Sarygamysh Lake

Sarygamysh Lake
December 2001
Coordinates	42°00′N 57°20′E / 42.000°N 57.333°ECoordinates: 42°00′N 57°20′E / 42.000°N 57.333°E
Basin countries	Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Max. length	125 km
Max. width	90 km
Surface area	ca. 5,000 km²
Average depth	8 m
Max. depth	40 m
Water volume	12 km³
Surface elevation	5 m

The Sarygamysh Lake, also Sarykamysh or Sary-Kamysh (Turkmen: Sarygamyş köli, Uzbek: 'Sariqamish ko‘li', Russian: Сарыкамы́шское озеро), Turkmen for "Yellow Reed", is a lake situated in central north Turkmenistan. It is geographically located approximately midway between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. Approximately the northwest quarter of the lake belongs to the country of Uzbekistan, while the rest belongs to Turkmenistan.

Sarykamysh Lake at lower left, Oxus delta and what is left of the Aral Sea

Sarygamysh Lake, from Uzbekistan

Sunset at Sarygamysh Lake

Lake Sarygamysh was fed, up to the 17th century, by the Uzboy River, a distributary of the Amu Darya River, which continued on to the Caspian Sea. Today, it is largely fed by the run-off water from surrounding irrigated lands, containing high levels of pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals.

The name of the lake comes from Turkmen sarykamysh 'yellow reed'.^[1]

The Turkmen section of the lake and the land around it is protected by the Sarygamyş Sanctuary.

References

1. E.M. Pospelov, Geograficheskiye nazvaniya mira (Moscow, 1998), p. 369.