River
Kunduz River
420 km from source to mouth · Afghanistan.
AfghanistanFlows into Amu Darya3rd longest in Afghanistan
In numbers
Length
420km
Average flow
160m³/s
Basin
31,300km²
Drop
2,315m
from 2,628 m to 313 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
420 km of river and 6 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 2,628 m
- 13 kmBāmyān61,863 people
- 169 kmAndarabtributary
- 213 kmPul-e Khumrī56,369 people
- 242 kmBaghlān108,449 people
- 330 kmKunduz161,902 people
- 360 kmKhanabad Rivertributary
- 420 kmAmu Daryaat 313 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Afghanistan
At the mouth it carries 156 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 16 seconds. It drops from 2,628 m to 313 m, 5.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 31,300 km², about the size of BE. 2.3 million people live in it. Highest water: from March to April; lowest: from July to October. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- KunduzLargest city on its banks · 161,902 people
- Bokhtar International Airport (KQT)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 126 km from the city
- On the water4 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to June and from August to OctoberThe best months to visit
Kunduz River, month by month
Highest water: from March to April
Lowest water: from July to October. Best months to visit: from May to June and from August to October.
From about 12 m³/s in the lowest month to 600 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Kunduz River: the basin in numbers
37,759 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.3millionpeople live in the basin
- 62/km²people per km²
- 2,324maverage altitude of the basin
- 572mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 6.9°Caverage air temperature
- 2%protected areas
- 5%permafrost
What covers the basin
- 1% Forest
- 20% Cropland
- 60% Pasture
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Kunduz River: what you find on the way
- 13Weirs
- 4Ferry piers
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.1 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Kunduz River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
35mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Mountains at the source (35)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Kōh-e Sang-e Chaspān9.7 km away3,900m
- Mīānah Band-e Khushk Darah9.0 km away3,204m
- Dasht-e Kārēz4.5 km away2,913m
- Gory Dashti-Karez7.2 km away
- Gonbad9.2 km away
- Band-e Nēl12 km away
- Kōh-e Pasnow7.4 km away
- Nāw-e Jōy-e Shēr2.1 km away
27 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Kunduz River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Amu Darya
Uzbekistan2,620 km1,400 m³/sTributaries (2)
Also: Andarab, Khanabad River
In the same basin
Tajikistan921 km1,000 m³/sVakhsh RiverTajikistan524 km160 m³/sZeravshanUzbekistan877 km160 m³/sBartang RiverTajikistan528 km130 m³/sKokcha RiverAfghanistan360 km180 m³/sQashqadaryo RiverUzbekistan378 km25 m³/sSurxondaryoUzbekistan175 km66 m³/sKofarnihon RiverTajikistan387 km160 m³/sGunt RiverTajikistan296 km100 m³/sPamir RiverAfghanistan118 km13 m³/sNearby
Rivers nearby
Tajikistan921 km1,000 m³/s14 km awayVakhsh RiverTajikistan524 km160 m³/s14 km awayKofarnihon RiverTajikistan387 km160 m³/s24 km awaySurxondaryoUzbekistan175 km66 m³/s86 km awayKokcha RiverAfghanistan360 km180 m³/s103 km awayBartang RiverTajikistan528 km130 m³/s311 km awayGunt RiverTajikistan296 km100 m³/s295 km awayKunar RiverAfghanistan480 km370 m³/s356 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2985144) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit