10 Facts about Aral Sea

Facts about Aral Sea talk about the Endorheic Lake. The location of this lake is between Uzbekistan in the south and Kazakhstan in the north. Let’s find out the meaning of Aral Sea. It can be translated into Sea of Island. The word in Old Turkic means the island. The word, the island is used to refer to 1,100 islands. They were located in the water in the past time. Here are other interesting facts about Aral Sea for you:

Facts about Aral Sea 1: the drainage basin

The drainage basin of Aral Sea spans on some parts of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Facts about Aral Sea 2: the area

Aral Sea has the area of 26,300 square miles or 68,000 km2. It was called as one of the largest lakes on earth. Due to the Soviet irrigation projects on the river which fed the lake, Aral Sea’s volume began to shrink.

Facts about Aral Sea

Facts about Aral Sea 3: the original size

The lake splits into four lakes in 2007 after the original size of the lake decreasing 10 percent. One small lake is located between the south and North Aral Sea.

Facts about Aral Sea 4: the disappearance

The southwestern lake was only in a form of a thin strip. The disappearance was seen on the southeastern lake in 2009. The eastern basin of Aral Sea was dry based on the satellite images taken in August 2014 by NASA.  Due to the barren and dry condition, you can call the basin Aralkum desert.

Aral Sea Crisis

Facts about Aral Sea 5: the North Aral Sea

Kazakhstan had an effort to fix the barren North Aral Sea by having a dam project. The project finished in 2005. The level of water in the lake was increased by 39 feet or 12 meters in 2008.

Facts about Aral Sea 6: the fish

After the introduction of the dam project, the fish began to spot in the lake. Moreover, the salinity level of Aral Sea was reduced. In 2008, the depth of Aral Sea was 138 feet or 42 meters.

Aral Sea Dryness

Facts about Aral Sea 7: the public health problem

People should concern with the public health problem on Aral Sea since this lake is heavily polluted.

Facts about Aral Sea 8: the formation

Aral Sea was formed due to the uplift of the Elburz and Caucasus Mountain 5.5 million years ago. Find out another destination in Facts about Anglesey.

Aral Sea Facts

Facts about Aral Sea 9: recovery for the Aral Sea

A deal was signed between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan in January 1994. It stated that all countries would help the recovery of the sea by pledging 1 percent of their budget.

Facts about Aral Sea 10: exploitation

Aral Sea is a source of natural gas.  The report stated that 500,000 cubic meters of gas had been extracted by 1 June 2010.

Aral Sea Barren

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