Zeravshan River

Zerafshan River[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] is a river 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.

"Zarafshan River" redirects here. For the river in Xinjiang, China, see Yarkand River.
For other uses, see Zarafshan (disambiguation).
Zerafshan River in Ayni District, Tajikistan.
Zarafshan in the Amu Darya basin
Location of Zerafshan River in Central Asia.
Zerafshan River and Samarkand from space.[1]

It rises at 39°30′N 70°35′E on the fringes of the Pamirs in Tajikistan, flowing due west for some 300 kilometres (190 mi), passing Penjikent before entering Uzbekistan at 39°32′N 67°27′E, 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 Qorako‘l (Karakul), not quite reaching the Amu Darya, of which it was formerly a tributary.

Tajikistan aims to construct several hydro-electric power stations on Zerafshan River and has signed the MOU in November 2013 with Zarvon Corporation for the financing and construction of the plants. All previous MOU's have been voided.

See also

Notes
  1. Romanized variously as Zarafshan, Zarafshon, Zeravshan, Zaraafshaan, etc.
  2. Tajik: Дарёи Зарафшон, romanized: Daryoyi Zarafshon; Uzbek: Zeravshon, Зеравшон, زېرەۋشان; from Persian Persian: زرافشان‎, romanized: Zarâfšân – meaning "the spreader of gold"

References
  1. Samarkand, Uzbekistan
  • Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Zerafshan" . Encyclopedia Americana.

Further reading
  • В.В. Бартольд "К Истории Орошения в Туркестане" (Collected Works, Vol.3) (Москва) 1965
  • V.V. Barthold "Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion" (London) 1968
  • Robert Lewis "Early Irrigation in West Turkestan" Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol.56 No..3 (Sept. 1966) pp467–491
  • Edgar Knobloch "Beyond the Oxus" (London) 1972


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