Panj

The Panj River is a 572-mile-long tributary of the Amu Darya River, and is one of the Longest Rivers in Afghanistan. The river originates at the confluence of the rivers Pamir and Wakhan in the town of Qila-e Panja. It flows westward from the confluence to create the Tajikistan-Afghanistan boundary. Past the Tajik city of Khorog, the river joins its tributary, the River Bartang, and the combined river flows southwest to join the River Vakhsh, becoming the Amudarya River. The river's strategic location was important in Soviet administration and Soviet military activities in Afghanistan in the late twentieth century. The water contract between the country and the Soviet Union enables Afghanistan to take nine cubic meters, but the country only draws two million since pulling all of the water as per the deal would harm the river's natural flow.

A water contract made in 1946 between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan permits Afghanistan to take 9 million cubic meters of water each year. It presently consumes 2 million cubic meters of water. According to the Panj River Basin Project, environmental harm might be predicted if Afghanistan took the full quantity of water permitted under the treaty from the river.

Total Length: 572 miles