Aksu
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (Retd.) |
Aksu River is a transboundary river in the Xinjiang province in China and Ak-Suu District of Issyk Kul Province of Kyrgyzstan. The Aksu River is the only one of the Tarim's source rivers to run throughout the year.
Origin of name
Aksu means "white/clear water" in Turkish.
Saryjaz River
In Kyrgyzstan it is known as the Saryjaz River (Kyrgyz: Сарыжаз). The total length of the river is 282 kilometres of which 197 kilometres (122 mi) are in Kyrgyzstan.
The course of Aksu
The river takes its roots at the north west slopes of Kan Tenir mountains in Kyrgyzstan. From here it first runs towards the west, before turning south and breaking through the high mountains and into Xinjiang in the northern parts of the Tarim Basin. At the city of Aksu it meets its main tributary, the Toshkan, which flows in from the west. After the confluence the river continues to advance towards south and enters the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, where it joins the Tarim River.