The greater Himalaya.

The greater Himalaya range runs west to east, from the Indus river valley in northern Pakistan to the Brahmaputra river valley in northern India and Tibet, forming an arc 2,400 km long, which varies in width from 400 km in Northern Pakistan to 150 km in the eastern Tibet.

Map Himalaya Range

The name comes from the Sanskrit word, meaning "snow land". The Western Himalayas are situated in Kashmir valley and Northern Pakistan, to the south and east of Indus River, and is dominated by Nanga Parbat massif with highest peak rising 8125 metres above the sea level, Pakistan’s 2nd and world’s 9th highest peak.

Nanga Parbat peak is also famous for its unique Rupal Face which rises 4,600 meters straight above its base and the mountain is considered as one of the most difficult and dangerous to climb, nick named as Killer Mountain.

Nanga Parbat Pakistan, ninth highest peak in world

The Himalaya range occupies in Pakistan the regions of Kashmir, Kaghan, Kohistan, Deosai and Chilas. The western Himalya is also dominated by Deosai plains situated at the average height of about 4114 m and covering an area more than 3000 square kilometres. The place can be accessed from Skardu and is so well known for its rich flora and fauna including summer flowers and endangered wild life species like brown bears.

The Himalayas are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consist mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics their formation is a result of a continental collision along the boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate.

The higher regions of the Himalayas are snowbound throughout the year and are the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside the Polar Regions. These glaciers form the sources for several large perennial rivers, most of which combine into two large river systems. The western rivers combine into the Indus Basin, of which the Indus River is the largest.

The Indus river runs south west from Tibet through India and then through full length of Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Indus river also marks the boundary line between Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindukush and at one point, at the confluence of Indus and Gilgit rivers all three great ranges come face to face, creating a unique geographical feature on earth.

On its way the Indus river is fed by the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej rivers, which also trace their sources in the western Himalyan regions of Kashmir. On the other hand most of the eastern Himalayan rivers drain the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh, and drain into the Bay of Bengal.