The Ak-Suu (; ; ) is a left tributary of the

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

, flowing through

Batken Region Batken is a Regions of Kyrgyzstan, region of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Batken. It is bounded on the east by Osh Region, on the south, west and north by Tajikistan, and on the northeast by Uzbekistan. The northern part of the region is part of th ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

and

Sughd Region Sughd Province, also referred to as the Sogdia Region, and Leninabad before 2001, is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in the historical Sogdiana, it is located in the north ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

. The river starts at Ay-Kul, in the north slopes of

Turkestan Range One of the northern extensions of the Pamir-Alay system, the Turkestan Range (; ; ; ) stretches for a total length of 340 km from the Alay Mountains on the border of Kyrgyzstan with Tajikistan to the Samarkand oasis in Uzbekistan. It runs in ...

in Sarkent State Nature Park. The river flows into the river

near the town

Navkat Navkat (; , formerly: ''Nau'' or ''Nov'') is a town in Tajikistan located in Sughd Region south-west of Khujand. It is the administrative capital of Spitamen District Spitamen District (; ) is a district in north-central Sughd, Tajikistan, stretc ...

in northern Tajikistan. However, the river is fully diverted for irrigation and rarely reaches the Syr Darya. The main settlements along the river include the village of Ak-Suu in Kyrgyzstan and the town of Navkat in Tajikistan. Most communities along the river in both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan cultivate rice, relying on the river's water for irrigation. In Tajikistan, the water is also used to grow other crops, including cotton, onions, and maize.

Name

The name Ak-Suu means "white water" in

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

. Numerous rivers in Central Asia bear this name. According to one interpretation, rivers originating from glaciers are often referred to as Ak-Suu. The name is also attested in historical sources; for example,

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

mentions several rivers named Ak-Suu in his memoir, the '' Baburname''.

Course

The Ak-Suu River originates at Ay-Kul, on the northern slopes of the

within the Sarkent State Nature Park in Kyrgyzstan. It flows in a generally northerly direction, crossing into Tajikistan, where it approaches the

near the town of

. However, due to complete diversion for irrigation purposes, the river rarely reaches the Syr Darya. The majority of the river's flow is diverted through an irrigation channel near the village of Langar in Tajikistan. In Kyrgyzstan, a levee is currently under construction near the village of Ak-Suu, aimed at narrowing the riverbed and reclaiming land for agricultural use.

Hydrology

The Ak-Suu River is long and has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of . Its average flow rate is . Along with the Khojabakirgan and

Isfana Razzakov (; ), formerly known as Isfana, is a town in the extreme western end of Batken Region in southern Kyrgyzstan. The town is located in the southern part of the Fergana Valley, in a region surrounded on three sides by Tajikistan. It was ren ...

river basins, the Ak-Suu river basin sits above the Suluytka–Batken–Nau–Isfara transboundary aquifer in the Syr Darya Basin. The Ak-Suu subbasin is prone to flash floods; one such event in 2015 caused damage to several houses.

References

{{Rivers of Kyrgyzstan Rivers of Kyrgyzstan Rivers of Tajikistan Tributaries of the Syr Darya