 Geography and climate |
Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia, along the historic Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya rivers and the Silk Road. It borders Turkmenistan in the south and west, Kazakhstan in the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the east, and a little bit of Afghanistan in the south. Well over 2/3 of the country, mainly the central and western parts, are flat. The Ustyurt plateau lies in the far West with marshes and streams. The Kyzylkum desert (Red Sands) is located in the mid-west of the country. The eastern part of the country leans upwards into the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, and Chatkal mountains, located only 70 km from Tashkent running into the western Tian Shan range.
( click on the picture to enlarge )
Samarkand's Fan mountains and a mass of ranges in
the Southeast flow into the Pamir Alay. The mountains
of Tajikistan and Kyrgystan surround the Fergana
valley. The region's largest waterway is the broad
Amu-Darya river, whose delta flows into the Aral
Sea in the west and creates the border of Uzbekistan
with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in the south.
The other river, the Syr-Darya, originates in the
Fergana Valley. However, the most important and
valuable river, is the Zeravshan, which enriched
ancient Bukhara and Samarkand. |
Due to the varied geography, the temperature also varies between mountainous and deserts. There is hardly any rain, and what there is falls from March to April and October to November. Lowlands are nice from May to June and September to early October. Midsummer is especially hot with temperatures up to 40-50 degrees C (104 F-122 F) in southern Uzbekistan. In the winter (January to February) the temperature varies between 5 degrees C below the zero and 10 degrees C (23 F to 50 F). Sandstorms occur in the desert.
Province of Tashkent (North Eastern Uzbekistan) Typically continental, with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
Province of Samarkand (Central Uzbekistan) Typically continental and arid.
Province of Bukhara (South Central Uzbekistan) Typically continental and arid.
Republic of Karakalpakstan and Aral Sea (Southwestern Uzbekistan) Typically continental with very hot summers and cold winters without snow.
Ferghana Valley (Eastern Uzbekistan)-Typically
continental with extreme differences between winter
and summer temperatures. Summers hot and dry, winters
mild and wet. |
