan's Sughd Region, saving Uzbekistan a reported $25 million in transit fees it pays to Tajikistan each year.