Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region
The geographic qualifier 'Hindu Kush-Himalayan' is not very precise. ICIMOD's target area includes the Karakorum, the Pamir, and other neighbouring ranges. The Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region extends 3,500 km over all or part of eight countries from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east. It is the source of ten large Asian river systems -– the Amu Darya, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra (Yarlungtsanpo), Irrawaddy, Salween (Nu), Mekong (Lancang), Yangtse (Jinsha), Yellow River (Huanghe), and Tarim (Dayan), - and provides water, ecosystem services, and the basis for livelihoods to a population of around 210.53 million people in the region. The basins of these rivers provide water to 1.3 billion people, a fifth of the world’s population.
The Himalayan range alone has the total snow and ice cover of 35,110 sq.km containing 3,735 cu.km of eternal snow and ice (Qin 2002). The total for the region is not yet calculated. Hills and mountains, particularly the Hindu Kush-Himalaya mountain system, have always constituted places where adaptation, mitigation, and resilience are hallmarks of the people and the landscape they inhabit. Since time immemorial, the people of the Himalaya have maintained a rich cultural identity, and have maintained food security and biogenetic diversity within the parameters of their own tradition.
HKH regional area (Total estimated area: 3,441,719 sq.km)
Source: Sharma. P,, Pratap, T., 1994, Population, Poverty, and Development issues in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas, Development of Poor Mountain Areas, ICIMOD
Estimated
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
China
India
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
HKH part
(sq.km)*390,475
13,189
38,394
1,647,725
482,920
317,640
147,181
404,195
Proportion of country
60%
9%
100%
17%
14%
47%
100%
51%
* Estimate based on earlier definition of the HKH region, which is smaller than the area used for population estimates.
Density
Population (Total estimated population: 210.53 million)
Sources: (1) Population Reference Bureau, 2007 World Population Data Sheet. (2) Estimated based on data and information from Population Reference Bureau, 2007 World Population Data Sheet and Banskota, m. 2004. The Hindu Kush-Himalayas: Searching for Viable Socioeconomic and Environmental Options, pp. 57-105, In: Banskota et al. (eds.) Growth, Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Resource Management in the Mountain Areas of South Asia, ICIMOD, Nepal. (3) Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2004. (4) China Population Information and Research Centre (CPIRC): (accessed on 5 June, 2008). (5) Census of India, Population Projection, 2007.
Estimated Population
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
China
India
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
(millions)
28.48(2)
1.33(3)
0.71(1)
29.48(4)
72.36(5)
11.01(2)
27.8(1)
39.36(2)
(per sq.km)73
100
15
17
150
34
189
97
[HKH region and adjacent mountain areas include: Afghanistan – all provinces except Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Farah, and Herat; Bangladesh – Chittagong Hill Tracts; Bhutan – whole country; China – parts of Yunnan (Diqing, Nujiang, Dali prefectures), Sichuan (Ganzi, Aba, Liangshan prefectures), Gansu (Gannan, Wuwei, Zhangye prefectures), Xinjiang (Kashigar, Kezilesu, Hetian, Altai prefectures), whole of Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai; India – the 11 mountain states (Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand; Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura) and Darjeeling district of West Bengal; Myanmar – the states of Kachin, Chin, Shan and Rakkhain; Nepal – whole country; Pakistan – North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Northern Areas, Ajad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and 12 districts of Baluchistan]
Major mountain ranges and peaks
Ten highest mountain peaks in the region
| Name | Height (m) | Location | Lower slopes | Other names |
| Everest | 8,848 (snow) 8,844 (rock) |
Nepal | China/Nepal | Sagarmatha, Chomolungma |
| K2 | 8,611 | Pakistan | China/Pakistan | Mt. Godwin-Austen, Qialogeli |
| Kangchenjunga | 8,586 | Nepal/India | Nepal/India | Kanchenjunga, Khangchendzonga |
| Lhotse | 8,516 | Nepal | China/Nepal | - |
| Makalu | 8,462 | Nepal | China/Nepal | Kumba karna |
| Cho Oyu | 8,201 | Nepal | China/Nepal | - |
| Dhaulagiri | 8,167 | Nepal | - | - |
| Manaslu | 8,156 | Nepal | - | Kutang |
| Nanga Parbat | 8,125 | Pakistan | - | Killer Mountain |
| Annapurna | 8,091 | Nepal | - | - |
Highest peaks in countries
| Country | Peak | Height (m) |
| Afghanistan | Nowshāk | 7,482 |
| Bangladesh | Tajingdong (Bijoy) | 1,280 |
| Bhutan | Gangkhar Puensum | 7,541 |
| China | Xixabangma | 8,010 |
| India | Kangchenjunga | 8,586 |
| Myanmar | Hkakabao Raz | 5,881 |
| Nepal | Everest (Sagarmatha) | 8,848/8,844 (rock) |
| Pakistan | K2 | 8,611 |
Mountain ranges
| Range | Countries |
| Ganhdise Shan | China |
| Hengduan Shan | China, Myanmar |
| Himalaya | Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan |
| Hindu Kush | Afghanistan, Pakistan |
| Karakoram | China, India, Pakistan |
| Kulun Shan | China |
| Nyainqentanglha Shan | China |
| Pamir | Afghanistan, Pakistan, China |
| Qiantang Plateau | China |
| Qilian Shan | China |
| Tanggula | China |
| Tien Shan | China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan |
The ten major river basins of the Himalayan region
| River Basin | ||||
| Rivers | Basin Area (sq.km) | Countries | Population (X 1000) | Population density (per sq.km) |
| Amu Darya | 534,739 | Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan | 20,855 | 39 |
| Brahmaputra | 651,335 | China, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh | 118,543 | 182 |
| Ganges | 1,016,124 | India, Nepal, China, Bangladesh | 407,466 | 401 |
| Indus | 1,081,718 | China, India, Pakistan | 178,483 | 165 |
| Irrawaddy | 413,710 | Myanmar | 32,683 | 79 |
| Mekong | 805,604 | China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam | 57,198 | 71 |
| Salween | 271,914 | China, Myanmar, Thailand | 5,982 | 22 |
| Tarim | 1,152,448 | Kyrgyzstan, China | 8,067 | 7 |
| Yangtze | 1,722,193 | China | 368,549 | 214 |
| Yellow | 944,970 | China | 147,415 | 156 |
| Total | 8,594,755 | 1,345,241 |
