Pyanj River, Tajikistan: description, photo

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

The Great Silk Road runs along this river, and if you cross it, you can find yourself on the territory of Afghanistan. At its bottom in the sand you can find the smallest grains of pure gold. It is ownerless, because, firstly, this region is a border area, in connection with which conflicts with the Afghan side are possible, and secondly, the state does not have money to engage in gold mining on an industrial scale.

General information

This is the Pyanj River in Tajikistan, and a surprisingly paradoxical situation has developed in this region: the mountains, one might say, are stuffed with jewels (silver, gold, sapphires and rubies), but they are not mined.

Beautiful and mighty river is quite changeable. She is either calm or boisterous. It is even hard to imagine that the stormy waters of the beauty broke out of the mountains and joined the quiet and calm flow of the Vakhsh River on the plain. Then it flows into the Amu Darya and, before reaching the sea, diverges in different directions.

Before we move on to moredetailed description of the Pyanj River (border with Afghanistan), consider the Amu Darya River.

A little about the Amudarya basin

Amu Darya is the most water-bearing river in Central Asia. Its length is 1415 kilometers, and from the source of the Pyanj - 2540 km. The river basin covers the territories of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The area of the Amudarya basin is 465,000 sq. km, 255,100 sq. km of which are mountainous.

The boundaries of the basin within the mountain area are quite clearly identified: in the south it runs along the Hindu Kush ridge, in the north - along Turkestan, Alai and Nuratau, in the east - along the Sarykolsky ridge. A large area is occupied by snowfields and glaciers, which determine the nature of the feeding of the largest rivers in the Amudarya basin. These are the Pyanj, Amudarya, Zeravshan, Vakhsh and others. And the rivers located in the western zone of the basin, where mountain ranges with lower heights are located, are fed by snow-glacier and partly by snow (Kashkadarya, Kafirnigan, Surkhandarya, Kyzylsu).

Geography of the Pyanj River strike

The river is formed by the confluence of the Vakhandarya and Pamir rivers. The source is located at an altitude of approximately 2817 meters. The Pyanj River flows between Afghanistan, located on the left bank, and Tajikistan (right bank). The exception is a small area in the Hamadoni district of the Khatlon region. In this place, due to the change in the course of the river, part of the Tajik lands ended up on the left bank. The total length of the river is 921 kilometers, the basin area is 114 thousand square meters. km, average dailywater consumption - about 1000 m³. The reservoir is used for irrigation.

A motor road in the direction of Dushanbe - Khorog passes through some part of the Pyanj valley. At the confluence of the Pyanj Yorkhdara is the village of Yorkh.

It should be noted that in the north-eastern part of Afghanistan, at the confluence of the Panj with the Kokcha River, archaeologists near the village. Shortugay was discovered an ancient Harappan settlement, called Shortugay A (age - about 2200 BC). Parking area - 2.5 ha.

Tributaries

The Pyanj River is mainly fed by melting snow. The name Pyanj (five rivers) was due to the following rivers: Vakhandarya, Pamir, Bartang, Gunt and Vanch.

The first two, as noted above, merge together to form the Pyanj, and the remaining three are right tributaries. All of them belong to the rivers of snow and glacier feeding, because their sources are located in the region of powerful glaciers. For most of their journey, these reservoirs flow through deep gorges, they are characterized by large falls, rapids channels, and therefore a rapid turbulent current. Only the Kokchu River can be attributed to the left most significant tributaries of the Pyanj River.

Finish in conclusion

Many fishermen note that there are few fish left in the lakes and ponds of Tajikistan due to the predatory attitude towards it. In order not to sit on the shore for hours with a fishing rod and not waste time fishing, people use networks and electricity. This leads to the death of eggs andsmall fish.

Fish of the Pyanj River and other fresh water bodies of Tajikistan - marinka (according to fishermen, a very good fish), the queen of freshwater rivers trout (rare), carp, bream, catfish.

In Tajikistan, fishing is not particularly developed as a form of tourism and recreation. Now there are no societies of fishermen and hunters, as before. They helped beginners with advice and experience, provided fishing enthusiasts with the necessary equipment, and also carried out work to familiarize themselves with the rules and laws governing fishing in the republic. Today, there is no development in this regard.