Lessons on cooperation building to manage water conflicts in the Aral Sea Basin; Technical documents in hydrology: pc-cp series; Vol.: 11; 2003

1. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF THE ARAL SEA BASIN 
The Aral Sea Basin is located in the heart of the Asian continent, and covers the whole 
territory of present Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the southern part of the 
Kyrgyz Republic, and the southern part of Kazakhstan (see Figure 1). Some parts of 
the basin are located in the northern part of Afghanistan and Iran (about 8 percent), 
and some in China (less than 0.1 percent). 
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Ashgabad
Dushanbe
Tashkent
Bishkek
Alma-Ata
Aral Sea
K y r g y z Republic
T a d j i k i s t a n
K a z a k h s t a n
U z b e k i s t a n
T u r k m e n i s t a n
I r a n
A f
 g h
 a n
 i s 
t a 
n
I n d i a
C h i n a
A
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 D
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yr
 D
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Figure 1. The Aral Sea Basin 
1.1. Hydro-geographical Characteristics 
The total area of the basin (within the boundaries of the former Soviet Republics; 
Afghanistan, Iran and China were not included in the recent case study) is about 
158.5 million hectares (see Table 1). This territory extends between longitudes 56
o
and 78
o
east, and latitudes 33
o
and 52
o
north. The territory of the Basin has two main 
morphological zones: the Turan plain (central and western part) and mountain zone 
(to the east). The Kara Kum desert covers the western and the south-western parts of 
the Aral Sea Basin within the Turan plain, and the Kyzyl Kum desert the northern part. 
The mountain area includes the Tien Shan and Pamir ranges, with the highest peaks 
above 7000 meters. The remaining part of the basin is composed of various types of 
alluvial and inter-mountain valleys, dry and semi-dry steppe. 
A specific feature of the region from a hydrological point of view is the division of 
its territory into three main zones of surface runoff: (a) the zone of flow formation 
(upper watersheds in the mountain areas to the south-east), (b) the zone of flow 
transit and its dissipation (central part), and (c) the delta zones (to the north-west). 
The climate in the region is sharply continental, mostly arid and semi-arid. 
Average precipitation (concentrated in the spring and winter) is about 270 mm, 
varying between 600–800 mm in mountains zones and 80–150 mm in desert regions. 
 
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Table 1. 
Territory of the Aral Sea Basin in the newly independent states 
Country 
Area of the country 
Kazakhstan*
34 
440 
000 
Kyrgyz Republic* 
12 490 000 
Tajikistan
14 
310 
000 
Turkmenistan
48 
810 
000 
Uzbekistan
44 
884 
000 
Afghanistan*
3 600 000