The Charyn () or Sharyn (, ) is a river in the
Almaty Province
Almaty Region ( ), formerly known as the Alma-Ata Region until 1993, is a region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. It surrounds, but does not include, the eponymous city of Almaty. Its capital is Qonaev.
Geography
...
of
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
. It flows through the
Charyn National Park and into the
Ili River
The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan.
It ...
, which is considered to be the largest artery of
Lake Balkhash
Lake Balkhash, also spelt Lake Balqash (, , ), 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 eastern part of Central Asia and sits in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, ...
. The Charyn is long, and has a drainage basin of . It runs through the territory of Kegen and Uighur regions, forming the 154-km long
Charyn Canyon.
The
Moinak Hydro Power Plant lies on the river.
The plant powers the city of
Almaty
Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...
to the south.
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 (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...
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