The Charyn ( kk, Шарын, ''Şaryn'') is a river in the
Almaty Province
Almaty Region ( kk, Алматы облысы, Almaty oblysy; russian: Алматинская область, Almatinskaya oblast) is a Regions of Kazakhstan, region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Its capital, fro ...
of
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. It flows through the
Charyn National Park and merges into the
Ili River
The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...
, which is considered to be the largest artery of
Lake Balkhash
Lake Balkhash ( kk, Балқаш көлі, ''Balqaş kóli'', ; russian: озеро Балхаш, ozero Balkhash) is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the ea ...
. The Charyn is long, and has a drainage basin of . It runs through the territory of Kegen and Uighur regions, forming the
Charyn Canyon
Charyn Canyon (also known as Sharyn Canyon, kk, Шарын шатқалы, ''Sharyn shatqaly'') is a canyon on the Sharyn River in Kazakhstan ( east of Almaty, close to the Chinese border). The canyon is roughly in length. It is part of the ...
.
The
Moinak Hydro Power Plant
The Moinak Hydro Power Plant (Мойнақ СЭС-і, ''Moınaq SES-i'') is a hydro power plant on the Sharyn River south of Almaty in Almaty Province of Kazakhstan. It was commissioned on December 9, 2011, and became fully operational in 2013. ...
lies on the river.
Description
The Sharyn river is full-flowing due to many tributaries that flow into it from the Northern slope of the
Terskei and
Kungei Alatau ranges. With its waters, it cuts a
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
through the Eastern parts of the Zhalanash depression and the Toraigyr mountains.
In the Zhalanash valley, the canyon is called Aktogay, which means White stream in
Kazakh, due to its trapezoidal shape.
See also
*
Charyn National Park
References
Rivers of Kazakhstan
{{Kazakhstan-river-stub