The Amu Darya ,(Persian: آمو دریا) also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus, is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Kush, the Amu Darya is formed by the confluence of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, in the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and flows from there north-westwards into the southern remnants of the Aral Sea. In its upper course, the river forms part of Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. In ancient history, the river was regarded as the boundary of Greater Iran with Turan, which roughly corresponded to present-day Central Asia. The Amu Darya has a flow of about 70 cubic kilometres per year on average.
Central Asia, also known as Central Eurasia, is a subregion of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the southwest and European Russia in the northwest to Western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Siberia in the north. It includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan" in both respective native languages and most other languages. Central Asia borders Eastern Europe to the west, West Asia to the southwest, South Asia to the southeast, North Asia to the north, and East Asia to the east.
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 and northern 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.
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea to the west, Iran and Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the north-east, and Kazakhstan to the north-west. It is the southernmost republic of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the loose federation created at the end of 1991 by most of the Post-Soviet states.
Transport in Turkmenistan includes roadways, railways, airways, seaways, and waterways, as well as oil-, gas-, and water pipelines. Road-, rail-, and waterway transport fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Communications.
As of 2007, Uzbekistan's overland transportation infrastructure declined significantly in the post-Soviet era due to low investment and poor maintenance. Air transport was the only branch that received substantial government investment in the early 2000s, as airport modernization projects were undertaken. In the following years, improvements have been made to the surface transport network including the construction of the Tashkent–Samarkand high-speed rail line.
Karakalpakistan, officially the Republic of Karakalpakistan, is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It spans the northwestern portion of Uzbekistan. Its capital is Nukus. Karakalpakstan has an area of 166,590 km2 (64,320 sq mi), and has a population of about 2 million people. Its territory covers the classical land of Khwarazm, which in classical Persian literature was known as Kāt (کات).
Türkmenabat, formerly Amul, Cärjew/Chardzhou, and Novy Chardzhuy, is the second-largest city in Turkmenistan and the administrative centre of Lebap Province. As of 2009, it had a population of approximately 254,000 people. From 1924 to 1927, it was also named Leninsk in honor of Vladimir Lenin.
Central Asia has long been a geostrategic location because of its proximity to the interests of several great powers and regional powers.
Termez is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center of early Buddhism, as a site of Muslim pilgrimage, and as a base of Soviet Union military operations in Afghanistan, accessible via the nearby Hairatan border crossing.
The State Emblem of Uzbekistan was formally adopted on 2 July 1992 by the Government of Uzbekistan. It bears many similarities to the emblem of the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, which the Republic of Uzbekistan succeeded. Like many other post-Soviet republics whose symbols do not predate the October Revolution, the current emblem retains some components of the Soviet one. Prior to 1992, Uzbekistan had an emblem similar to all other Soviet Republics, with standard communist emblems and insignia.
The Vakhsh, also known as the Surkhob in north-central Tajikistan and as the Kyzyl-Suu in Kyrgyzstan, is a Central Asian river and one of the main rivers of Tajikistan. It is a tributary of the Amu Darya river.
Relations between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Tajikistan began in 1992. Afghanistan maintains an embassy in Dushanbe and a consulate in Khorugh. The current Afghanistan ambassador to Tajikistan is LTG. Mohammad Zahir Aghbar. Tajikistan maintains an embassy in Kabul and a consulate in Mazari Sharif, Fayzabad and Kunduz. The current Tajikistan ambassador to Afghanistan is Sharofiddin Imom.
Energy in Afghanistan is provided by hydropower followed by fossil fuel and solar power. Currently, less than 50% of Afghanistan's population has access to electricity. This covers the major cities in the country. Many rural areas do not have access to adequate electricity but this should change after the major CASA-1000 project is completed.
Diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and China were established in the 18th century, when Afghanistan was ruled by Ahmad Shah Durrani and China by Qianlong. But trade relations between these nations date back to at least the Han dynasty with the profitable Silk Road. Presently, China has an embassy in Kabul and Afghanistan has one in Beijing. The two countries share a 92 km (57 mi) border.
The Uzbek Navy, known officially as the River Force of Uzbek Frontier Committee are the mobile riverine force of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan, serving under the Border Troops of the State Security Service.
The Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border is 804 km (500 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Iran to the tripoint with Uzbekistan.
The Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border is 144 km (89 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Turkmenistan to the tripoint with Tajikistan along the Amu River. It is the shortest of Uzbekistan's external borders. The city of Termez in Uzbekistan and the town of Hairatan in Afghanistan are the closest major populated centers to the border.
The Afghanistan–Tajikistan border is 1,357 km (843 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Uzbekistan in the west to the tripoint with the Xinjiang region of China in the east, almost entirely along the Amu Darya, Pyanj and Pamir Rivers, except for the easternmost section along the Wakhan Corridor and divides the ethnic Tajik community into citizens of two separate countries.
Following Uzbekistan's independence from the Soviet Union, Turkey has been especially active in pursuing economic projects and social, cultural, and diplomatic initiatives in Uzbekistan. On December 16, 1991 Turkey was the first country to recognize Uzbekistan and among the first to open an embassy in Tashkent.
