Lake Van

Where is Lake Van?

Countries on its shores: Türkiye.

Largest lake of: Türkiye.

Middle of the lake: 38.63° N, 42.82° E

The story behind it

Lake Van lies 1 640 m above sea level, and in places it is 451 m deep. More than 600 000 years ago, eruptions of the volcano Nemrut blocked the valley's old outlet, and the water had nowhere to go. That is why the lake has no river flowing out and why its water is so salty. It is a soda lake: besides salt, the water contains a lot of soda, a substance similar to baking soda. Only specially adapted animals can live in such water, like the pearl mullet (in Turkish "inci kefalı"), a fish related to the carp. In May and June, the fish swim up the rivers to lay their eggs in less salty water. Deep under water, tiny living things have built stone towers up to 40 m tall. On the island of Akdamar stands a church that is more than 1 000 years old.

Find it on the globe

Lake Van 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.