The Caspian Kara Kum ("Black Sand"), the larger desert at over 300,000 km², is east of the Caspian Sea, with the Aral Sea to the north and the Amu Darya river and Kyzyl-Kum desert to the northeast and covers 90 per cent of Turkmenistan. It is crossed by the Trans-Caspian railway and the largest irrigation canal in the world, the Kara-Kum Canal at 1375 km in length. The canal was started in 1954 and carries 13 km³ of water annually, unfortunately leakages from the canal has resulted in lakes and ponds along the canal and the rise in groundwater[?] has caused widespread salinization. The area also has significant oil and natural gas deposits.
The Aral Kara Kum desert (40,000 km²) lies north of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan.
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