Zorkul ( ps, زارکول; tg, Зоркӯл, Zārkul) 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 the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the wor ...

that runs along the border between

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

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

Geography

Lake Zorkul extends east to west for about 25 km. The Afghanistan–Tajikistan border runs along the lake from east to west, turning south towards Concord Peak (5,469 m), about 15 km south of the lake. The lake's northern half lies in Tajikistan where it is protected as part of the

Zorkul Nature Reserve Zorkul Nature Reserve is a 1610 km2 nature reserve in south-eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in eastern Tajikistan, adjoining the border with Afghanistan’s Wakhan District. The area was made a zakaznik in 1972 for the conserva ...

. Out of the lake, towards the west, flows the Pamir River, tracing the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

- Tajik border. It is therefore a source of the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

or Oxus River. The

Great Pamir The Great Pamir or Big Pamir ( Wakhi: ''Past Pamir''; Kyrgyz: ''Chong Pamir''; fa, پامیر کلان, translit=Pāmīr-e Kalān) is a broad U-shaped grassy valley or ''pamir'' in the eastern part of the Wakhan in north-eastern Afghanistan and t ...

extends to the south of the lake.

History

The lake is on the path of the

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 rel ...

. It was referred to as "Great Dragon Pool" () in Chinese historical records. The lake was once in the territory of the mir of

Wakhan Wakhan, or "the Wakhan" (also spelt Vakhan; Persian and ps, واخان, ''Vâxân'' and ''Wāxān'' respectively; tg, Вахон, ''Vaxon''), is a rugged, mountainous part of the Pamir, Hindu Kush and Karakoram regions of Afghanistan. Wakha ...

, but the lake and river were established as the border between Russia and Afghanistan by agreement between the Russians and the British in 1895. Although there is a probable reference to the lake in

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in '' The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

's account, the first European known to have visited the lake was the British naval officer John Wood in 1838. Sir-i-kol became known to the British as Lake Victoria, after the British queen, although Wood declined to name it so. It was also known as "Lake Victoria in the Pamirs" to distinguish it from the much larger

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

in Africa.

References

{{Badakhshan Province Lakes of Tajikistan Lakes of Afghanistan Afghanistan–Tajikistan border International lakes of Asia Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region Wakhan Ramsar sites in Tajikistan Landforms of Badakhshan Province

Geography

History

See also

References