The Wakhan Corridor is the panhandle of Badakhshan Province in the far northeast of Afghanistan, a long (220 km) narrow (16-64 km) area wedged between Tajikistan to the north and Pakistan to the south.

The Wakhan Corridor with cold winters runs across the southern part of the Pamirs range. Its eastern tip is the only place where Afghanistan and China have a border.
The corridor is the most direct route between Afghanistan and China, and a minor trade route.
However, it has never become a major route because the terrain is quite difficult and at times the hill tribes can be as well. The main routes from Afghanistan to China start by going either north over the Salang Pass to Bactria or east through the Khyber Pass into Pakistan.