The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is a vast complex of high mountains, intermontane valleys and plateaus; it contains some of the world's tallest peaks with over 60,000 km2 of glaciers and about 760,000 km2 of snow cover. This snow and ice represents a massive store of freshwater which supports food production, domestic water supply and sanitation, health, energy, tourism, industry, and the functioning of ecosystems. The region'S 10 major river basins - the Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze and Yellow - connect upstream and downstream areas in terms of culture, communication, trade, commerce and resource management and, directly or indirectly,provide goods and services to 1.3 billion people including the 210 million that live in the HKH region.
