Syr Darya

River in Central Asia, which is formed by headstreams that rise in the Alay and Tien Shan mountain ranges. The Syr Darya flows northwest for 2,212 km/1,375 mi through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan before emptying into the Aral Sea. Its tributaries are used for irrigation; on its course the river passes through the very fertile Fergana Valley, and skirts the north of the Kyzyl-Kum desert. Principal towns on its route are Khodzhent and Kyzl-Orda.

Together with the Amu Darya, the Syr Darya supplies water to over half of the cultivated land of the Central Asian republics, and accounts for 90% of the water resources in the Aral Sea basin. As with the Amu Darya, a large proportion of the river's waters has been diverted for irrigation purposes, severely reducing the volume of water supplied to the Aral Sea.

Syr Darya

Wiloyat (region) in eastern Uzbekistan; area 20,900 sq km/8,069 sq mi; population (1996) 580,000. The capital is Gulistan. The principal economic activity is the cultivation of cotton. Most of the wiloyat lies in the Betpak-Dala desert; the province is traversed by the Syr Darya River.

The wiloyat was formed in 1963 from parts of Samarkand wiloyat and Tashkent wiloyat, together with a some regions formerly belonging to the Kazakh SSR. The region was developed as part of Khruschchev's ‘Virgin Lands’ campaign of the 1950s and 1960s.