Issyk-Kul

Isyk-Kul
Isyk-Kul Show map of Kyrgyzstan Isyk-Kul Show map of West and Central Asia
Issyk-Kul from space, September 1992
Coordinates	42°25′N 77°15′E / 42.417°N 77.250°E / 42.417; 77.250
Lake type	Ancient lake, Endorheic Mountain lake Monomictic
Primary inflows	Glaciers
Primary outflows	Evaporation
Catchment area	15,844 square kilometres (6,117 sq mi)
Basin countries	Kyrgyzstan
Max. length	178 kilometres (111 mi)[1]
Max. width	60.1 kilometres (37.3 mi)[1]
Surface area	6,236 square kilometres (2,408 sq mi)[1]
Average depth	278.4 metres (913 ft)[1]
Max. depth	668 metres (2,192 ft)[1][2]
Water volume	1,736 cubic kilometres (416 cu mi)[3][2]
Residence time	~330 years[2]
Salinity	6g/L[1][2]
Shore length1	669 kilometres (416 mi)[1]
Surface elevation	1,607 metres (5,272 ft)[1]
Settlements	Balykchy, Cholpon-Ata, Karakol
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	The Issyk-kul State Nature Reserve with the Issyk-kul Lake
Designated	12 November 2002
Reference no.	1231[4]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, Kyrgyz: Ысык-Көл, romanized: Ysyk-Köl, lit. 'warm lake', [ɯsɯk kœl]) is an endorheic (i.e., without outflow) saline lake in the western Tianshan Mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan, just south of a dividing range separating Kyrgyzstan from Kazakhstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in the world, the tenth-largest lake in the world by volume (though not in surface area), the deepest lake whose deepest point is above sea level (939 meters or 3,080 feet), and the third-largest saline lake. Issyk-Kul means "warm lake" in the Kyrgyz language; although it is located at a lofty elevation of 1,607 metres (5,272 ft) and subject to severe cold during winter, it rarely freezes over due to high salinity.^[5][6]

The lake is a Ramsar site of globally significant biodiversity^[7] and forms part of the Issyk-Kul Biosphere Reserve.