The Surkhandarya natural-geographic district

The Surkhandarya district lies in the far south of Uzbekistan, in the Surkhan-Sherabad valley and the mountains around it. In the east and north-east it borders Tajikistan along the Babatag and Hisar mountains, in the north-west Kashkadarya along the Chakchar and Baysun mountains; in the west the border with Turkmenistan runs along the Kugitang watershed and in the south the border with Afghanistan runs along the Amudarya. The Hisar range encloses it from the north, reaching 4500–4600 m, and Uzbekistan’s highest peak, Hazrat Sultan (4643 m), is here. Its south-western branches are Chakchar (Khorasan peak 3749 m), Baysun, Surkhantau (3882 m) and Kugitang; in the east lies the worn-down Babatag (Zarkosa 2289 m). The Surkhandarya valley stretches about 170 km from north-east to south-west and is triangular: 110–115 km wide in the south-west and 15–20 km in the north-east. The mountains rose in the Hercynian folding. The district has oil and gas (Lalmikor, Kokaydi, Khovdag), Shargun hard coal, polymetallic and aluminium ore at Sariasiya, gypsum, lime, and Uzbekistan’s largest salt deposit, Khojaikon. In the south mineral waters such as Jayronkhona have been found.