Noshaq is the highest mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 and the second highest independent peak of the Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

 after Tirich Mir

Tirich Mir

Tirich Mir is the highest mountain in the Hindu Kush region and the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya-Karakoram range, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The mountain was first climbed in 1950 by a Norwegian expedition consisting of Arne Næss, P. Kvernberg, H...

 (7690 m (25,230 ft)). Noshaq is located in the northeastern corner of the country along the Durand line

Durand Line

The Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...

 which marks the border with Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. It is the westernmost 7000 m (22,966 ft) peak in the world. The north and west sides of the mountain are in Afghanistan whereas the south and eastern sides are in Pakistan.

The first ascent of the mountain was in 1960 by Toshiaki Sakai and Goro Iwatsubo, members of a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese expedition. The climb followed the southeast ridge from the Qadzi Deh Glacier. Nowadays, the normal route is by the West ridge.

The first winter ascent was in 1973 by Tadeusz Piotrowski and Andrzej Zawada

Andrzej Zawada

Andrzej Zawada, born: Maria Andrzej Zawada, was a Polish Alpinist and Tatra mountains climber, pioneer of Polish Himalayism and winter Alpinism. Organiser and guide in numerous high-mountains expeditions...

, members of a Polish expedition, via the north face. It was the world's first winter climb above 7000 m (22,966 ft).

The first Afghan ascent of the mountain was in July 2009. Two members of a team of four Afghans from the Wakhan Corridor

Wakhan Corridor

Wakhan Corridor is commonly used as a synonym for Wakhan, an area of far north-eastern Afghanistan which forms a land link or "corridor" between Afghanistan and China. The Corridor is a long and slender panhandle or salient, roughly long and between wide. It separates Tajikistan in the north...

made the summit on July 19.