Lake Yalchik (russian: Яльчик, mhr, Ялчык, ''Jalčyk'') is the largest

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 Mari El,

Russia 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 ...

, located in the

Marii Chodra The Mari Forest or Mariy Chodra ( Mari and russian: Марий Чодра) is a national park, located largely in Morkinsky, Zvenigovsky, and Volzhsky Districts of the Mari El Republic, Russia. The park has an area of and was established in 198 ...

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

. Lake Yalchik plays a major role in tourism in region and several tourist centres are located here. It is renowned locally for its clean and warm water.

Hydrology

Bigger Yalchik, Health complex, June 30 2014

Lake Yalchik is a system of two lakes, the Greater and Smaller Yalchiks, which are linked by a channel which periodically dries up in summer. The elevation of Smaller Yalchik is higher than that of Greater Yalchik, but flow from Smaller Yalchik can only be observed at

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...

. The area of the lake is increasing due to the

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

processes that shape the area. Legend says that the lake appeared after the major collapse of a meadow, which was originally in the location of the lake. The last major collapse occurred in 1914 and it generated a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

-like wave. At the bottom of the lake there are two series of

caves, and long, and up to deep. Greater Yalchik has a complex shape and many

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

s, whereas Smaller Yalchik has an elongated shape. Smaller Yalchik has two little brooks as inflows, but the Greater Yalchik has none.

Etymology

According to a local Mari legend the lake is named in honour of national hero Yalche. There is also a possibility that the name of the lake has Turkic root. Turkish diminutive suffix is -chik, and yalchik means small yal where yal means village in the Chuvash. Turkish influence could also be seen in the name of the region Mari El, as el means country. Also many of the locations in Marii El have the ''jär/yer'' endings, which in Turkish means place.

Recreation

Being popular for its unique nature, Yalchik attracts many

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

s, mostly from

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

. However, there are no beaches at the lake, and the most of its coastline is covered with reed. Many tourists reach Yalchik by own

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s, but a significant number of them use a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. The closest

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

to Yalchik is in the settlement of Yalchevsky. Some Mari and Tatarstan universities sometimes arrange science

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

at the Yalchik's

rest home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

References

*
Article about Yalchik
*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080505040527/http://fromzd.narod.ru/yal.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Yalchik Lakes of Mari El

Hydrology

Etymology

Recreation

See also

References