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).
2-876: 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
4-527: 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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