Maly Uzen (russian: Малый Узень) or Kishi Uzen ( kk, Кіші Өзен, ''Kishi Ózen;'' tt-Cyrl, Кесе Үҙән), known as the Saryozen in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, is a river in

Saratov Oblast Saratov Oblast (russian: Сара́товская о́бласть, ''Saratovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Saratov. As of the 2010 Cen ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and West Kazakhstan Province of

. It is long, with a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of ,Узень Большой и Малый

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

55% in Russia and 45% in Kazakhstan. The river form part of the

Kazakhstan–Russia border The Kazakhstan–Russia border (russian: Казахстанско-российская граница, kk, Қазақстан-Ресей шекарасы) is the international border between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federatio ...

. The Maly Uzen has its sources north of the town Yershov, on the western edge of the Obshchy Syrt plateau in Russia, and flows in a generally southerly direction over the steppes of the

Caspian Depression The Caspian Depression ( kk, Каспий маңы ойпаты, ''Kaspıı mańy oıpaty''; rus, Прикаспи́йская ни́зменность, p=prʲɪkɐˈspʲijskəjə ˈnʲizmʲɪnnəsʲtʲ, Caspian Lowland) or Pricaspian/Peri-Casp ...

. It terminates in Lake Sorajdyn of West-Kazakhstan, part of a network of small lakes and swamps called the Kamysh-Samarsk lakes. The Maly Uzen runs parallel to the Bolshoy Uzen River, some further east. Most of the river's waters comes from melting snow, and its discharge it therefore at its peak in April, while in the summer parts of the river will dry up completely. At the village of Maly Uzen the discharge varies from . The river freezes over in December, and stays icebound to the end of March or beginning of April. The river is used for water supply and irrigation. Water quality tests conducted in 2005 in the Russian section indicated 'moderately polluted'. A 2011 report by the

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and i ...

listed the discharge of wastewater, surface run-off, sediments and riverbank erosion as damaging to water quality.

References

{{Rivers of Kazakhstan Rivers of Saratov Oblast Rivers of Kazakhstan International rivers of Europe