Khyber Pass

(CC) Image: George Swan
Kabul, Peshawar, and some cities in Nangarhar, Afghanistan.

The Khyber Pass is a famed mountain pass near the boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan lying at 1,070 m (3,510 ft) above sea level. Its road runs through the Hindu Kush mountains. The pass is a vulnerable point militarily that was used by Alexander the Great of Greece to invade ancient India and by the military forces of Genghis Khan of Mongolia, Darius the Great of Persia, and many others. The pass was always used for trade between Central and South Asia and lay along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route linking China with the West.

One of the few paved roads in Afghanistan travels through the pass, from the national capital, Kabul, through Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province, and one of Afghanistan's largest cities, to the border with Pakistan, at Towr Kham. The road then continues to Peshawar, Pakistan.