Vakhsh Valley

Vakhsh Valley

 

an intermontane valley along the middle and lower course of the Vakhsh River in the Tadzhik SSR.

Length, 110 km; width, 7-25 km; area, approximately 2,500 sq km. The valley’s soils are of the sierozem type and are saline in places; in the bottomland floodplain there are meadows and swamps. The average temperature in January ranges from 1° C to 3° C and in July reaches 31° C. The average length of the frostless period is 224-242 days. There are irrigation systems in the Vakhsh Valley (the Vakhsh Canal and others). There are crops of long-staple cotton on the irrigated lands. Orchards are also cultivated (pears, pomegranates, persimmons, and figs). A railroad line passes through the Vakhsh Valley, connecting the river port of Nizhnii Piandzh with Dushanbe through the town of Kurgan-Tiube.