Alakol Lake ( kk, Алакөл, , from Turkic "motley lake") 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 ...

located in the

Balkhash-Alakol Basin The Balkhash-Alakol Basin or Balkhash-Alakol Depression( kk, Балқаш-Алакөл ойысы; rus, Балхаш-Алакольская котловина), is a flat structural basin in southeastern Kazakhstan.

, part of the

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

and Shyghyz regions, east central

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 ...

. Its elevation is above sea level. The lake is the northwest extension of the region known as the Dzhungarian Gate (

Alataw Pass The Dzungarian Gate (or Altai Gap or Altay Gap) is a geographically and historically significant mountain pass between China and Central Asia. It has been described as the "one and only gateway in the mountain-wall which stretches from Manchuria ...

), a narrow valley connects the southern uplands of Kazakhstan with

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

northwest

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The Dzhungarian Gate is a fault-bounded valley (see vertical line on the image along the southwest side of the lake) where the elevation of the valley floor is between 350 and 450 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

and the peaks of the

Dzhungarsky Alatau The Dzungarian Alatau ( mn, Зүүнгарын Алатау, ''Züüngaryn Alatau''; ; kk, Жетісу Алатауы, ''Jetısu Alatauy''; russian: Джунгарский Алатау, ''Dzhungarskiy Alatau'') is a mountain range that lies on t ...

range (lower left) reach above sea level. Two well-defined

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

s are visible where mountain streams cut through the faulted landscape to the southwest of the lake. The surface area of the lake is . It is deep at its maximum depth, with a volume of 58.6 km³. A

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

y lowland (just above the center of the photo) connects the northwest end of Lake Alakol with the Kosharkol and

Sasykkol Sasykkol ( kz, Сасықкөл, ''Sasyqköl'') is a lake in eastern Kazakhstan. It is located near . It has an area of 600 km2 (736 km2 when water level is high), average depth of 3.3 m, and maximum depth of 4.7 m. Fishery on the lake i ...

(the two lighter-colored lakes in the photo). From the southern tip of Lake Alakol a narrow swampy valley connects it to the freshwater Lake Zhalanashkol (at the bottom edge of the picture). Alakol Lake, a salt lake, has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of and receives water periodically from several streams flowing from the

Tarbagatai Mountains The Tarbagatai Mountains ( mn, , , translit. ''Tarvagatai nuruu'', literally: "range with marmots"; ; kk, Тарбағатай жотасы, ''Tarbağatai jotasy'') are a range of mountains located in the north-western parts of Xinjiang, China, ...

. Among them are the southerly draining Urdzhar River at the north end of the lake, and the

Emil River The Emil ( kz, Еміл, ''Emıl''; russian: Эмель ''Emel'') or Emin (), also spelled Emel, Imil, etc., is a river in China and Kazakhstan. It flows through Tacheng (Tarbagatay) Prefecture of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the ...

, on the lake's north-eastern shore. During seasonal floods, surplus water drains from Lake Zhalanashkol to Lake Alakol along the 10-km long slough called Zhaman-Otkel (russian: Жаман-Откель). The Alakol State Sanctuary has been created to protect the area for the lake is an important breeding and nesting ground for various wetland birds, notably the very rare

relict gull The relict gull or Central Asian gull (''Ichthyaetus relictus'') is a medium-sized gull. It was believed to be an eastern race of the Mediterranean gull until 1971 and was traditionally placed in the genus ''Larus''. Description The gull is 4 ...

. Piski Island has flocks of

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...

, and 40 species of other birds.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

designated the Alakol Biosphere Reserve as part of its

Man and the Biosphere Programme Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...

in 2013. The largest island in Alakol Lake is Ul'kun-Aral-Tyube. It is located in the center of the lake. Agricultural activity in this arid region is limited to areas where adequate

moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some commercial products. Moisture also refers to the amount of water vapo ...

is available, mainly along ephemeral streambeds and in the deltas and alluvial fans. The

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Alakul culture is situated in the general region of the lake. In the middle of the 1st century BCE the Lake Alakol marked an eastern end of the

Kangju Kangju (; Eastern Han Chinese: ''kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ'' < *''khâŋ-ka'' (c. 140 BCE)) was the Chinese name of a kingdom in

Central Asia< ...

state, shown on Chinese maps of the Western territory. In 2021, Lake Alakol was selected as one of the top 10 tourist destinations in

Description

This salty, drainless lake, located in the North-East of Almaty region near the border with

, is considered unique. It is known about the beneficial properties of the purest Alakol water that it restores strength and strengthens health. Many years ago, the famous great

silk road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

passed here. Even in those days, the caravaneers, unable to refuse after a tedious journey to refresh themselves in the waters of the lake, noticed how the skin abrasions on the legs disappeared by themselves, wounds on the body quickly healed, those suffering from sciatica forgot about the pain in the lower back, even quarrels and resentments moved away.

History

During the reign of

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

, it was said that this lake "It-Ichmes" (translated "dog will not drink") because one liter of water contains 8 g of salt. Kimaks (IX-XI centuries) called this lake Gagan, after the city located on the site of the village of Koktuma. The great gift of nature in Kazakhstan-Alakol. The lake is already thought to be reported in the account given by

William of Rubruck William of Rubruck ( nl, Willem van Rubroeck, la, Gulielmus de Rubruquis; ) was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer. He is best known for his travels to various parts of the Middle East and Central Asia in the 13th century, including the ...

of his voyage to

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in th ...

, but he thinks it to be an inner sea, the oriental end of the Lake Balkash."

Medical property

Modern medical research confirms the healing qualities of lake water. Sea breath of Alakol in a combination with dry, hot, filled with aroma of steppes, the air has a beneficial effect on humans. It was in the resort areas of Alakol that cosmonauts underwent rehabilitation after returning from orbit.

References

External links

Data summary: AlakolNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
{{Authority control Alakol Landforms of Almaty Region East Kazakhstan Region Balkhash-Alakol Basin

Description

History

Medical property

See also

References

External links