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Aral Sea

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The Aral Sea ( ARR-əl; Kazakh: Арал теңізі, romanized: Aral teñızı; Uzbek: Орол денгизи, romanized: Orol dengizi; Karakalpak: Арал теңизи, romanized: Aral teńizi; Russian: Аральское море, romanized: Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan (Aktobe and Kyzylorda Regions) in the north and Uzbekistan (Karakalpakstan autonomous region) in the south which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up by the 2010s. The name roughly translates as "Sea of Islands", referring to over 1,100 islands that had dotted its waters. In the Mongolic and Turkic languages, aral means "island, archipelago". The Aral Sea drainage basin encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and Iran.Formerly the fourth largest lake in the world with an area of 68,000 km2 (26,300 sq mi), the Aral Sea began shrinking in the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes: the North Aral Sea, the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea, and the smaller intermediate Barsakelmes Lake.By 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the western edge of the former southern sea. In subsequent years occasional water flows have led to the southeastern lake sometimes being replenished to a small degree. Satellite images by NASA in August 2014 revealed that for the first time in modern history the eastern basin of the Aral Sea had completely dried up. The eastern basin is now called the Aralkum Desert.

Aral Sea - Wikipedia Jump to content Coordinates : 45°N 60°E  /  45°N 60°E  / 45; 60 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lake in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Aral Sea Арал теңизи   ( Karakalpak ) Арал теңізі   ( Kazakh ) Аральское море   ( Russian ) Орол денгизи   ( Uzbek ) The Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2014 (right) Aral Sea Location Central Asia ( Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan ) Coordinates 45°N 60°E  /  45°N 60°E  / 45; 60 Type Endorheic , saline , natural lake , reservoir (North) Primary inflows North: Syr Darya South: Groundwat

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