The Kara Darya ( ky, Кара-Дарыя, Kara-Daryya, قارا-دارىيا; uz, Qoradaryo, ''Қорадарё'', قارەدەريا , russian: Карадарья, Karadar'ya - literally ''black river'')''Darya'' means "river", so Kara Darya ''River'' is a tautology. is a major river in southern

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

and eastern

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. It is one of the source rivers of the Syr Darya (the second largest river of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

), the other source river is the

Naryn Naryn ( ky, Нарын, translit=Naryn, Mongolian : Нарийн, Nariin, Traditional Mongolian ᠨᠠᠷᠢᠨ) is the regional administrative center of Naryn Region in central Kyrgyzstan. Its area is , and its estimated population was 41,17 ...

. The Kara Darya is formed by the confluence of the rivers Kara-Kulja and

Tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...

. Its length is , and watershed area .Карадарья

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

The upper Kara Darya flows northwest across eastern

Osh Region Osh Region ( ky, Ош облусу, translit=Osh oblusu; russian: Ошская область, Oshskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Osh, which is not part of the region. It is bounded by (clockwise) Jalal-Abad Re ...

southwest of and parallel to the

Fergana Range The Fergana Range ( ky, Фергана тоо кыркасы, ''Ferğana tó qırqası/Fergana too kyrkasy'', فەرعانا توو قىرقاسى), also known as Ferganskiy Khrebet (Феранский Хребет) ''Ferganskij Hrebet'' in Russi ...

. It enters the

Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...

and Uzbek territory a few kilometres west of

Özgön Özgön ( ky, Өзгөн) or Uzgen (russian: Узген) is a town in Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan. It is a city of district significance and the seat of Özgön District. Its population was 62,802 in 2021. History The town is mentioned in Chinese annal ...

. In its lower course through the Fergana Valley it is used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

. There is a dam at

Kuyganyor Kuyganyor (also spelled as Kuyganyar, uz, Kuyganyor, Куйганёр, russian: Куйганъяр) is an urban-type settlement in Andijan Region, Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), off ...

(north of Andijan) where part of its water is diverted into the

Great Fergana Canal The Great Fergana Canal (russian: Ферганский канал, tg, Фарғона Канал, uz, Fargʻona Kanali, ar, قناة فرغانة) is an irrigation canal located on the Fergana Valley between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in Central ...

. The

Andijan Dam The Andijan Dam is a buttress dam on the river Kara Darya near Andijan in Andijan Region, Uzbekistan. Its reservoir covers and stretches into neighboring Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan. The dam serves several purposes to include irrigation in the Fergana ...

, built in 1973, created the Andijan Reservoir. There are more than 200 known tributaries of Kara Darya; the largest are, from source to mouth: * Kara-Kulja (right) *

(left) * Jazy (right) *

Kurshab Kurshab (established as ''Pokrovskoye'', before 2004: ''Leninskoye'') is a large village in Osh Region of Kyrgyzstan. It is part of the Özgön District. Its population was 20,471 in 2021. It is situated near the river Kurshab, between the cities ...

(left) * Kögart (right) * Kara-Üngkür (right) *

Aravansay The Aravansay ( ky, Аравансай, uz, Aravonsoy) is a river in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Its source is in the Kichi-Alay range, part of the Alay Range, and it discharges into the Shahrixonsoy, one of the canals of the Fergana Valley. The ...

(left)

References

Tributaries of the Syr Darya {{Uzbekistan-river-stub