Kyzylkum
This huge sandy and rocky desert stretches between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. Most of the desert is in Uzbekistan. The desert territory is located on three hundred thousand square kilometers and has a small slope. Its name Kyzylkum means ``red sands``.
Good to Know
Country:
Feature:
Description:
Best season:
Most of Kyzylkum are sand dunes that stretch from north to south. Their average height is from three to thirty meters, the maximum height reaches seventy-five meters. In the northwest in the desert relief there are salt marshes and takyrs. A characteristic feature of the desert is isolated low mountains in its central and southwestern parts – Bukantau, Dzhetymtau, Tamdytau, Kuldzhuktau, Sultanuizdag.
The nature and fauna of the Kyzylkum desert are very diverse, despite the lack of water and a sharply continental climate.
Locals are mainly engaged in fine-fleece and astrakhan sheep breeding. Large artesian basins were found in the central and western parts of the desert. Marble, graphite, turquoise are mined in the mountains. Several large gold deposits have been discovered. So have the deposits of uranium, phosphorites in the central part. In the south of the desert, a large gas field is exploited – Gazli. The villages are scattered across the desert and even some towns like Zarafshan, Uchkuduk, Navoi.
