Iskanderkul (russian: Искандеркуль; tg, Искандаркӯл) is a mountain

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 ...

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

origin in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Sughd Province Sughd Province ( tg, Вилояти Суғд, Viloyati Sughd, Sogdia Region , fa, ولایت سغد) is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces ( tg, вилоятҳо, viloyatho , fa, ولایت) that make up ...

. It lies at an altitude of on the northern slopes of the

Gissar Range Hisar Range ( tg, Қаторкӯҳи Ҳисор; uz, Hisor tizmasi, russian: Гиссарский хребет; uk, Ґаторкугі Гісор; fa, رشته‌کوه حصار; also known as Hissar, Hisor, or Gissar Range) is a mountain range ...

in the

Fann Mountains The Fann Mountains ( tg, Кӯҳҳои Фон) are part of the western Pamir-Alay mountain system in Tajikistan's Sughd Province, between the Zarafshan Range to the north and the Gissar Range to the south. In an east-west direction, they extend fr ...

. Triangular in shape, it has a surface area of and is up to deep. Formed by a landslide that blocks the Saratogh river, the outflow of the lake is called the

Iskander Darya The Iskander Darya (russian: Искандердарья; tg, Искандардарё) is a river in Ayni District of Sughd Region, Tajikistan. The Iskander Darya is long, and the area of its drainage basin is long. It is the left source riv ...

, which joins the

Yaghnob River The Yaghnob ( tg, Яғноб) is a river in Ayni District of Sughd Region, Tajikistan. Together with the Iskander Darya, it forms the Fan Darya, a major left tributary of the Zeravshan. The source of the Yaghnob is in the Matcha Mountains, ...

to form the

Fan Darya The Fan Darya (russian: Фандарья) is a river in Ayni District of Sughd Region, Tajikistan. The Fan Darya is long (140 km including its source river Yaghnob (river), Yaghnob), and the area of its drainage basin is . It is a major left ...

, a major left tributary of the

Zeravshan River The Zeravshan; uz, Zeravshon, Зеравшон, زېرەۋشان; from Persian language, Persian fa, , Zarâfšân – meaning "the spreader of gold" is a river in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia. Its name, "spreader of gold" in Persi ...

. 134 km from

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...

and 23 km from the Dushanbe—

Khujand Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند‌, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لن� ...

road, Iskanderkul is a popular tourist destination. The lake takes its name from

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

's passage in Tajikistan: ''Iskander'' is the Persian pronunciation of Alexander, and ''kul'' means lake in many

Turkic language The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

s. There are two legends connecting the lake to Alexander. The first one states it used to be a location the inhabitants of which resisted Alexander's rule, and in fury, the king ordered to divert a river and annihilate them. The second legend states that

Bucephalus Bucephalus or Bucephalas (; grc, Βουκεφάλας, ; – June 326 BC) was the horse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous horses of classical antiquity. Ancient historical accounts state that Bucephalus' breed was tha ...

had drowned in the lake.

Birds

A tract of land including the lake and surrounding mountains has been designated a nature reserve. As well as the lake itself, habitats found in the reserve include rivers,

water meadow A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water-m ...

broad-leaved A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with ne ...

and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

forests, mountain

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

and

sub-alpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

meadows. Over half of the reserve, comprising , has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as 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 ...

because it supports significant numbers of the populations of various bird species, either as residents, or as breeding or passage migrants. These include

Himalayan snowcock The Himalayan snowcock (''Tetraogallus himalayensis'') is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae found across the Himalayan ranges and parts of the adjoining Pamir range of Asia. It is found on alpine pastures and on steep rocky cliffs wh ...

saker falcon The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia ...

cinereous vulture The cinereous vulture (''Aegypius monachus'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae and distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture and Eurasian black vulture. With a body length of , ...

yellow-billed chough The Alpine chough (), or yellow-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax graculus'') is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus '' Pyrrhocorax''. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europ ...

Hume's lark Hume's short-toed lark (''Calandrella acutirostris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-central Asia from Iran and Kazakhstan to China. Taxonomy and systematics The name commemorates the British naturalist Allan ...

sulphur-bellied warbler The sulphur-bellied warbler (''Phylloscopus griseolus'') is a species of leaf-warbler found in the Palearctic region (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russian Federation entral Asian Russia Tajikistan and Turkmenistan). It was earl ...

wallcreeper The wallcreeper (''Tichodroma muraria'') is a small passerine bird found throughout the high mountains of the Palearctic from southern Europe to central China. It is the only extant member of both the genus ''Tichodroma'' and the family Tichodro ...

Himalayan rubythroat The Himalayan rubythroat (''Calliope pectoralis'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is closely related to the Siberian rubythroat which however lacks the distinctive white tail-tips and white tail bases. It was also ...

s, white-winged redstarts,

white-winged snowfinch The white-winged snowfinch (''Montifringilla nivalis''), or snowfinch, is a small passerine bird. Despite its name, it is a sparrow rather than a true finch. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description ...

es,

alpine accentor The alpine accentor (''Prunella collaris'') is a small passerine bird in the family Prunellidae, which is native to Eurasia and North Africa. Taxonomy The Alpine accentor was described by the Austria naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769. ...

s, rufous-streaked accentors,

brown accentor The brown accentor (''Prunella fulvescens'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in Afghanistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Its natural habitat ...

water pipit The water pipit (''Anthus spinoletta'') is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of Southern Europe and the Palearctic eastwards to China. It is a short-distance migrant; many birds move to lower altitudes or wet open lowlands i ...

fire-fronted serin The red-fronted serin or fire-fronted serin (''Serinus pusillus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It prefers high mountain regions and is 11–12 cm long. This bird breeds in the Caucasus and the higher mountai ...

plain mountain finch The plain mountain finch (''Leucosticte nemoricola'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Tibet, and Turkmenistan. Its natu ...

es, crimson-winged finches, red-mantled rosefinches and

white-winged grosbeak The white-winged grosbeak (''Mycerobas carnipes'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Its natural ...

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Tajikistan Important Bird Areas of Tajikistan Sughd Region