View source for Bartang

{{other uses}}
{{more footnotes|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox river
| name              = Bartang
| image             = Рекабартанг.jpg
| image_caption     = Bartang river, a view from the air
| source1           = 
| source1_coordinates = 
| mouth             = [[Panj (river)|Panj]]
| mouth_location    = 
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|37.9185|71.5919|region:TJ_type:river|display=it}}
| progression       = {{RPanj}}
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[Afghanistan]], [[Tajikistan]]
|length_km=528
| discharge1_avg    = 
|basin_size_km2=24700
}}

The '''Bartang''' ([[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Tajik language|Tajik]]: Бартанг, [[Persian language|Persian]]: برتنگ) is a river of [[Central Asia]], and is a tributary to the [[Panj (river)|Panj]] which itself is a tributary to the [[Amu Darya]]. In its middle and upper reaches, it is respectively known as the '''Murghab''' and '''Aksu'''; it flows through the [[Wakhan]] in [[Afghanistan]], then through the [[Rushon District]] of the [[Gorno-Badakhshan]] autonomous region, [[Tajikistan]]. The river is {{convert|528|km|mi}} long (133&nbsp;km excluding Aksu and Murghab) and has a basin area of {{convert|24700|km2|mi2}}.<ref name=bse>[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article098697.html Бартанг], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]</ref>

==Course==
The river rises in [[Chaqmaqtin Lake]] in the [[Little Pamir]] in the [[Wakhan]], where it is known as the '''Aksu''' or '''Oksu''' ("white water").  It then flows east and crosses into Tajikistan, then turns north to the city of [[Murghab, Tajikistan|Murghab]] passing the village of [[Shaimak]].

Below the city of Murghab the river is called the '''Murghab''' ({{langx|tg|Мурғоб}}, {{langx|fa|مرغاب}} ''Murghob'' meaning "Bird River", {{langx|ru|Мургаб}} - ''Murgab'').
{{other uses|Murghab river}}.  A few kilometres below Murghab is [[Sarez Lake]], formed by a landslide during the [[1911 Sarez earthquake]], which created the world's highest natural dam, [[Usoi Dam]].
 
The river is joined by the [[Ghudara river]] just below Sarez Lake.  From the junction the river is known as the '''Bartang'''.  The Bartang traces a route down the western [[Pamir Mountains]], flowing {{convert|132|km|mi|sp=us}} before becoming a tributary to the [[Panj (river)|Panj]] at the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.  Much of the river lies within the boundaries of [[Tajik National Park]].  The Bartang is fed mostly by [[glacier]] and snow melt.  It is the only river to cross Gorno-Badakhshan from east to west. 
[[Image:Tajikistan location map.svg|right|thumb|The Bartang-Murghab-Aksu crosses Gorno-Badikhstan from east to west]]

[[Image:Hindu Kush satellite image.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Bartang from space]]

The Bartang enters the Panj just upstream from the town of [[Rushon]].

==Access==
'Bartang' means 'narrow passage'. Before the 20th century travel required fords, ladders and platforms set into the sides of cliffs. There were three paths, one along the river, usable only in autumn when the water was low, the second along the cliffs and the third, much longer, where pack animals could be led along the mountain ridges. The modern road can become impassable beyond Basid due to rockslides.  Above Basid is the large village of Roshov. Above that the Ghudara River and the [[Murghab River]]s join to form the Bartang. The road follows the Ghudata northeast to its junction with the Tanimas which leads west to the [[Fedchenko Glacier]]. A road of sorts continues east to lake [[Karakul (Tajikistan)|Karakul]].

The Murghab is generally not passable except as an adventure. There is a dirt road for the last 37&nbsp;km to Murghab town.  Above Murghab a jeep road, of decreasing quality, follows the river southeast to Tokhtamish and [[Shaimak]].

==Sarez Lake==
{{main|Sarez Lake}}
On 18 February 1911, the [[1911 Sarez earthquake]], estimated at 7.4 on the [[Richter magnitude scale]], caused a large [[landslide]] which completely blocked the flow of the Murghab and buried a local village.  The landslide, estimated at two cubic kilometers of rock, formed a natural [[dam]] called the [[Usoi Dam]].  Over the following months the Murghab filled the space behind the Usoi to form [[Sarez Lake]], which now fills about 60 kilometers in length of the Murghab river valley and contains 17 cubic kilometers of water.  Geologists believe that the dam may be unstable and could collapse during a future strong earthquake, either from structural failure of the earthen dam itself or [[liquefaction]] of the soil & rock debris making up the dam.<ref>[[Bruce Bolt|Bolt, B.A.]], W.L. Horn, G.A. Macdonald and R.F. Scott, (1975) '' Geological hazards: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, avalanches, landslides, floods'' Springer-Verlag, New York, {{ISBN|0-387-06948-8}}</ref> The Usoi Dam wall survived a localised 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the [[2015 Tajikistan earthquake]], on 7 December 2015 with no visible signs of deterioration.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Kolesnikova, V. (April 2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20050908190938/http://www.forest.ru/eng/bulletin/20/8.html "Tajik Forests: What Happened to the 'Crimea Gardens' and their Inhabitants"]. ''Russian Forest Bulletin'': Issue 20, April 2002.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080814083440/http://www.greatgametravel.co.uk/walkingtreks/sarez.html "Sarez and Yashikul Lakes"].  The Great Game Travel Company.  Retrieved August 25, 2005.
*[[Google Maps]] satellite photographs of eastern Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

==External links==
*[http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/vitalgraphics/eng/html/u11.htm Map of major river drainage basins within Tajikistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050509102205/http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/vitalgraphics/eng/html/u11.htm |date=2005-05-09 }}
*[http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/vitalgraphics/eng/html/uyazv.htm Index of maps and graphs related to Tajikistan water resources] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501215122/http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/vitalgraphics/eng/html/uyazv.htm |date=2006-05-01 }}
*[http://www.pamirs.org/images/maps/gbaorm.gif Map of Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219170307/http://www.pamirs.org/images/maps/gbaorm.gif |date=2008-12-19 }}
*[http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/standiet Description of a bicycle ride in Tajikistan, including the Bartang Valley]

{{Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province}}
{{List of rivers of Tajikistan}}

[[Category:Rivers of Tajikistan]]
[[Category:Rivers of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:International rivers of Asia]]
[[Category:Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region]]