Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Uzbekistan

Geography

The lowland region lies to the east of the Caspian Sea and southeast of the Aral Sea in the vast Aral–Caspian Depression but extends to parts above sea level as well. It is one of the largest expanses of sand in the world, covering an area of around 3 million km2. On average, the region receives less than 15 inches (380 mm) of rainfall per year. The Karakum desert lies at the southern portion of the Turan Lowlands.

The part of the depression adjacent to the Aral Sea is drainless. It includes a network of temporary streams usually ending in sor salt flats, which seasonally become salt lakes.

Three of the largest cities in the Turan Depression are Daşoguz in Turkmenistan, Nukus in Uzbekistan, and Urganch, also in Uzbekistan. Akjagaýa in Turkmenistan is 267 feet (81 meters) below sea level.

Geography

The Tian Shan range is located north and west of the Taklamakan Desert and directly north of the Tarim Basin. It straddles the border regions of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Xinjiang in Northwest China. To the south, it connects with the Pamir Mountains, while to north and east, it meets the Altai Mountains of Mongolia.

The Tian Shan range extends eastwards for approximately 2,900 kilometers from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It forms part of the Himalayan orogenic belt, resulting from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates during the Cenozoic era. The range encompasses the Bogda Shan in the east, as defined by both Western and Chinese cartography.

The Tian Shan's highest peak is Jengish Chokusu (also known as Victory Peak), shared by Kyrgyzstan and China.

Ecology

The Tian Shan holds important forests of Schrenk's spruce (Picea schrenkiana) at altitudes of over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft); the lower slopes have unique natural forests of wild walnuts and apples.

The Tian Shan in its immediate geological past was kept from glaciation due to the "protecting" warm influence of the Indian Ocean monsoon climate. This defined its ecological features which could sustain its distinctive ecosphere. The mountains were subjected to constant geological changes with constantly evolving drainage systems which affected the patterns of vegetation, as well as exposing fertile soil for newly emerging seedlings to thrive in.

Tulips originated in the Tian Shan Mountains. The plant then made its way to Turkey via the Silk Road and became a symbol of the Ottoman Empire.

Geography

The Ustyurt is located between the Dead Kultuk, Mangyshlak Peninsula and Kara-Bogaz-Gol of the Caspian Sea to the west, and the Aral Sea, Amudarya Delta and Sarygamysh Lake to the east.

It extends roughly 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi), with an average altitude of 150 m (490 ft). Its highest point rises to 370 m (1,200 ft) in the south-west. At its northeastern edge it drops steeply to the Aral Sea and the surrounding plain.

The Ustyurt Plateau is bounded by steep cliffs called chinks nearly from everywhere. To the east, it encompasses the historical western shoreline of the Aral Sea. In the southern region, it extends to the Kunya-Darya alluvial plain and the valley of the Uzboy, while in the west, it reaches the Karynyaryk depression.

Geography and geology

The Fergana Valley is an intermountain depression in Central Asia, between the mountain systems of the Tien Shan in the north and the Alay in the south. The valley is approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) long and up to 70 kilometres (43 mi) wide, forming an area covering 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi). Its position makes it a separate geographic zone. The valley owes its fertility to two rivers, the Naryn and the Kara Darya, which unite in the valley, near Namangan, to form the Syr Darya. Numerous other tributaries of these rivers exist in the valley including the Sokh River.

Climate

The climate of this valley is dry and continental, being mostly a cool arid climate (Köppen BWk) or a cool semi-arid climate (BSk) in less shielded areas. In March the temperature reaches 20 °C (68 °F), and then rapidly rises to 35 °C (95 °F) in June, July and August. During the five months following April precipitation is rare, but increases in frequency starting in October. Snow and frost, down to −20 °C (−4 °F), occurs in December and January.

History

Fergana, on the route to Tarim Basin from the west, remained at the boundaries of a number of classical era empires.

As early as 500 BC, the western sections of the Fergana Valley formed part of the Sogdiana region, which was ruled from further west and owed fealty to the Achaemenid Empire at the time of Darius the Great. The independent and warlike Sogdiana formed a border region insulating the Achaemenid Persians from the nomadic Scythians to the north and east. It was forcibly settled by exiled Greeks from the Anatolian coast, who had rebelled or otherwise given Persia trouble. Eventually, it had a significant Greek community. The capital of the region was known to the Greeks as Cyropolis, named after Cyrus the Great.

Geography

Kyzylkum is mainly located in Uzbekistan. Its territory consists mainly of an extensive plain at an altitude up to 300 m (980 ft) above sea level, with a number of depressions and highlands (Sultanuizdag, Bukantau). Most of the area is covered with dunes (barchans); in the northwest large areas are covered with takirs (clay coatings); there are also some oases. There are agricultural settlements along the rivers and in the oases. Temperatures can be very high during the summer months, from mid-May to mid-September. Kerki, one extreme inland city located on the banks of the Amu Darya River, recorded 52 °C (126 °F) in July 1983.

Economy

The local population uses the large spaces of the Kyzylkum Desert as a pasture for livestock (mostly sheep, Bactrian camels and dromedaries).

The desert is well known for its deposits of gold, uranium, copper, aluminium and silver, natural gas and oil. The development of the most famous gold-field at Muruntau began in the early 1970s. The centres for the mining and smelting industry at the region are Navoi, Zarafshan, Uchkuduk. The major industrial enterprises are: НГМК (Navoi Mining and Smelting Complex) and the Uzbek U.S.A. Joint Venture "Zarafshan-Newmont". The centres of the gas-production industry are Gazli and Mubarek.

Geography

The desert covers roughly seventy percent of Turkmenistan, a long east–west swath. It sits east of the Caspian Sea which has a steep east bank. It adjoins, to the north, the long delta feeding the South Aral Sea further north, another endorheic lake, about 58 m (190 ft) higher than the Caspian Sea. The delta is that of the Amu Darya river to the northeast, demarcating the long border with the Kyzylkum Desert of Uzbekistan. The desert is divided into three regions, the elevated northern Trans-Unguz Karakum, the low-lying Central Karakum, and the southeastern Karakum, home to a chain of salt marshes. Since the early 1980s, the relatively small desert extension, the Aralkum, has come to occupy most of the former seabed of the Aral Sea, about 15,440 sq mi (40,000 km2).

Geology

The Karakum is home to the Darvaza gas crater. Also called the "Door to Hell" or the "Gates of Hell" by locals, it is a crater of natural gas that has been burning since 1971. The crater is a major tourist attraction, with hundreds of visitors arriving each year.