Lake Ngardok

Where is Lake Ngardok?

Countries on its shores: Palau.

Largest lake of: Palau.

Middle of the lake: 7.51° N, 134.60° E

The story behind it

Lake Ngardok is small – only about 10 hectares, or 0.1 km² – but it is the largest natural lake in Palau. Palau also has about 70 salty “marine lakes” in its Rock Islands, but they are joined to the ocean through cracks and tunnels in the rock. Lake Ngardok is filled with fresh water. Its surface lies about 18 metres above the sea, and more than half of it is covered by a mat of reeds. The lake is a breeding place for saltwater crocodiles. They travel along the Ngerdorch River from the lake down to the sea. Birds that live nowhere else, such as a fruit dove and a fantail found only in Palau, live in the forest around the lake. In 2002 the lake and its forest became a Ramsar site, a wetland that is important for the whole world. In dry times, the lake can be a store of water for people.

Find it on the globe

Lake Ngardok 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.