The Arghistan or Arghastan is a river in southern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. It flows through

Arghistan District The Arghistan District ( ps, ارغستان ولسوالۍ, fa, ولسوالی ارغستان) is a district in the northeastern part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Spin Boldak District to the south and west, Daman District to the ...

and the provinces of

Zabul Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zabu ...

and

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

. It is a tributary of the Dori River, a sub-tributary of the

Helmand River The Helmand River (also spelled Helmend, or Helmund, Hirmand; Pashto/ Persian: ; Greek: ' (''Etýmandros''); Latin: ') is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin. It emerges in the Sanglak ...

. It flows for and has a basin area of .

Geography

The river rises in the south-eastern Afghanistan, in the province of Zabul, near the border of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Shortly after its start, the Arghastan adopts towards a west-southwest course. It joins the Dori on the right bank, about south-west (downstream) of

. In its lower course, its waters are widely used to irrigate the oases of Kandahar, and its flow is greatly reduced. The average annual flow or module of the river is near the town of

.USGS Water Resources (1977) The Lora River (not to be confused with the Dori River, also known as the Lora River in its upper reaches) is a tributary from the northeast with its headwaters near

Ab-i Istada Ab-i Istada ("standing water") is an endorheic salt lake in Nawa District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. It lies in a large depression created by the Chaman Fault system in the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush, south-southwest of Ghazni. ...

. It joins the Arghastan on its right bank in its lower reaches.

Notes and references

External links

Integrated Water Resources Management for the Sistan Closed Inland Delta, page 9 and Watershed Map of Afghanistan (page 18)
Rivers of Afghanistan Landforms of Kandahar Province Landforms of Zabul Province {{Afghanistan-river-stub