Karakul

Where is Karakul?

Countries on its shores: Tajikistan.

Largest lake of: Tajikistan.

Middle of the lake: 39.02° N, 73.38° E

The story behind it

Karakul is about 25 kilometres across. A peninsula reaching out from the south shore and an island near the north shore split it into two parts: a shallow eastern basin only 13 to 19 metres deep, and a much bigger western basin up to 230 metres deep. No river flows out of the lake, and its water is brackish, which means a little salty. For a long time scientists thought the lake lies in a giant crater, made when a rock from space hit the Earth millions of years ago. Newer studies suggest instead that the ground here was slowly pulled apart. The lake lies in Tajik National Park. Bar-headed geese, saker falcons and Himalayan vultures can be seen here, and a small fish of the loach family lives in the water. From 2014 to 2017, sailors even raced boats here in the Roof of the World Regatta.

Find it on the globe

Karakul is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.