The Kushk (known in Turkmenistan as ''Guşgy'') is a river which, for a portion of its course, forms the boundary between

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

, and used to form part of the southernmost border of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The Kushk is fed by the Aq Robat and Galleh Chagar rivers in north-western Afghanistan. After 150 km, it flows into the

Murghab River The Marghab River (Dari/Pashto: مرغاب, ''Murghāb'', Balochi: مرگاپ), anciently the Margiana (Ancient Greek: Μαργιανή, ''Margianḗ''), is an long river in Central Asia. It rises in the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Sa ...

Etymology

It is also known as ''Kushka River''. The river gives its name to Kushk, the chief town in the

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

province of

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

, situated some from the Turkmenistan border, and to Kushka (now

Serhetabat Serhetabat (formerly Gushgy) (; , Kushka) is a city in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, southernTurkmenistan. Serhetabat lies in the valley of the Kushk River. The population was 5,200 in 1991. It is immediately opposite Torghundi, Afghani ...

), a former military post on the border of Turkmenistan. There it joins Egriyok River and then pours into Morghāb River. In the summer months, parts of the river are dry but in general the river irrigates farmland in the lower parts.

Geography

One bridge over the river was built in 1960, it carries a railroad track. Linking

Torghundi Torghundi, also spelled Turghundi or Towrgondi (, ), is a border town in northern Herat Province of Afghanistan. The town's main attraction is the Torghundi custom house and border checkpoint, which officially connects Afghanistan by road wit ...

with

. It later had a road bridge built as well. For about 16 km of its path, the Kushk river marks the border between Afghanistan and

. This river flows towards northwest and after passing the town of Koshk-e Kohneh joins Moqor river. The Kushk was once also crossed by the Chahil Dukhteran Bridge (or 'Pul-i-Kishti'), now in ruins.

Ecological significance

The region of the Kushka River was home to the

Persian leopard ''Panthera pardus tulliana'', also called Persian leopard, Anatolian leopard, and Caucasian leopard in different parts of its range, is a leopard subspecies that was first described in 1856 based on a zoological specimen found in western Anato ...

. In the past, the

Caspian tiger The Caspian tiger was a '' Panthera tigris tigris'' population native to eastern Turkey, northern Iran, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus around the Caspian Sea, Central Asia to northern Afghanistan and the Xinjiang region in western China. Until the Midd ...

and

Asiatic cheetah The Asiatic cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus venaticus'') is a critically endangered cheetah subspecies currently only surviving in Iran. Its range once spread from the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East to the Caspian region, Transcaucasus, Kyzyl ...

had occurred here.

References

Rivers of Afghanistan Rivers of Turkmenistan International rivers of Asia Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border Landforms of Herat Province Border rivers {{Turkmenistan-river-stub

Etymology

Geography

Ecological significance

See also

References