[10] Kashgar Prefecture borders the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan, Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan, Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan[11][circular reference] and Ladakh of India in the far south.

Shule served as the pivotal junction of the Silk Road in the northern Tarim Basin, facilitating access to the Dayuezhi [zh], Dayuan, and Kangju in Central Asia, and acting as the nexus of east-west communication.

[14] Circa 177 B.C., Shule faced oppression by the advancing Dayuezhi and was compelled to ally with the formidable Xiongnu, becoming one of its 36 vassal states.

[20] In August 1982, Kashgar Prefecture opened a frontier post to exchange goods with Pakistan.

[23] In May 2010, the Central Xinjiang Work Conference formally sanctioned the creation of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kashgar, designating it as China's sixth SEZ,[24] which benefits from preferential policies in industry, taxation, finance, land, and foreign commerce.

The second-highest peak on Earth, K2, is located on the China–Pakistan border in southern Kashgar Prefecture[28] in an area claimed by India as part of the Trans-Karakoram Tract.

[5]: 224 In early 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission released a Circular regarding the Progress of Western Development in 2009 and Work Arrangements for 2010, announcing the promotion of Dongxing in Guangxi, Ruili in Yunnan, the Kashgar region in Xinjiang, and Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia as Special Economic Zones (SEZs) along the borders in 2010.