Surkhandarya Region

Geography and nature

Surkhandarya is Uzbekistan’s southernmost region, bordering Afghanistan across the Amu Darya to the south, Turkmenistan to the south-west, Kashkadarya Region to the north-west and Tajikistan to the north and east. It covers 20,100 km² and had 3,011,000 inhabitants on 1 January 2026. The capital is Termez, and the region comprises 14 districts plus the city of Termez.

The centre and south are taken up by the plains of the Surkhan–Sherobod valley. To the north rises the Hisor Range, where Khazret Sultan (4,643 m) on the Tajik border is officially the country’s highest point; the Boysuntog and Kohitang ranges run along the west and the Bobotog along the east. The main rivers, the Surkhandarya and Sherobod, flow into the Amu Darya. The climate ranges from dry desert in the south to subtropical in the north, with short mild winters and very hot summers; around Termez temperatures often top 40 °C.

Protected areas include the Surkhan State Nature Reserve (Kohitang juniper forest and the riverine woodland of Aral-Paygambar island) and the Bobotog and Yuqori Topalang national parks created in 2022. Boybuloq in the mountains is the deepest cave in Central Asia.

History

The Surkhan oasis is the northern part of ancient Bactria and one of the places where humanity’s earliest chapters were written. In 1938 the grave of a Neanderthal child was found in the Teshik-Tash cave in the Boysuntog mountains. In the Bronze Age the first proto-urban settlements, Sapallitepa and Djarkutan, arose here. The land joined the Achaemenid empire in the 6th century BC, Alexander the Great’s army passed through in 329 BC, and Graeco-Bactrian forts such as Kampir Tepe and Uzundara followed.

In the 1st–3rd centuries AD the oasis was the heart of the Kushan empire, the age of Dalverzin Tepe, Khalchayan and Zartepa, of Termez’s Kara Tepe and Fayaz Tepe monasteries and the Zurmala stupa; Termez was a major Buddhist centre of Tokharistan. After the Arab conquest it became a centre of Islamic learning, while Chaghaniyan, around Denov, had its own dynasty. Genghis Khan destroyed Termez in 1220; in the 14th–15th centuries the new Termez was a key river crossing of the Timurid state.

Later the oasis was divided among the Termez, Sherobod, Boysun and Denov begliks of the Bukhara Emirate. In 1893 a Russian border fort was built by the village of Pattagissar, renamed Termez in 1928. The region was created on 6 March 1941. The Friendship Bridge to Afghanistan was built across the Amu Darya in 1982, and Termez celebrated its 2,500th anniversary in 2002.

Termez gave the Islamic world many scholars, among them Abu Isa Muhammad al-Tirmidhi (824–892), compiler of the Sunan al-Tirmidhi hadith collection, and the Sufi thinker al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi. For centuries the sayyids of Termez led the city’s spiritual life, and their family necropolis, the Sultan Saodat ensemble, still stands.

What to see

Termez has the al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi complex, the Sultan Saodat ensemble, the Kokildor Ota khanqah, the Kyrk Kyz fortress and the Termez Archaeological Museum, rich in Bactrian and Kushan finds. Around the city lie the ruins of Old Termez, the Buddhist monasteries of Kara Tepe and Fayaz Tepe and the Zurmala stupa.

Elsewhere, look for the Jarqo‘rg‘on minaret (1108–1109), Kampir Tepe, Dalverzin Tepe, Khalchayan, the Said Otaliq Madrasa in Denov, and Djarkutan and the Zarautsoy rock paintings in Sherobod District. Boysun District draws visitors to the Teshik-Tash cave, the Iron Gate and Darband Wall and the Omonxona spring, and Sariosiyo to the Sangardak waterfall.

Culture, crafts and food

UNESCO proclaimed the Cultural Space of Boysun District a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001 and inscribed it on the Representative List in 2008. Ancient rituals, epic storytelling linked to Alpomish, embroidery and carpet-weaving survive here, and the Boysun Bahori folklore festival is held in spring.

The subtropical climate allows early vegetables and fruit, and the Surkhan oasis is known for its orchards and vineyards. Meat dishes, tandoor bread and dairy products dominate the table, while mountain villages keep old ways of cooking alive.

Getting there

Termez International Airport has regular flights to Tashkent. The railway links Termez with Tashkent via the Tashguzar–Boysun–Qumqo‘rg‘on line, built to bypass Turkmenistan. By road, the route from Qarshi and G‘uzor runs through Darband and Sherobod.

Termez is an important border and logistics hub: the Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya leads to Hairatan in Afghanistan. Visiting some sites near the border may require a passport and permission arranged in advance.