The Zarafshon is a river in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia . Its name, "spreader of gold" in Persian , refers to the presence of gold -bearing sands in the upper reaches of the river. To the ancient Greeks it was known as the Polytimetus . It was also formerly known as Sughd River . The river is 877 kilometres (545 mi) long and has a basin area of 17,700 square kilometres (6,800 sq mi).
5-876: It rises at the Zeravshan Glacier , 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 300 kilometres (190 mi), passing Panjakent before entering Uzbekistan at 39°32′N 67°27′E / 39.533°N 67.450°E / 39.533; 67.450 , where it turns west-to-north-west, flowing past
10-596: A river in Uzbekistan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Tajikistan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Turkestan Range One of the northern extensions of the Pamir-Alay system, the Turkestan Range ( Russian : Туркестанский хребет ; Kyrgyz : Түркстан кырка тоосу ; Uzbek : Туркистон тизмаси , romanized: Turkiston tizmasi ; Tajik : Қаторкӯҳи Туркистон ) stretches for
15-656: A total length of 340 km from the Alay Mountains on the border of Kyrgyzstan with Tajikistan to the Samarkand oasis in Uzbekistan . It runs in the east–west direction, north of the Zeravshan Range , forming the southern boundary of the Ferghana Valley in Tajikistan and Golodnaya Steppe in Uzbekistan. The highest elevations are in the east, near the border with Kyrgyzstan. The maximum elevation
20-605: Is the Pik Skalisty at 5,621 metres (18,442 ft). Glaciation occurs especially in the east. The southern slopes are bare cliffs and mountain steppe; the northern slopes are covered with forests. A highway through the Shakhristan Pass at 3,378 meters (11,083 ft) connects the capital Dushanbe with Khujand in Northern Tajikistan ( Sughd Province ). This Kyrgyzstan location article
25-527: 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. This article related to
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