Hari Rud [key], river, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, rising in the Kuh-e Baba range, central Afghanistan, and flowing west and then north into the steppes S of the Kara Kum desert in Turkmenistan; its lower course forms part of the Afghanistan-Iran and Iran-Turkmenistan borders. The river irrigates the fertile valley of Herat, NW Afghanistan, and ends in the Tejen oasis in Turkmenistan, a wheat, cotton, and cattle raising area. The river is dammed for irrigation and hydroelectricity in Herat prov., Afghanistan, and on the Iran-Turkmenistan border. In Turkmenistan, the river is called Tejen; in ancient times it was known as the Arius.
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