Pamir-Alay

{{Short description|Mountain system mostly in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name=Pamir-Alay

| other_name = {{nativename|tg|Помиру-Олой}}
{{nativename|sgh|Помир-Алай}}
{{nativename|uz|Помир-Олай}}
{{nativename|ky|Памир-Алай}}
{{nativename|ru|Памиро-Алай}}

| photo=Anzob_mountains.jpg

| photo_caption=View of the Zarafshan Range near the Anzob Pass

| country=Tajikistan

| region_type=

| region=

| parent=Pamir Mountains

| geology=

| period=

| orogeny=

| highest=Pik Skalisty

| elevation_m=5621

| range_coordinates =

| length_km= 900| length_orientation= E/W

| width_km= 150 | width_orientation=N/S

| coordinates = {{coord|39|30|N|71|0|E|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| map= Tajikistan

| map_caption= Location in Tajikistan

| label_position= none

}}

The Pamir-Alay is a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, encompassing four main mountain ranges extending west from the Tian Shan Mountains, and located north of the main range of Pamir. They are variously considered part of the Tian Shan,{{cite journal|url=http://ginras.ru/struct/21/10/files/B-2000a-E.pdf|journal=Tectonophysics|volume= 319|year=2000|pages=69–92|title=Cenozoic crustal shortening between the Pamir and Tien Shan and a reconstruction of the Pamir–Tien Shan transition zone for the Cretaceous and Palaeogene|author=V.S. Burtman|issue=2 |doi=10.1016/S0040-1951(00)00022-6 |bibcode=2000Tectp.319...69B }} of the Pamir,{{cite book|url={{Google books|3VznhD-4A_IC|page=377|plainurl=yes}}|year=2002|pages=377–402|title=The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia|chapter=16 The Mountains of Central Asia and Kazakhstan|author=Irina Merzlyakova|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-823384-8}} or a separate mountain system.{{cite journal|journal=Quaternary Research|volume= 91|year=2019|pages=81–95|title=Last 1100 yr of precipitation variability in western central Asia as revealed by tree-ring data from the Pamir-Alay|author1=Magdalena Opała-Owczarek|author2=Tadeusz Niedźwiedź|issue= 1|doi=10.1017/qua.2018.21 |s2cid=135070111 |doi-access=free|bibcode= 2019QuRes..91...81O}} The term "Pamiro-Alay" is also used to refer to the mountain region encompassing the Pamir, the Pamir-Alay proper (then referred to as "Gissaro-Alay") and the Tajik Depression.[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article086490.html Памиро-Алай], Great Soviet Encyclopedia[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article010742.html Гиссаро-Алай], Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The Pamir-Alay stretches between the valleys of the rivers Syr Darya (Fergana Valley) to its north and Vakhsh to its south. Its highest summit is Pik Skalisty ({{langx|ru|пик Скалистый}}, "rocky peak"), 5621 m, in the Turkestan Range.Soviet Union military map 1:500.000 J-42-Б The Pamir-Alay is about 900 km long in west–east direction, and up to 150 km wide in the Western part.