- The Aral Sea is a dried up former sea located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
- The Sea used to be fed by the river Amu Darya, which was diverted into the Karakum Canal in 1953.
River Oxus
- The eastern border of Turkmenistan is formed by the River Amu Darya, known in Antiquity as the River Oxus.
- The river flowed from Afghanistan to a Delta in the South Aral Sea.
- A branch called the Uzboy river (now dried up) flowed into the Caspian Sea until the 16th century CE. The Uzboy was 470 miles (750km) long and flowed via the Sarykamysh Lake.
Karakum Canal
- In 1953 the Soviet Government built an irrigation canal to the south of the dried up Uzboy riverbed.
- The Water was diverted from the Amu Darya to irrigate the Karakum Desert, which led to the drying up of the Aral Sea in the 1960’s and its virtual disappearance by the 2010’s.
Aral Sea