Issyk-Kul - the pearl of Central Asia

The most beautiful and the biggest lake in Kyrgyzstan - Lake Issyk-Kul. It is located in the northeastern part of the country between the ridges of the Northern Tien Shan Kung Ala-Too ("facing the sun") and Terskey Ala-Too ("facing the sun") at an altitude of 1609 meters above sea level. Issyk-Kul is one of the largest mountain lakes in the world.

35 fot this miracle of nature

The basin of the lake, surrounded on all sides by powerful mountain ranges, long time remained inaccessible regions of Kyrgyzstan. Who here can be reached by road, passing through the famous Boom Gorge, also on the territory of the basin are 2 airports: Cholpon-Ata located near resort town and the International Airport Tamchi, which was built and opened in the summer of 2003 at the military airport.

= 2 =

Here are some figures about this unique place: the volume of all water is equal to 1738 cubic kilometers, the area of water surface - 6236 square kilometers, the length of coastline - 688 km, the average depth - 278 m, the largest is the depth of almost 2, 5 times more and equal to 668 m, length of the Issyk-Kul from west to east is 182 km, and from South to North - 58 km. During the last two centuries, the level of Lake Issyk-Kul goes down and therefore decreases the depth and length of the coastline. According to the Big Soviet Encyclopedia in 1886 it fell to 4 m, according to other sources, on the 9 th.

= 3 =

Because of the great depth of the lake water does not have time to cool down completely - the lake never freezes, except for some banks. Issyk-Kul is translated from Kyrgyz - "Hot Lake". Ancient Kyrgyz called the pearl of the country "Tuz-Kul" - "Salt Lake" for the salty taste of the water that is not drinkable for either humans or animals.

In the photo - so it looks like a lake in winter.

= 4 =

The lake belongs to the educated by tectonic and orographic isolation due to depression - the climate here is peculiar, almost sea. It is softer, warmer and more humid than in other basins of the Tien Shan, located at the same height.

= 5 =

The flow into the lake more than 80 rec- and streams, tributaries, but not no river carries its waters of the azure of the lake, which causes the accumulation of salt (salinity of water - 5, 90%). The largest flowing into the lake are Tup rivers (103 km) and Jergalan (81 km), the length of the rest shall not exceed 50 km. Once and Chu River, which flows along the western edge of the basin, carrying their water in the lake.

In the photo - one of the mountain streams flowing into the lake.

= 6 =

Contrast diverse natural areas: the east - it is steppes on dark chestnut soils, on slopes of mountains in the west - semi-desert, but in the east, at the same altitudes, especially in the gorges Terskey Ala-Too - dense spruce forests. Diverse and organic world of the lake - is home to about 20 species of fish, 10 of them - acclimatized. In Issyk-Kul live: rudd, carp, Marina, Osman, perch, bream, mirror carp, grass carp, and amurdarinskaya sivanskaya trout, whitefish and other fish.

= 7 =

The first lake studied great Russian traveler PP Semenov-Tyan-Shan. He wrote about the Issyk-Kul: "It's hard to imagine something grander landscape, presents the traveler with Kungei across the lake in the Heavenly Mountains. Dark blue surface of Issyk-Kul its sapphire color can easily compete with the equally blue surface of Lake Geneva, it seemed to me from the west side Kungei almost boundless in the East, and in no way comparable to the grandeur of the last plan of landscape gives it a grandeur that Lake Geneva has no ».

= 8 =

The famous Russian explorer and scientist, explorer of Central Asia, NM Przewalski, was in love with this region and asked to be buried on the banks of the lake. Having seen the beauty of Kyrgyzstan, he said: "This is the same Switzerland, only better." After the death of Przewalski in his honor was named the city, located near the grave of the traveler. Then, after the collapse of the USSR, Prezhevalsk was renamed in Karakol. The city is a museum Prezhevalskogo.

= 9 =

Issyk-Kul attracts a huge number of tourists from Kazakhstan, Russia and other parts of the CIS, as well as foreign tourists. On the coast are the resorts of the lake, open all year round, where you can not only relax wonderfully, but also improve their health.

© gokyrgyzstan.net (text)

= 10 =