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.
The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is at the Jengish Chokusu at 7,439 metres (24,406 ft) high. Its lowest point is at the Turpan Depression, which is 154 m (505 ft) below sea level.
The Karakoram is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the jurisdiction of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is controlled by Pakistan. Its highest peak, K2, is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It begins in the Wakhan Corridor (Afghanistan) in the west, encompasses the majority of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and extends into Ladakh and Aksai Chin. It is part of the larger Trans-Himalayan mountain ranges.
The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world's highest mountains.
The Alay or Alai Range is a mountain range that extends from the Tien Shan mountain range in Kyrgyzstan west into Tajikistan. It is part of the Pamir-Alay mountain system. The range runs approximately east to west. Its highest summit is Pik Tandykul, reaching 5544 m. It forms the southern border of the Fergana Valley, and in the south it falls steeply to the Alay Valley. The southern slopes of the range drain into the Kyzylsuu or Vakhsh River, a tributary of the Amu Darya. The streams that drain the northern slopes of the range are tributaries of the Syr Darya, and empty into the Fergana Valley to the north of the range. Pik Skobeleva, 5,051 metres (16,572 ft), is also a well-known summit. European route E007: Tashkent – Kokand – Andijan – Osh – Irkeshtam crosses the range by the Taldyk Pass. The range is also traversed by Pamir highway.
Jetisu or Semirechye is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the southeastern part of modern Kazakhstan.
The Trans-Alay or Trans-Alai Range is the northernmost range of the Pamir Mountain System. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the range has been divided between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The M41, known informally and more commonly as the Pamir Highway, is a road traversing the Pamir Mountains through Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with a length of over 1,200 km. It is the only continuous route through the difficult terrain of the mountains and is the main supply route to Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. The route has been in use for millennia, as there are a limited number of viable routes through the high Pamir Mountains. The road formed one link of the ancient Silk Road trade route. M41 is the Soviet road number, but it only remains as an official designation in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, as confirmed by official decree. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have passed decrees abolishing Soviet numbering of highways and assigning their own national numbering.
The Mountains of Central Asia are a biodiversity hot spot designated by Conservation International which covers several montane and alpine ecoregions of Central Asia, including those of the Pamir and Tian Shan ranges, and extending across portions of Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Karakoram range in China, Pakistan and India. The Karakoram range is also famously known for Karakoram Anomaly that relates to the anomalous growth of glaciers in the central Karakoram that is in contrast with melting glaciers in other mountainous ranges of Himalayas and other parts of the world due to the effects of climate change.
Mount Imeon is an ancient name for the Central Asian complex of mountain ranges comprising the present Hindu Kush, Pamir and Tian Shan, extending from the Zagros Mountains in the southwest to the Altay Mountains in the northeast, and linked to the Kunlun, Karakoram and Himalayas to the southeast. The term was used by Hellenistic-era scholars as "Imaus Mount", even though non-Greek in etymology, and predating Alexander the Great.
The Zarafshan Range, formerly the Zeravshan Range, is a mountain range in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, part of the Pamir-Alay mountains. Almost all of the range belongs to the drainage basins of the Zarafshan River.
The Fergana Range is a mountain range of the Tian Shan in the Kyrgyz Republic. The length of the range is 206 km, and the average height is 3,600 m above sea level. The highest mountain is 4,893 m above sea level.
The Tian Shan is a mountain range in central Asia that extends through western China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The Tian Shan is 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mi) long, and up to 7,400 metres (24,300 ft) high. Throughout the Tian Shan there are several intermontane basins separated by high ranges. Plate tectonic theory makes the assumption that deformation is concentrated along plate boundaries. However, active deformation is observed in the Tian Shan, far from plate boundaries. This apparent contradiction of plate tectonic theory makes the Tian Shan a key place to study the dynamics of intracontinental deformation.
Agriades pheretiades, the Tien Shan blue, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
High-mountain Asia (HMA) is a high-elevation geographic region in central-south Asia that includes numerous cordillera and highland systems around the Tibetan Plateau, encompassing regions of East, Southeast, South and Central Asia. The region was orogenically formed by the continental collision of the Indian Plate into the Eurasian Plate.
The geology of Kyrgyzstan began to form during the Proterozoic. The country has experienced long-running uplift events, forming the Tian Shan mountains and large, sediment filled basins.
The Gissaro-Alai open woodlands ecoregion covers the western foothills winding around two western offshoots of the Tian Shan Mountains in western Tajikistan, and parts of eastern Uzbekistan and western Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia. The woodlands are typically of Juniper trees and shrubs, fitting the altitude zone situated between the desert valley floor, and the tree line, above which the mountain ridges are glaciated and barren.
The 1902 Turkestan earthquake devastated Xinjiang, China, near the Kyrgyzstan border. It occurred on August 22, 1902, at 03:00:22 with an epicenter in the Tien Shan mountains. The thrust earthquake measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale (Mw ) and had a depth of 18 km (11 mi).
The 1889 Chilik earthquake occurred on July 11 on the Gregorian calendar, or June 30 on the Julian calendar at 15:14 local time in the Tien Shan mountains. The earthquake measured an estimated Mw 7.9–8.0 on the moment magnitude scale and was assigned a maximum intensity of X (Devastating) on the MSK 64 and Rossi-Forel scales. Over 92 people across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China were killed.
The 1887 Verny earthquake occurred on June 8 at 04:35 local time in the Turkestan region of present-day Kazakhstan. It had an epicenter in the northern foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountain range, or just south of the city of Verny,. This earthquake destroyed the city of Verny, killing at least 330 people. A moment magnitude of 7.3–7.7 and MSK 64 intensity of X (Devastating) has been estimated for the earthquake.
