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Amu Darya Facts & Worksheets

The Amu Darya is named in English as Amu River, in Tajik as Daryoi Amu, in Turkmen as Amyderya, in Uzbek as Amudaryo, in ancient times as Oxus River.

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The Amu Darya is named in English as Amu River, in Tajik as Daryoi Amu, in Turkmen as Amyderya, in Uzbek as Amudaryo, in ancient times as Oxus River. It is significant and included in one of the longest rivers in Central Asia. The Amu Darya is formed at the intersection of the Vakhsh River and Panj River, within the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve on the boundary within Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and then later circulates from there northerly-westwards into the southern remnants of the Aral Sea.

See the fact file below for more information on the Amu Darya or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Amu Darya worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

DESCRIPTION

  • The Amu Darya has a total length of 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles), and its drainage basin totals 534,739 square kilometers (206,464 sq miles) in area, providing a mean discharge of around 97.4 cubic kilometers (23.4 cu mi) of water per year.
  • The river is navigable for over 1,450 kilometers (900 mi).
  • All of the water originates from the high mountains in the south where annual rainfall can be over 1,000 mm (39 in).

RIVER COURSE

  • The river is determined by the junction of the Vakhsh River and Panj (Pyandzh) River which is the point it becomes known as the Amu Darya River, where it flows west-northwest.
  • In the upper course of the River, the Amu Darya forms part of Afghanistan’s northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
  • The river flows later across the desert of eastern Turkmenistan and, in the lower course, it forms part of the boundary between Uzbekistan to the northeast and Turkmenistan to the southwest.
  • Te Amu Darya unloaded into the Aral Sea, but the deviation of river water for agriculture in the 20th and 21st centuries has contributed to the shrinking of the Aral Sea and assured that the river no longer reaches its historic end.
  • Under the confluence of the Panj with the Vakhsh, the Amu Darya is flanked by three additional tributaries: from the left (south) by the Qondūz River, and from the right (north) by the Kofarnihon (Kafirnigan) and Surkhan rivers.
  • After splitting the highland zone, the river turns to the northwest to cross the desert Turan Plain, where it creates the boundary between the Karakum Desert to the southwest and the Kyzylkum Desert to the northeast. The Amu Darya dissipates much of its water in this region to irrigation, evaporation, and seepage.

HISTORY

  • The Amu Darya (also called as the Jayhan River in Ancient Afghanistan) was named as Oxus by the ancient Greeks. In ancient times, the river Jayhan was noted as the border between Irān and Tūrān.
  • It is supposed that the Amu Darya’s course across the Kara-Kum Desert has gone through numerous main shifts in the past few thousand years.
  • Much of the time, the most current period being in the 13th century to the late 16th century, the Amu Darya drained into both the Aral and the Caspian Seas. Sometimes, the current into the two branches was more or less equal, but often, most of the Amu Darya’s flow divided into the west and flowed into the Caspian Sea.
  • People started to settle along the lower Amu Darya and the Uzboy in the 5th century A.D., building a growing chain of agricultural lands, towns, and cities.
  • The first British explorer who arrived in the region was a naval officer called John Wood. He was sent on a voyage to discover the source of the river in 1839. He discovered modern-day Lake Zorkul, called it Lake Victoria and declared he had found the source.
  • Later, the French navigator and geographer Thibaut Viné accumulated a lot of information about this area during five expeditions between 1856 and 1862.
  • In the 20th century, the Soviet Union became the ruling authority.
  • They were collapsed in the 1990s and Central Asia burst up into many smaller countries that occupy or partially occupy the Amu Darya basin.
  • During the late 1960s and 1970s, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya were primarily manipulated by the Soviets to irrigate vast cotton fields in the Central Asian plain. Going back, the water from the rivers was then being utilized for agriculture, but not on this extensive scale. The Qaraqum Canal, Karshi Canal, and Bukhara Canal were among the larger of the irrigation deviations built.

SIBERIAN TIGER INTRODUCTION PROJECT

  • The Caspian tiger used to emerge along the river’s banks. After its annihilation, Darya’s delta was prescribed as a potential site for the installation of its closest surviving relative, the Siberian tiger.
  • Expediency research was initiated to study if the region was suitable and if so, the action would receive support from relevant decision-makers.
  • A viable tiger community of about 100 would need at least 5,000 km2 (1,900 sq mi) of adjacent habitat with rich prey communities. The aforementioned habitat was not available at that stage and could not be presented in the short term. The recommended region was consequently unsuitable for the reintroduction, at least at that stage.

Amu Darya Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Amu Darya across 21 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Amu Darya worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Amu Darya which is named in English as Amu River, in Tajik as Daryoi Amu, in Turkmen as Amyderya, in Uzbek as Amudaryo, in ancient times as Oxus River. It is significant and included in one of the longest rivers in Central Asia. The Amu Darya is formed at the intersection of the Vakhsh River and Panj River, within the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve on the boundary within Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and then later circulates from there northerly-westwards into the southern remnants of the Aral Sea.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Amu Darya Facts
  • Class Report
  • Amu Darya’s Name
  • Syr And Amu Darya
  • Amu Darya Info
  • Amu Darya Flow
  • Amu Timeline
  • Good or Trash?
  • Project in Amu Darya
  • Dedicate to Amu Darya
  • Uniquely Amu Darya

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Link will appear as Amu Darya Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, February 20, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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