Wanderlust World Wanderlust World K2—the world's second-highest peak and arguably its most formidable—straddles the border between Pakistan and China in the heart of the Karakoram range.
Latitude: 35.8812° N
Longitude: 76.5113° E
These coordinates place the summit squarely in the Baltoro Muztagh subrange of the Karakoram, a cluster of the planet's most concentrated high peaks.
The mountain sits on the border between two administrative regions:
The Chinese side is sometimes referred to as Qogir (from the Uyghur) or Chogori; the name "K2" originates from the Great Trigonometrical Survey of British India (1856), where it was the second peak cataloged in the Karakoram ("K") series.
Most expeditions approach from the Pakistani side via the Baltoro Glacier, trekking from Askole through Concordia—the "throne room of the mountain gods"—to K2 Base Camp at roughly 5,150 meters (16,900 feet). The Chinese north side is less frequently climbed due to stricter permit regimes and more difficult logistics.
K2's position deep in the Karakoram—far from the monsoon influence that affects the Himalaya, subject to ferocious jet-stream winds, and ringed by technically demanding faces—explains its reputation as the "Savage Mountain." Its coordinates aren't just numbers; they're a forecast of the conditions that have made K2 the ultimate test of high-altitude mountaineering.