a mountainous region and panhandle in the Pamir (Pamirs) Mountains of extreme northeastern Afghanistan. From the demarcation of the Afghan frontier (1895–96), the panhandle formed a political buffer between Russian Turkistan, British India, and China. It is now bounded by Tajikistan (north), China (east), and Pakistan (south). The Vākhān River flows from west to east through Vākhān for 100 miles (160 km), joining the Pamir River near Qalʿeh-ye Panjeh, which is the region's main village.