Syr Darya
Syr Darya is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 44.48°, 65.95°
About Syr Darya
The Syr Darya, historically known as the Jaxartes ( jak-SAR-teez; Ancient Greek: Ἰαξάρτης), is a river in Central Asia. It originates in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan, and flows for 2,256.25 kilometres (1,401.97 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan, Sughd province of Tajikistan, and southern Kazakhstan to the northern remnants of the Aral Sea. It is the northern and eastern of the two main rivers in the endorheic basin of the Aral Sea, the other being the Amu Darya.
During the Soviet era, extensive irrigation projects were constructed around both rivers, diverting their water into farmland and causing, during the post-Soviet era, the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake. The point at which the river flows from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan is, at 300 m (980 ft) above sea level, the lowest elevation in Tajikistan.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Syr Darya (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Syr Darya in Depth
Geography
The river rises in two headstreams in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan—the Naryn River and the Kara Darya which come together in the Uzbek part of the Fergana Valley—and flows for some 2,212 kilometres (1,374 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the remains of the Aral Sea. The Syr Darya drains an area of over 800,000 square kilometres (310,000 sq mi), but no more than 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 sq mi) actually contribute significant flow to the river: indeed, two of the largest rivers in its basin, the Talas and the Chu, dry up before reaching it. Its annual flow is a very modest 37 cubic kilometres (30,000,000 acre⋅ft; 8.9 mi3) per year—half that of its sister river, the Amu Darya.
History
When the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great reached the Jaxartes in 329 BC, after travelling through Bactria and Sogdia without encountering any opposition, they met with the first instances of native resistance to their presence. In October 329 BC the Macedonians fought the Battle of Jaxartes against the Saka, killing some 1,200 combatants including the leader of the nomads. Alexander was forced to retire south to deal with a revolt in Sogdia. Alexander was wounded in the fighting that ensued and the native tribes took to attacking the Macedonian garrisons stationed in their towns. As the revolt against Alexander intensified it spread through Sogdia, plunging it into two years of warfare, the intensity of which surpassed any other conflict of the Anabasis Alexandri.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Syr Darya (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Syr Darya: Key Facts
| Length | 2,212 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 703 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 219,000 km² |
| Mouth | North Aral Sea |
| Tributaries | Kosonsoy, Arys River, Keles River, Chirchiq, Angren River, Kara Darya, Naryn River, Soh |
Facts from Wikidata Q483159 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Syr Darya: Quick Answers
- Where is Syr Darya?
- Syr Darya is located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, at 44.4817° N, 65.9458° E.
- Are there dams on the Syr Darya?
- No dam on the Syr Darya is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.