Which desert lies between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers?

The desert between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers is the Kyzylkum Desert.

Kyzylkum occupies the broad interior of Central Asia between two major rivers historically associated with Transoxania. It lies mainly in Uzbekistan, with parts extending into Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Its name means “Red Sand” in Turkic languages, distinguishing it from the neighbouring Karakum, or “Black Sand,” Desert.

The desert covers approximately 298,000 square kilometres and is mostly a low plain, though isolated uplands and depressions interrupt the landscape. Much of the surface consists of dunes, while the northwest includes takirs, hard clay flats that form when muddy depressions dry. Oases and river floodplains support settlements and agriculture along its margins.

Kyzylkum is also important beyond its geography. The Muruntau gold field, near Navoi in Uzbekistan, is one of the region’s major mining centres, while the desert’s exposed Cretaceous rocks have yielded dinosaur, pterosaur and early bird fossils. The Karakum is the usual mix-up: it lies mainly in Turkmenistan, west of the Amu Darya, rather than between both rivers.