Balyktykol ( kk, Балықтыкөл; russian: Балыктыколь) /ref> is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in
Karkaraly District
Karkaraly District ( kk, Қарқаралы ауданы, ) is a district of Karaganda Region in central Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Karkaraly. As of 2019, the district is home to a population of 36,025 peop ...
,
Karaganda Region
Karaganda Region ( kk, Qarağandy oblysy; russian: Карагандинская область, translit=Karagandinskaja oblast′), also spelled Qaraghandy Region, is a region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Karaganda.
On 17 March 2022 it was an ...
,
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 ...
, one of many lakes by that name.
The lake is located to the NNE of Karkaraly city. The nearest inhabited places are Karabulak to the southeast, Yegindybulak to the east by
Mount Ku
Mount Ku ( kk, Қу тауы) is a mountain massif in the Karkaraly District, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan.''Nature of Kazakhstan: Encyclopedia'' / General editor. B. O. Jacob. - Almaty: "Kazakh Encyclopedia" LLP, 2011. T.Z. - 304 pages. ISBN 996 ...
, and Koyandy village to the NW of the northwestern lakeshore. The lake is an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
under threat.
Geography
Balyktykol is a heart-shaped lake in the central/eastern
Kazakh Uplands
The Kazakh Uplands ( kk, Сарыарқа, ''Saryarqa'' - "Yellow Ridge", russian: Казахский мелкосопочник, Kazakhskiy Melkosopochnik), also known as the Kazakh Hummocks, is a large peneplain formation extending throughout th ...
hard
Hard may refer to:
* Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture
* Hard water, water with high mineral content
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series
* Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...
. The lake is fed by snow, rainfall and underground water. The Ozdenbay River flows into the lake from the north and the Taldy River flows out of the NW lakeshore heading towards lake Karasor to the west. The highest water level is in April during the spring floods, and the lowest usually in October. The lake freezes in November and thaws in April.
Google Earth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
Flora and fauna
There is
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
sedge
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...
s. In some areas meadows are fringing the banks with
fescue
''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every ...
Achnatherum splendens
''Achnatherum'' is a genus of plants which includes several species of needlegrass. Several needlegrass species have been switched between ''Achnatherum'' and genus ''Stipa''; taxonomy between the two closely related genera is still uncertain.
' ...
'' and ''
Caragana
''Caragana'' is a genus of about 80–100 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to Asia and eastern Europe.
They are shrubs or small trees growing tall. They have even-pinnate leaves with small leaflets, and solitary or ...
'' growing tall. Every year at the lake there is a large concentration of migratory birds. The main fish species in the lake are
crucian carp
The crucian carp (''Carassius carassius'') is a medium-sized member of the common carp family Cyprinidae. It occurs widely in northern European regions. Its name derives from the Low German ''karusse'' or ''karutze'', possibly from Medieval Lat ...
and
common bream
The common bream, freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream, carp bream or sweaty bream (''Abramis brama''), is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is now considered to be the only species in the genus ''Abramis''.
...
.Balyktykol Lake - BirdLife Data Zone /ref>
See also
*
List of lakes of Kazakhstan
Excluding the northernmost districts, Kazakhstan consists of endorheic basins, where rivers flow into one of the numerous lakes. The most important drainage system is known as Yedisu, meaning "seven rivers" in Turkic languages. Below is the list ...