Yarkand River

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The Yarkand River, also called the Yarkent River, is a major river in Xinjiang, western China. It starts in the Siachen Muztagh of the Karakoram mountains near the India–China border and flows roughly north, then northwest, gathering waters from the Shaksgam River. It runs through the Bolor-Tagh mountains and the Tashkurgan valley, where it is joined by the Tashkurgan River from the west. In 2019, the Aratax dam was completed to store about 2.2 cubic kilometers of water for flood control, irrigation and hydropower.

After passing the dam, the Yarkand River turns northeast into the Tarim Basin, creating a fertile oasis around Yarkant County. It receives the Kashgar River from the west and eventually feeds into the Shangyou Reservoir. In earlier times it was thought to drain into the Tarim River, and Silk Road routes ran along its valley. In recent decades, water development has reduced its flow to the Tarim; between 1986 and 2000 it reached the Tarim River only once.

The Yarkand River drains an area of about 108,000 square kilometers and is about 1,332 kilometers long. Its average discharge is roughly 210 cubic meters per second. The upper part of the river valley is known as Raskam Valley, and the upper river is sometimes called the Raskam River. It has also been referred to as Zarafshan.