- For the desert in Kazakhstan, see Aral Karakum.
The
Karakum Desert, also spelled
Kara-Kum and
Gara Gum (“Black Sand”) (
Turkmen:
Garagum,
Russian:
Каракумы) is a desert in
Central Asia. It occupies about 70 percent, or 350,000 km², of the area of
Turkmenistan. The population is sparse, with an average of one person per 6.5 km² (one person per 2.5 sq miles).
Location
It lies east of the
Caspian Sea, with the
Aral Sea to the north and the
Amu Darya river and the
Kyzyl Kum desert to the northeast.
Hydrography
The
Murghab and
Tejen rivers flow out of the
Hindu Kush Mountains to the south and empty into the desert, providing water for irrigation.
The desert is crossed by the largest irrigation
canal in the world, the
Qaraqum Canal. The canal was started in
1954, is 1,375 km in length, and carries 13-20 km³ of water annually. Unfortunately, leakages from the canal have created lakes and ponds along the canal and the rise in
groundwater has caused widespread
soil salination.
Economy and resources
The
oases of
Mary and
Tejen are noted for
cotton growing.
Geology
The Karakum Desert is home to the Darwasa Gas Craters.
The area has significant
oil and
natural gas deposits.
Transportation
The desert is crossed by the
Trans-Caspian railway.
See also
External links
The
Aral Karakum desert lies north of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan. Area: 40,000 km².
..... Click the link for more information. Turkmen (Latin script: türkmen, Cyrillic: түркмен, ISO 639-1: tk, ISO 639-2: tuk) is the name of the national language of Turkmenistan.
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Russian}}}
Writing system: Cyrillic (Russian variant)
Official status
Official language of: Abkhazia (Georgia)
Belarus
Commonwealth of Independent States (working)
Crimea (de facto; Ukraine)
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Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. Though various definitions of its exact composition exist, no one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, it does have some important overall characteristics.
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AnthemIndependent, Neutral, Turkmenistan State Anthem
Capital Ashgabat
Largest city Ashgabat
..... Click the link for more information. Coordinates Coordinates:
Lake type Endorheic
Saline
Permanent
Natural
Primary sources Volga River
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Location Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (Central Asia)
Coordinates Coordinates:
Lake type
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Origin Pamir Mountains
Mouth Aral Sea
Basin countries Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Length 2,400 km (1,500 mi)
Source elevation ~6,000 m (15,000 ft)
Avg.
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The Kyzyl Kum (Uzbek: Qizilqum, Kazakh: Қызылқум), also called Qyzylqum, is the 11th largest desert in the world.
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The Murgab River (also spelt Morghab River; Russian Мургаб) is an 850km long river in Central Asia. It rises in north-east Afghanistan and runs north-west to the Kara Kum desert in Turkmenistan, where it peters out.
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The Rudkhaneh-ye Hari Rud (sometimes Harirud) is a river flowing 1100 kilometers from the mountains of central Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, where it disappears in the Kara-Kum desert. Rud means "river" in Persian.
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Hindu Kush Countries | Afghanistan,Pakistan
| Northern Areas
Highest point | Tirich Mir
- coordinates
..... Click the link for more information. Canals are artificial channels for water.
There are two main types of canals: irrigation canals, which are used for the delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to (and sometimes
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The Qaraqum Canal (Karakum Canal,Kara Kum Canal,Garagum Canal,formerly called the Karakumsky Kanal) is the largest irrigation and water supply canal in the world. Started in 1954, and completed in 1988, it is navigable over much of its 1,375 km length, and carries 13 km³ of
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s
1951 1952 1953 - 1954 - 1955 1956 1957
Year 1954 (MCMLIV
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Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water.
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Soil salination is the accumulation of free salts to such an extent that it leads to degradation of soils and vegetation.
Salination is a natural process that results from:
- high levels of salt in the soils.
..... Click the link for more information. oasis (plural: oases) is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough.
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Mary (pronounced Mur-ree) is a city of Turkmenistan, capital of the Mary Province. Former names include Merv, Meru and Margiana. Its population (est. 1999) was 123,000.
Geography
It is located at latitude 37.6000 North, longitude 61.8333 East.
..... Click the link for more information. Tejen (or Tedzhen) is an oasis city in the Karakum Desert, in Ahal Province of Turkmenistan. It is located at latitude 37.3786 North; longitude 60.4961 East at an altitude of 161 meters. It has a population of approximately 52,000.
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Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium sp.), a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India, and Africa.
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Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from Greek πέτρα (Latin petra) - rock + έλαιον (Latin oleum) - oil) or crude oil
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gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane.
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The Trans-Caspian Railway (also called the Central Asian Railway, Russian: Среднеазиатская железная
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This is a list of deserts in the world ordered by area. It includes all deserts with an area greater than 50 000 km² (19 300 square miles).
Deserts over 50 000 km²
Rank Desert’s Name Area
(km²) Area
(sq mi) Country/Countries
..... Click the link for more information. desert is a landscape form or region that receives very little precipitation. Deserts are defined as areas that receive an average annual precipitation of less than 250 mm (10 in). In the Köppen climate classification system, deserts are classed as (BW).
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The ad-Dahna Desert is the central division of the Arabian Desert. It is a corridor of sandy terrain that connects the large an-Nafud desert to the Rub' al-Khali.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopdia.
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The Alvord Desert is a desert located in Harney County, in southeastern Oregon in the western United States. It is roughly southeast of Steens Mountain. The Alvord Desert is a 12 by 7 mile playa, a dry lake bed, and averages 7 inches of rain a year.
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Arabian Desert is a vast desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula with an area of 2,330,000 square kilometers (900,000 mi²)[4].
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The
Aral Karakum desert lies north of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan. Area: 40,000 km².
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