Shalkar-Yega-Kara (russian: Шалкар-Ега-Кара) is a lake in

Orenburg Oblast Orenburg Oblast (russian: Оренбургская область, ''Orenburgskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name ''Chkalov Oblast'' () ...

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The lake is located in the Svetlinsky District, close to the

Kazakhstan–Russia border The Kazakhstan–Russia border (russian: Казахстанско-российская граница, kk, Қазақстан-Ресей шекарасы) is the international border between the Kazakhstan, Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russia ...

. Svetly village lies close to the northern shore of the lake.Water of Russia - Шалкар-Ега-Кара
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Geography

Shalkar-Yega-Kara is the largest lake in Orenburg Oblast. It is an almost round, shallow lake located at the bottom of a bowl-shaped depression in the

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, ...

. Its shores are very gently sloping. Smaller lake Kayrankol lies to the north of its northeastern end. The only river feeding its waters is the Buruktal during the spring season, but in most years it doesn't reach the lake and the Shalkar-Yega-Kara dries completely up.Lake Shalkar-Ega-Kara
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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 ...

The Kazakhstan–Russia border runs barely to the south of the southern shore. Lake Ayke is located about to the northeast, on the other side of the Kazakh border.

Fauna

The main fish species in the Shalkar-Yega-Kara is the

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 ...

. In the years where the Buruktal flows and fills the lake,

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

, ide and

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

are also found. Certain spots of the lakeshore provide a breeding ground for

terns Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

Dalmatian pelican The Dalmatian pelican (''Pelecanus crispus'') is the largest member of the pelican family, and perhaps the world's largest freshwater bird, although rivaled in weight and length by the largest swans. They are elegant soaring birds, with wingspan ...

s and

Great cormorant The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a w ...

References

External links

*
Озеро Шалкар-Ега-Кара. Описание места - RuTraveller
Lakes of Orenburg Oblast Endorheic lakes of Asia {{Russia-geo-stub

Geography

Fauna

See also

References

External links