Botkul (; ) is a bittern salt lake in the

Kazakhstan–Russia border The Kazakhstan–Russia border is the international border between the Kazakhstan, Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russia, Russian Federation. It is the longest continuous international border in the world and the second longest by total length, ...

. There is no salt mining at the lake. Its waters have a bitter, stinging taste and a strong smell of

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...

. The authorities are exploring the potential of developing Botkul as a tourist attraction.Water of Russia - Боткуль
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Geography

Botkul is an

endorheic lake An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally Saline water, saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes ...

located east of the course of the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

in the Caspian Lowland, about to the south of

lake Elton Lake Elton (; ) is a salt lake in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, near the Kazakhstan-Russia border, border with Kazakhstan. It has an area of and is normally about deep, and about in spring. Its surface is below sea level. The lake's name originat ...

. The main river feeding its waters is the Solyonaya, a small stream flowing from the west. The lake is shallow and in years of drought it dries completely up.Боткуль
''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed.

A.M. Prokhorov Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, ; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Russian physicist and researcher on lasers and masers, in the former Soviet Union. He shared the Nobel Prize in Ph ...

. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (in Russian)

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

Botkul is surrounded by

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

es. The Kazakhstan–Russia border runs across the middle of the lake from NNE to SSW. The western part of the lake lies in Pallasovsky District,

Volgograd Oblast Volgograd Oblast ( rus, Волгоградская область, p=vəɫɡɐˈgratskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the Volga region, lower Volga region of Southern Russia ...

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the eastern in

Bokey Orda District Bokey Orda (, ) is a Districts of Kazakhstan, district of West Kazakhstan Region in western Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the Village#Central and Eastern Europe, selo of Saykyn. Population: Geography Lake Aralsor is ...

West Kazakhstan Region West Kazakhstan Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. The region has a population of 695,000 as of July 1st, 2024. Its administrative centre is Oral (also known as Uralsk or Ural'sk), a city of about 250,000 inhabitants. The Region was created ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. Saykyn, located to the northeast, is the nearest village.

References

External links

*
Tourism and recreational potential of the salt lakes of Western Kazakhstan
Lakes of Kazakhstan Lakes of Volgograd Oblast Endorheic lakes of Europe West Kazakhstan Region {{WestKazakhstanRegion-geo-stub

Geography

See also

References

External links