Geography of Tajikistan

Tajikistan is nestled between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to the north and west, China to the east, and Afghanistan to the south. Mountains cover 93 percent of Tajikistan's surface area. The two principal ranges, the Pamir Mountains and the Alay Mountains, give rise to many glacier-fed streams and rivers, which have been used to irrigate farmlands since ancient times. Central Asia's other major mountain range, the Tian Shan, skirts northern Tajikistan. Mountainous terrain separates Tajikistan's two population centers, which are in the lowlands of the southern (Panj River) and northern (Fergana Valley) sections of the country. Especially in areas of intensive agricultural and industrial activity, the Soviet Union's natural resource utilization policies left independent Tajikistan with a legacy of environmental problems.

Dimensions and borders

With an area of , Tajikistan has a maximum east-to-west extent of , and a maximum north-to-south extent of . The country's highly irregular border is long, including along the Chinese border to the east and along the frontier with Afghanistan to the south. Most of the southern border with Afghanistan is defined by the Amu Darya (darya is the Persian word for river) and its tributary the Panj River (Darya-ye Panj), which has headwaters in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The other neighbors are the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan (to the west and the north) and Kyrgyzstan (to the north).

More than half of Tajikistan lies above an elevation of . Even the lowlands, which are located in the Fergana Valley in the far north and in Khatlon Province in the southwest, are well above sea level. In the Turkestan range, highest of the western chains, the maximum elevation is . The highest elevations of this range are in the east, near the border with Kyrgyzstan. That region is dominated by the peaks of the Pamir-Alay mountain system, including two of the three highest elevations in the former Soviet Union: Mount Lenin — and Ismoil Somoni Peak — . Several other peaks in the region also exceed . The mountains contain numerous glaciers, the largest of which, Vanch-Yakh Glacier, covers more than and is the largest glacier in the world outside the polar regions. Because Tajikistan lies in an active seismic belt, severe earthquakes are common.

The two most important rivers in northern Tajikistan are the Syr Darya and the Zeravshan (Zarafshan). The former, the second longest river in Central Asia with a total length of , stretches across the Fergana Valley in far-northern Tajikistan. The Zeravshan River, with a total length of , runs for through the north-center of Tajikistan. Tajikistan's rivers reach high-water levels twice a year: in the spring, fed by the rainy season and melting mountain snow, and in the summer, fed by melting glaciers. The summer freshets are the more useful for irrigation, especially in the Fergana Valley and the valleys of southeastern Tajikistan. Most of Tajikistan's lakes are of glacial origin and are located in the Pamir region in the eastern half of the country. The largest, the Karakul (Qarokul) Lake, is a salt lake devoid of life, lying at an elevation of . The lake is fed by the Syr Darya. Another well-known natural lake of glacial origin is Iskanderkul. It is smaller than the Kayrakum Reservoir and lies in the Fann Mountains in western Tajikistan.

Climate

thumb|300px|Tajikistan map of [[Köppen climate classification]]

thumb|right|300px|[[Karakul (Tajikistan)|Karakul is a lake formed inside a meteor crater in Tajikistan.]]

Tajikistan's climate is continental, subtropical, and semiarid, with some desert areas. The climate changes drastically according to elevation, however. The Fergana Valley and other lowlands are shielded by mountains from Arctic air masses, but temperatures in that region still drop below freezing for more than 100 days a year. In the subtropical southwestern lowlands, which have the highest average temperatures, the climate is arid, although some sections now are irrigated for farming. At Tajikistan's lower elevations, the average temperature range is in July and in January. In the eastern Pamirs, the average July temperature is , and the average January temperature is .

Tajikistan is the wettest of the Central Asian republics, with the average annual precipitation for the Kafernigan and Vakhsh valleys in the south being around , and up to in the mountains. At the Fedchenko Glacier, as much as of snow falls each year. Only in the northern Fergana Valley and in the rain shadow areas of the eastern Pamirs is precipitation as low as in other parts of Central Asia: in the eastern Pamirs less than falls per year. Most precipitation occurs in the winter and spring.

Environmental problems

Most of Tajikistan's environmental problems are associated with the agricultural policies imposed on the country during the Soviet period. By 1991 heavy use of mineral fertilizers and agricultural chemicals was a major cause of pollution in the republic. Among those chemicals were DDT, banned by international convention, and several defoliants and herbicides. In addition to the damage they have done to the air, land, and water, the chemicals have contaminated the cottonseeds whose oil is used widely for cooking. Cotton farmers and their families are at particular risk from the overuse of agricultural chemicals, both from direct physical contact in the field and from the use of the branches of cotton plants at home for fuel. All of these toxic sources are believed to contribute to a high incidence of maternal and child mortality and birth defects. In 1994 the infant mortality rate was 43.2 per 1,000 births, the second highest rate among former Soviet republics. The rate in 1990 had been 40.0 infant deaths per 1,000 births.

Kayrakum (Qairoqqum) Reservoir (Sughd)
Iskanderkul (Fann Mountains)
Kulikalon (Kul-i Kalon) (Fann Mountains)
Nurek Reservoir (Khatlon)
Bulunkul (Pamir)
Drumkul (Pamir)
Karakul (; eastern Pamir)
Rangkul (Pamir)
Sarez (Pamir)
Sasykkul (Pamir)
Shadau Lake (Pamir)
Shorkul (Pamir)
Turumtaikul (Pamir)
Tuzkul (Pamir)
Yashilkul (Pamir)
Zorkul (Pamir)

Severnyy Island

Ostrov Severnyy (Russian: Северный остров; Tajik: Ҷазираи Шимолӣ‎, Jazirai Shimolī; "Northern Island", also spelled as "Severny Island"), more commonly known as Severnyy Island, is a freshwater island located in the eastern basin of Lake Karakul, within the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. Recognized as the largest island in the country, it is notable for its location within the high-altitude Karakul meteorite impact crater in the Pamir Mountains. The island lies in the northern part of Lake Karakul, which sits at approximately 3,960 meters (12,992 ft) above sea level, and measures about long by wide, covering an area of roughly . Along with a large peninsula to the south, Severnyy Island divides the lake into two hydrological basins—a deeper western basin and the shallower eastern basin it occupies—and is part of the crater's central uplift. Geological evidence indicates that in the 19th century the island was connected to the northern shore by a narrow isthmus, which has since submerged. The region endures an extreme high-mountain desert climate (Köppen BWk) with minimal annual precipitation (20–30 mm), brackish lake water, and ice cover from late November to April, resulting in a barren, rocky landscape with sparse steppe vegetation. Despite these harsh conditions, the Lake Karakul area, including Severnyy Island, is designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, serving as a seasonal stopover and breeding ground for migratory species such as the bar-headed goose (Anser indicus), ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), and brown-headed gull (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus).

Area and boundaries

;Area:

:*total:

:**country rank in the world: 94th

:*land:

:*water:

;Area — comparative:

:* slightly smaller than Nepal

:* Australia comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Tasmania

:* Canada comparative: slightly less than twice the size of New Brunswick

:* United Kingdom comparative: slightly larger than England

:* United States comparative: slightly larger than North Carolina

:* EU comparative: slightly larger than Greece

;Land boundaries:

:*total:

:*border countries: Afghanistan , China , Kyrgyzstan , Uzbekistan

;Coastline: (landlocked)

;Elevation extremes:

:*lowest point: Syr Darya

:*highest point: Ismoil Somoni Peak

Other peaks include: Lenin Peak ; Peak Korzhenevskaya ; Independence Peak

arable land: 6%

permanent crops: 1%

pastures: 21%

non-agricultural land: 72%

including forests and woodland: 3%

Irrigated land:

2006:

Total renewable water resources:

99.7 cu km (1997)

Natural hazards:

earthquakes, floods