Panj (river)

The Panj, traditionally known as the Ochus River, is a river in Afghanistan and Tajikistan and a tributary of the Amu Darya. The river is 921 km (572 mi) long and has a basin area of 114,000 km2 (44,000 mi2). It forms a considerable part of the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border. The river is formed by the confluence of the Pamir River and the Wakhan River near the village of Qala-i-Panjah in the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan. From there, it flows westwards and marks part of the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border. After passing the city of Khorog, capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan, it receives water from one of its main tributaries, the Bartang River. It then turns towards the southwest, before joining the Vakhsh River and forming the greatest river of Central Asia, the Amu Darya. The Panj played an important role during Soviet era, and was a strategic river during the Soviet military operations in Afghanistan in the 1980s.