Lake · Kazakhstan
Lake Tengiz
Lake Tengiz is a large, shallow salt lake on the dry steppe of northern Kazakhstan. It is famous for its birds, above all the pink flamingos, which live nowhere else so far north.
Where is Lake Tengiz?
Countries on its shores: Kazakhstan.
Middle of the lake: 50.44° N, 68.90° E
The story behind it
Lake Tengiz lies in a wide land of steppe and semi-desert, where only a few people live. Two rivers, the Nura and the smaller Kulanotpes, flow into it, and its water is salty. The lake is very shallow: at its deepest it is only about 7 metres deep. Its area is about 1 590 km², but it changes, because the water level rises and falls with the seasons. Along the jagged eastern shore lie many small islands. This is the most northerly place on Earth where pink flamingos live, and around 300 kinds of birds have been seen here. To protect them, the lake belongs to the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve, which has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. In winter the lake freezes over. In 1976 a Soviet space capsule, Soyuz 23, came down on the lake and broke through the ice – but its crew was rescued.
Find it on the globe
Lake Tengiz 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.
Questions children ask
How big is Lake Tengiz?
Lake Tengiz covers about 1 590 km², but its size changes as the water level rises and falls. It is very shallow, only about 7 metres at its deepest point.
Why is Lake Tengiz so important for birds?
Around 300 kinds of birds have been seen at the lake, and it is the most northerly home of pink flamingos. That is why it is protected in the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Did a spaceship really land on Lake Tengiz?
Yes. In October 1976 the Soviet space capsule Soyuz 23 came down on the frozen lake and broke through the ice. Rescuing the crew was very hard, but it succeeded.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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