from north, the border with Kyrgyzstan, to southwest part of Tajikistan where near the Afghanistan border it flows into the Amy Darya river. So, the Muksu River is a tributary of the Vaksh river. So, there is also one another river – and its name is the Zeravshan River which starts also, of course, in the Republic of Tajikistan territory, in the Pamir Mountains, and flows to western parts of the country towards the border with Uzbekistan. The Zeravshan River crosses the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan turning to northwest part of the country, and then flows into the Amy Darya River in Uzbekistan. So, maybe, it is worth to mention again, that Amy Darya is the most important and the main river in Central Asian Region, with the length of about two thousand and five hundred kilometres, and this river flows into the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan territory. So, probably, today you wrote about some rivers flowing through the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan, such as the Kyzylsu River, Muksu River, Zeravshan River. So, these rivers are tributaries, and two of them, one can say officially, are the source rivers of Amu Darya, the only difference is that the Muksu River flows into the Vaksh River which, of course, is a source river of Amy Darya and flows from north, while another river – the Zeravshan River, also a tributary of Amu Darya, flows or enters into Amu Darya, but only in the Republic of Uzbekistan territory, near the Aral Sea. So, only one of those three rivers you wrote about today, i.e., the Kyzylsu River flows into the Panj River near the Afghanistan border in the western part of the Republic of Tajikistan, and it is, of course, the Khatlon Province. Looking at some pictures of areas where the Zeravshan River flows, for example, in Ayni District which officially belongs to the Sughd Province of Tajikistan, thus in areas of the north part of Tajikistan, one can say that the Zeravshan River area or, maybe one must say, its basin is not so large, so it can be assumed or understood that this river is not so big and its water system area is not quite large. So, there was very interesting to know that Ayni District which officially belongs to the Sughd Region has administrative divisions officially called as jamoats, and this Ayni District consists of eight jamoats.
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Well, the second great river in Central Asia is Syr Darya whose length is about 2 200 km flows through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan territories, it starts in Tian Shan Mountains in central part of Kyrgyzstan, and it has two main source rivers which flow into Syr Darya, and they are: the Naryn River with the length of about 806 km, and its other source river is Kara Darya river which flowes into Syr Darya and its length is about 176 km.
Tian Shan Mountains area (Kyrgyzstan), the highest peak: 7 500 m.
Well, as regards to Tian Shan Mountains, they are located in the Kyrgyz Republic, and cover also some parts of China, Mongolia and Uzbekistan. The highest eleveation of these mountains is about 7 600 m above sea level.
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Well, that is true that the Republic of Tajikistan has big water resources, such as lakes and rivers, that’s true that lakes cover two percent of the Tajikistan territory, and probably most of them are in the Pamir Mountains. But there are also some nine hundred rivers in the Republic of Tajikistan whose length exceeds ten kilometres. Well, it’s worth to say some words also about tributaries of the Panj River, Vaksh River and Amy Darya River. Well, there is one river, called Kyzylsu which is a source river of the Panj River. Kyzylsu River flows into the Panj River, in southwestern Tajikistan, near the Afghanistan border. Another source river – Muksu River flows into the Vaksh River, the river which flows after that into the Panj River. So that the third source river about which you read today is the Zeravshan River which flows through the northwest part of the Republic of Tajikistan, through the Sughd Region, Ayni District, then crosses the border with Uzbekistan, running through Uzbekistan territory north-westwards into the Amu Darya River near the Aral Sea.
Kyzylsu River – flows into the Panj River.
Muksu River – flows into the Vaksh River.
Zeravshan River – flows into the Amu Darya River.
27 May 2015, Wednesday
Now, there was one word mentioned, namely, jamoats, well, it is the third level administrative division in the Republic of Tajikistan, along with provinces and districts. Well, as you already know, this country which is situated in the Central Asia Region, includes for main regions or provinces, or also, as these divisions are called in Tajikistan – velayats. You also know that each province in the Republic consists of districts, and districts in the Republic of Tajikistan consist of jamoats. So, that administrative division of districts is of the same level as municipality, and, for example, as you wrote yesterday, one district located in Sughd Reagion and named Ayni District consists of eight jamoats. But you know, for me, of course, it is more interesting to read about those divisions, i.e. jamoats in some isolated places of the Republic of Tajikistan, maybe, for example, you need to take Murghob district of the Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region. So, that district which is located close to China has six jamoats, and maybe also it would be great to tell about Alichur jamoat which is situated in Murghob district, and its population amounts to about two thousand residents. Why I am interested in that jamoat or municipality, well, maybe, because it’s something close to you. For example, not densely populated places of that Tajikistan area, maybe, the poor looks of these settlements situated in Alichur jamoat. So, if you probably want to know about some facts, i.e. how many jamoats does the Republic of Tajikistan include, well, there will be some four hundred and six ones, namely 406 jamoats in Tajikistan. Well, there are not much information about the Republic of Tajikistan administrative units – jamoats, but if it is necessary to write something, why not to write about some other geographic objects, such as lakes, in this Republic. Well, lakes cover about two percent of the Tajik territory, and you already know about some lakes. So, there is Zorkul Lake which is located in south-eastern Tajikistan, not so far from the Concord Mountain, its area amounts to about thirty nine square kilometres or 39 km2, and another lake, such as Turumtaykul Lake. So, as often happens, there are some places in Rushon district (one of the seven districts of the Gorno- Badakshan Autonomous Region, such as Darvoz district, Rostshala district, Vanj district, Murghob district, Ishkoshim district, and Shughnon district) where the administrative capital of the Gorno- Badakshan Autonomous Region – Khorugh city is located. In Rushon district is situated one of the largest lakes in the Republic of Tajikistan, i.e. the Sarez Lake. So, this lake is situated in remote mountainous area, of course, the Pamir Mountains, and its area amounts to about eighty square kilometres (80 km2). so the deepest place of that Sarez Lake is about five hundred metres (500 m), but the average depth of the Sarez Lake is about two hundred metres (200 m). Well, of course, this is not a small lake if you, for example, take into account the lake depth. In my opinion, a major part of lakes in the Republic of Tajikistan are very deep, or, at least, is rather deep. In mountainous areas, as it must be, lakes are very deep, especially in the Pamir Mountains. If you, for example, would look at some geographic objects, such as seas, many of them are not such deep as lakes in the Republic of Tajikistan, and that’s why the greater part of these mountainous areas in the Central Asia countries, such as Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, are very famous due to these lakes, and especially deep lakes lost in mountains. Well, probably, elevation of this Sarez Lake which is situated in the Pamir Mountains, Rushon district, is about three thousand and some three hundred metres above sea level, so the Sarez Lake is situated on 3 300 metres in high mountains, and that’s of course can make to think that this lake is one of the highest altitude lakes, or as a matter of fact, it is located in one of the highest mountain areas. This, of course, can give us some facts that water of Sarez Lake is to be very cold, but fresh and clear, as often many water resources in the Pamir Mountains are. So, also, let us look at some facts in these central and eastern parts of the Republic of Tajikistan that weather is cold throughout a whole year, and especially in eastern regions of Tajikistan where the temperature really can be about only +10 ºC in summer, i.e. in July; maybe as regards to Rushon district where Sarez Lake