What is Karakoram?
[[Image:Karakoram Range.jpg|thumb|right|View of the moon over Karakoram]] The '''Karakoram''' is a [[Mountain range]] in Asia. The name is from a [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] word meaning ''Black gravel''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mason |first=Kenneth |title=Exploration of the Shaksgam Valley and Aghil ranges, 1926 |publisher=|year=1928 |location=|page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LrbVqD06aXYC |isbn=9788120617940}}</ref> It is mainly located in [[Pakistan]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2024-08-16|title=Pakistan - Himalayas, Karakoram, Indus {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan/The-Himalayan-and-Karakoram-ranges|access-date=2024-08-19|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> but some of it is also in [[China]] and [[India]]. Many of its mountains are in the regions of [[Gilgit-Baltistan]], [[Ladakh]], and [[Xinjiang]]. It is the second highest mountain range in the world after the [[Himalayas]]. The Karakoram is part of a [[wikt:complex|complex]] of mountain ranges that also includes the [[Himalaya]], [[Hindu Kush]], and [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] ranges.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/312055/Karakoram-Range |title=Karakoram Range |last1= Bessarabov |first1=Georgy Dmitriyevich |date=7 February 2014 |website= |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=3 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icimod.org/?q=1137 |title=Hindu Kush Himalayan Region |publisher= ICIMOD |accessdate=17 October 2014}}</ref> The range has eight mountains with tops over {{convert|7500|m|ft}} high. Four of these are higher than {{convert|8000|m|ft}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Shukurov, The Natural Environment of Central and South Asia|2005|p=512}}; {{cite web |title=The Eight-Thousanders |last1=Voiland |first1=Adam |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/8000MeterPeaks/ |date=2013 |website=Nasa Earth Observatory |publisher= |access-date=23 December 2016}}</ref> They are [[K2]], [[Gasherbrum I]], [[Broad Peak]], and [[Gasherbrum II]]. K2 is the world's second highest peak.