Geography
K2 is, with its 8611 meters, the highest mountain in the Karakorum and the second in the world after Mount Everest. Also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, ChogoRi (Balta language) or Dapsang, lies on the border between China and the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan.
The name “K2″ is derived by Colonel Montgomerie, who made the first measurements in 1856. He gave to all the mountains in the area, the initial letter K as the chain of Karakorum; K2 was erroneously assessed as the second highest peak in the chain and for this reason it was named with number 2.
The summit of K2 was riched for the first time during an italian expedition in 1954.
Karakorum (in Turkmen “black stones”) is a big mountain range in Asia, situated north-west of the Himalayan chain.
800 km long and directed from north-west to south east, it is home to four mountains above the height of 8000 meters, including K2, which with its 8611 meters is the second highest mountain in the world.
The chain of Karakorum is defined by India and its two tributaries Gilgit and Shyok in the south and by Chinese Turkestan in the north. It formsfor about 450 km the border between the Indian and Pakistani Kashmir and China. Towards the west it is linked to the chain of Hindukush, in Afghanistan.
Karakorum and Himalaya are one of the most geologically active regions, at the edge of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the Indian, collided each other.
The area is also subject of numerous climatological studies, because of the presence of huge glaciers, environmental indicators of primary importance.
