The Kashkadarya natural-geographic district

Summers in the district are hot, dry and long and winters relatively warm. Mountains block cold Arctic and Siberian air from the north and east, and because the west is open, sea and subtropical air enter. The January mean on the plain is 0…+2°C (Karshi +0.2°C), with occasional frost down to –23…–29°C. The July mean is +28…+29°C, and the highest temperature at Karshi has reached +46°C. Annual precipitation is 131–155 mm in the west, 368–545 mm in the north-east and 700–800 mm in the mountains. Frost-free days number 210–242. The biggest river is the Kashkadarya: it begins in the Hisar range and sinks into sands before reaching Mubarek; its tributaries are the Jinnidarya, Aksu, Tankhoz, Yakkabagdarya and Guzardarya. Some are fed by small glaciers, and their water is highest in March–June. The Karshi Main Canal lifts Amudarya water upward with powerful pumps, and there are the Chimkurgan, Pachkamar and Talimarjan reservoirs. Soils: light grey in the Karshi desert, grey-brown, sandy and saline in the west, ordinary and dark grey on the adir, mountain brown at 1200–2500 m, mountain-meadow above. Plants: calligonum, selin and saxaul on sand; wormwood, almond, barberry and hawthorn on the adir; juniper, walnut and maple in the mountains. Animals: yellow ground squirrel, jerboa and gazelle on the plain; bear, ibex and lynx in the mountains. The Hisar Reserve (about 80 thousand ha) protects juniper forest, snow leopard and markhor. The latitude station in Kitab is one of the international scientific centres that study the movement of the Earth’s poles.