Aral Sea Bank's restoration projects, especially in the North Aral, were giving rise to some unexpected, tentative relief in what had been an extremely pessimistic picture. The future of the Aral Sea and the responsibility for its survival are now in the hands of the five countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. In 1994, they adopted the Aral Sea Basin Programmme. The Programme's four objectives are: The first phase of the plan effectively began with the first involvement from the World Bank in 1992, and was in operation until 1997. It was ineffectual for a number of reasons, but mainly because
Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan border Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan border The Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan border is 1,314km (816m) and runs from the tripoint with Kazakhstan to the tripoint with Tajikistan. It is Kyrgyzstan’s longest external boundary. The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Kazakhstan and then creates a ‘finger’ of Uzbek territory wedged between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; the border traverses the Pskem Mountains, with much of this area being taken up by a series of national parks (Ugam-Chatkal National Park in Uzbekistan and Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve in Kyrgyzstan). The boundary then proceeds in a roughly south-eastwards direction, traversing the Chatkal Range and the Qurama Mountains before