Lake Yalpuh

Where is Lake Yalpuh?

Countries on its shores: Ukraine.

Largest lake of: Ukraine.

Middle of the lake: 45.42° N, 28.62° E

The story behind it

Long ago, during the Ice Age, this lake was a bay where rivers met the sea at the edge of the Danube delta. Over thousands of years, mud and sand piled up and cut it off from the open sea. Today the lake is about 39 kilometres long but only about 7 kilometres wide. It is very shallow: on average only about 2 metres deep, and 5.5 metres at its deepest point. The Yalpuh River flows in at the northern end, next to the town of Bolhrad. In the south, the lake is joined to Lake Kuhurlui, and through it and through small rivers and channels its water reaches the Danube. In summer the water warms up to 24 or 25 °C, and in winter the lake freezes over. Up to 40 kinds of fish live here, such as carp, perch and pike, and fishers catch them.

Find it on the globe

Lake Yalpuh 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.