Southern economic region and Kashkadarya region

Kashkadarya region occupies about 6–7 percent of the country’s area and has about 9–10 percent of its population. There is a lot of irrigable land, but water is scarce, so rain-fed spring grain is sown on much land. The Kashkadarya valley is irrigated by the Kashkadarya and its tributaries, by Zarafshan water (via the Eski Anhor), by the Chimkurgan, Pachkamar and Hisorak reservoirs and by the Amu–Karshi pumped canal; in this canal powerful pumping stations lift water more than a hundred metres and carry it to the Talimarjan reservoir. In the Karshi Steppe specialized cotton, fruit and livestock farms have been set up. By sown area of grain and cotton the region is among the country’s leaders; cotton, fruit, vegetables and grapes are grown in the Kitab–Shahrisabz basin, and Karshi grapes are famous for sweetness. Kashkadarya is the mainstay of the country’s oil and gas industry: it has the Shurtan and Mubarak gas fields, Kokdumalak and other fields and gas processing complexes; the fuel industry has led the country by gross output, though in recent years output at some fields has been falling, so new fields are sought. The Talimarjan thermal power station and gas-chemical complexes are also typical of the region. A potash fertilizer plant works at Dehkanabad. Karshi is the regional centre and an industrial node with light and food industries leading; Shahrisabz is a craft centre and the birthplace of Amir Temur, known for the Oksaroy monument.