Zarafshon (river)

The Zarafshon is a river in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its name 'spreader of gold' in Persian refers to the presence of gold-bearing sands in the upper reaches of the river. It was known as the Polytimetus by the ancient Greeks. The river is known in Russian as Zeravshan, and it was also formerly known as the Sughd River. The river is long and has a basin area of .Зеравшан (река в Ср. Азии), Great Soviet Encyclopedia It is the site of the ancient Battle of the Polytimetus.

Geography It rises at the , close to where the Turkestan Range and the Zeravshan Range of the Pamir-Alay mountains meet, in Tajikistan. In its upper course, upstream from its confluence with the Fan Darya, it is also called Matcha. It flows due west for some , passing Panjakent before entering Uzbekistan at , where it turns west-to-north-west, flowing past the legendary city of Samarkand, where it feeds the Dargom Canal, which is entirely dependent on the oasis thus created, until it bends left again to the west north of Navoiy and further to the south-west, passing Bukhara before it is lost in the desert beyond the city of Qorakoʻl (Karakul), not quite reaching the Amu Darya, of which it was formerly a tributary.

See also Zarafshon, a city in Uzbekistan's Navoiy Region, called "the gold capital of Uzbekistan". Zarafshan (disambiguation) Zarafshan Bridge Notes

References

Zarafshon (river)

Bron en licentie