Waters and rivers of Central Asia

Running waters are very unevenly distributed in Central Asia. On the plains, which take up about 70 percent of the region’s area, rivers are very few, while the mountains and piedmont areas have a wide river network. Plains such as the Kyzylkum, Ustyurt and the Aral region receive only about 100 mm of precipitation a year, most of the region gets no more than 300 mm, and because the air is very hot in summer the rain quickly evaporates. In the mountains precipitation is greater and evaporation small because it is cold; snow and glaciers store water in the high mountains. Water running down steep slopes forms rivers that flow out onto the plains. So mountains are where water collects, and plains are where it is used and evaporated: this is the most important hydrological feature of Central Asia.