Syr Darya

The Syr Darya /ˌsɪərˈdɑːrjə/ (Kazakh:Сырдария; Russian:Сырдарья́, tr.Syrdar'ya;IPA: [sɨrdɐˈrʲja]; Persian:سيردريا‎‎; Tajik:Сирдарё; Turkish:Seyhun, Siri Derya; Arabic:سيحون‎: Seyhun; Uzbek:Sirdaryo) is a river in Central Asia.

The Syr Darya originates in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan and flows for 2,212 kilometres (1,374 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the remains of the Aral Sea. It is the northern and eastern of the two main rivers in the endorrheic basin of the Aral Sea, the other being the Amu Darya. In the Soviet era, extensive irrigation projects were constructed around both rivers, diverting their water into farmland and causing, during the post soviet era, the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake.