Sherabad River


The Sherabad River, Shirabad River, Sherabad Darya or Shirabad Darya. It is a right tributary of the Amu Darya in south-central Uzbekistan. It is about long and drains an area of. The river rises in the arid foothills of the Gissar Range and flows south through steppe before flowing through a mountain ridge to empty into the Central Asia plain near Shirabad. The river turns south and flows past Akkürgon, to flow into the Amu Darya near Shuro-obod. Because of irrigation water use, most of the water in the Sherabad no longer reaches the Amu Darya and its eventual destination in the Aral Sea. After flowing out of the mountains the remaining water in the river is usually salty so it is unsuitable for further water use. In dry years, most of the river dries up before reaching the Amu Darya.

Etymology

The name is a Persian/Tajiki compound made of 'sher' or 'shir' for lion', "abad/obod" for Enghlish term 'abode"and "darya/daryo'' for a large river or sea.