River
Syr Darya
2,212 km from source to mouth · 4 countries.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and TajikistanFlows into North Aral Sea2nd longest in Kazakhstan
In numbers
Length
2,212km
Average flow
700m³/s
Basin
219,000km²
Drop
364m
from 403 m to 39 m
Countries
4
The journey
From source to mouth
2,212 km of river and 26 stops on the way: 13 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 403 m
- 1 kmKara Daryatributary
- 1 kmNaryn Rivertributary
- 19 kmToshbuloq28,562 people
- 29 kmKosonsoytributary
- 76 kmPop28,000 people
- 240 kmKayrakkum Reservoir430 km²
- 248 kmQayroqqum49,200 people
- 265 kmKhujand191,000 people
- 272 kmKhodzhabakirgantributary
- 296 kmAk-Suu River (Syr Darya)tributary
- 303 kmBekobod96,900 people
- 315 kmFarkhad Dam
- 420 kmAngren Rivertributary
- 446 kmChirchiqtributary
- 470 kmKeles Rivertributary
- 545 kmShardara Reservoir745 km²
- 545 kmShardara Dam
- 547 kmShardara25,356 people
- 805 kmArys Rivertributary
- 1,380 kmTasbuget16,455 people
- 1,391 kmKyzylorda354,800 people
- 1,454 kmTerenozek9,661 people
- 1,492 kmZhalagash14,226 people
- 1,575 kmZhosaly20,065 people
- 1,691 kmTyuratam9,548 people
- 1,694 kmBaikonur70,000 people
- 2,212 kmNorth Aral Seaat 39 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan
At the mouth it carries 703 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 3.6 seconds. It drops from 403 m to 39 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 219,000 km², about the size of GY. 22.1 million people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from March to May; lowest: February and from August to October. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 312% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- KyzylordaLargest city on its banks · 354,800 people
- Korkyt Ata International Airport (KZO)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 18 km from the cityCar hire at NQZ airport (Astana)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water5 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From April to June and from August to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Syr Darya, month by month
Highest water: from March to May
Lowest water: February and from August to October. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): January. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from April to June and from August to September.
From about 130 m³/s in the lowest month to 880 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
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The basin
Syr Darya: the basin in numbers
310,229 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 22.1millionpeople live in the basin
- 71/km²people per km²
- 1,242maverage altitude of the basin
- 368mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 8.1°Caverage air temperature
- 4%protected areas
- 1.7%covered by lakes
- 6%permafrost
- 36km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 1% Forest
- 12% Cropland
- 60% Pasture
- 3% Towns and cities
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
Syr Darya: what you find on the way
- 11Weirs
- 1Waterfalls
- 4Ferry piersParom and 3 more
- 2River beachesUrban beach
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Syr Darya 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.
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Kayrakkum Reservoirkm 220 · 25 m deep430km²
- Shardara Reservoirkm 499745km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
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
Syr Darya in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (11)
Uzbekistan807 km430 m³/sjoins at km 1Arys RiverKazakhstan378 km47 m³/sjoins at km 737Angren RiverUzbekistan236 km23 m³/sjoins at km 385Kara DaryaUzbekistan180 km140 m³/sjoins at km 1ChirchiqUzbekistan154 km220 m³/sjoins at km 408Also: Soh, Keles River, Ak-Suu River (Syr Darya), Kosonsoy, Khodzhabakirgan, Potshaata
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q483159) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth 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 | Lakeyas — 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.
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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 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit