Nature of Uzbekistan

Flora and fauna. Deserts and steppes create the picturesque landscape of Uzbekistan. The widely spread plants are full with wormwood bitter and acacia. Large forest tracts are absent. Flora and fauna are diverse. The animal world consist as revealed of 40 kinds of mammals, 60 kinds of reptiles, 74 kinds of fishes, 68 kinds of trees and 3 000 kinds of grasses. The most spread mammals are wild sheep, noble deer, gazelles and saigaks. Main predators are brown bear, wolf, panther and lynx.
 
Deserts. Karakum is the largest desert region of Central Asia with an extent of about 350.000 km. and Kyzyl Kum with an area of 300.000 km. In the south the small part of the desert of Karakum which is in translation indicates “black sand” belongs to Uzbekistan. Sand, however, is not black, since the word “kara (black)” also indicates “dangerous”. On the north lies the desert Kyzyl Kum, “red sand”, which stretches between the rivers Amu-Dar'ya and Syrdarya. Desert in the specific hours actually seems reddish.
Both deserts are not purely sandy deserts, they are covered with plants. Since in the Central-Asian deserts per year falls out to 200 mm of sediments, predominantly in spring, subsoil of both deserts not waterless. This can be felt especially in March, when the carpet from the grasses, which consists, of sedge, tamarisks and bushes of saxsaul begin to blossom. In the deserts herbivorous reptiles live in essence: lizard, monitor lizards, snake. If it goes lucky, it is possible to see wild camels and gophers.

Aral Sea is salty lake- sea in Central Asia, on the border Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. To the middle of the 20th century it was the fourth in the world, for the area, occupying about 68 thousand km, but since 1960 the surface of it begin decrease with the quick rates, because of the fence of water from the basic feeding rivers Amu-Dar'ya and Syrdarya for the purpose of irrigation.
At the beginning of the 1990's the lake was decomposed in two isolated reservoirs - Northern and (small) and Southern (large) Aral seas. In 2003 the surface area of Aral Sea made one fourth of initial state, and the volume of water - about 10%.
Climate in the area of Aral Sea became continental and arid, winters became colder. On the spot where sea retreated was formed salt desert.
As a result shallowing sharply grew the salinity of Aral, which caused the extinction of many forms of fishes. Sea lost fishery value.
Syrdarya River (in the antiquity Yaksart) takes start in the spurs of Tien Shan (7.440 m). The extent of river is 2.212 km, and together with the inflow Naryn - 3.019 km.
Amu-Dar'ya River (in the antiquity Oksus) take start in the Pamir Mountains (7.495 m), its length is 2540 km.
Zaravshan River, former inflow of Amu-Dar'ya, flow between Amu-Dar'ya and Syrdarya and disappear in the bumpy land in Bukhara, without reaching its previous delta. The length of river is 741 km.
Pamirs - highest mountainous area of Central Asia. There Are raised powerful, ice-covered apex (for example, the peak of Samanids 7495 m), between which is streched wide glacial areas. To the north of the Pamirs is raised powerful mountain range Tien Shan.
Lake Issyk-Kul', which area is 6.300 km, it is the second largest alpine lake of the world after Titikaka Lake in South America. It is located on the height of 1609m above the sea level. Water in the lake is slightly salty. 180 rivers fall into it. The draining of water is unknown.