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Zarafshan Valley is a Growing Region: a named cultivation region that sits above Growing Areas and below the regional complex and gene pool. It covers the valley of the Zarafshan (Zeravshan) river in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, from the glacier at its source to the Bukhara oasis, and holds the Samarkand and Bukhara growing areas. The valley of the Syr Darya to the north-east is treated at Fergana Valley.
Data verification
Check the main page for the sources behind each statement. Discuss the boundary, the status and the accessions and news items that belong to the region here.
Discussion
Why the region is on the map
- The region rests on its two growing areas. The Brockhaus and Efron dictionary lists hemp among the irrigated crops of the Bukhara khanate (1891) and of Samarkand oblast (1900); Burnes (1832) and Olufsen (1899) describe hemp grown in the Bukhara khanate; the Vavilov Institute held two seed accessions from Samarkand in 1997. In 2021 and 2026 the Uzbek press reported cannabis grown in Jambay, Samarkand, Jondor and Bukhara districts. Each source is set out on the area pages.
- No source read treats the Zarafshan valley as one cannabis landscape. The region is drawn because both areas lie on the same river and its irrigation, which the dictionary describes as one oasis split between Samarkand oblast and the Bukhara khanate (Зеравшан, 1894).
The name
Zarafshan follows the modern transliteration of the river's name (Uzbek Zarafshon). The imperial Russian sources write Zeravshan (the Zeravshan district of 1868–1886); Zeravshan Valley redirects here. Burnes (1834) wrote Zurufshan. The city of Zarafshan in the Kyzylkum, Navoiy Region, lies far outside the valley and is not part of the region.
Growing status
The status is Active, as both areas are Active: the press reports cultivation in Samarkand Region in 2021 and 2026, and in Bukhara Region twice in 2026. No source says that growing has ended anywhere in the valley.
How the border is drawn
- The border is a proxy, about 38,400 km², the figure in the infobox. It joins:
- Samarkand Region as mapped in OpenStreetMap (relation 196249), the border of the Samarkand growing area;
- the Karmana, Navbahor, Xatirchi and Qiziltepa districts and the city of Navoiy (Navoiy Region), where the river runs between the two areas. Konimex district is left out: most of it lies in the Kyzylkum, north of the valley;
- the irrigated Bukhara oasis, the border of the Bukhara growing area, traced from mapped canals, villages and farmland;
- the Panjakent, Ayni and Kuhistoni Mastchoh districts of Sughd Region, Tajikistan, the river's mountain course up to its glacier.
- No source read mentions cannabis in the Tajik part of the valley or in the Navoiy districts. They are inside the border because the region is drawn on the whole valley; the prose of the page does not say that cannabis grows there. In 1900 Samarkand oblast took in the upper valley, so the dictionary's list of irrigated crops covered it then, but it does not name the upper valley for hemp.
- Most of the land inside the border is mountain, upland or steppe, not irrigated land. The border is not drawn from accession or news points. The infobox point (39.71, 66.79) is the centre of the drawn border.
Accessions and news
- No accession on the wiki with coordinates lies inside the border (checked 19 October 2026). The two Vavilov Institute accessions from Samarkand are not on the wiki.
- The interior ministry's report of 16 September 2026 on the second phase of Qoradori-2026 names cases in both areas and is attached to the region and to both areas. It also names cases in Andijan Region, in the Fergana Valley.
Sources
- Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary: the entries Зеравшан (vol. XIIa, 1894), Зеравшанский округ (vol. XIIa, 1894), Бухара, ханство (vol. V, 1891) and Самаркандская область (vol. XXVIIIa, 1900) were read in full on Wikisource. All four are signed В. М. or В. Масальский (Vladislav Masalsky). The Зеравшан entry gives distances in versts and areas in square versts; the page keeps the dictionary's units.
- Not read: N. V. Khanykov's description of the Bukhara khanate (1843; English translation 1845), and the statistical handbooks of Samarkand oblast that the Зеравшан entry lists among its sources (Сборник материалов для статистики Самаркандской области, 1890; Справочная книжка Самаркандской области, 1893).