Manchar Lake

Where is Manchar Lake?

Countries on its shores: Pakistan.

Largest lake of: Pakistan.

Middle of the lake: 26.42° N, 67.68° E

The story behind it

The lake formed long ago from a branch of the Indus River. Streams from the Kirthar Mountains bring water, and when the heavy monsoon rains fall, the lake can spread over as much as 500 square kilometres. In dry times it can shrink to only 36 square kilometres, and in 1958, during a drought, it even dried up completely. The lake is shallow, on average only 2.5 to 3.75 metres deep. When the Indus floods, river water can flow into the lake; in winter, when the river is low, water flows from the lake into the Indus. The Mohana people, sometimes called the 'Boat People', live on the lake, and thousands of fishing families depend on its fish. Birds from Siberia used to stop here in large numbers. But since dirty and salty water began to flow in, far fewer birds come, and many fish have died.

Find it on the globe

Manchar Lake 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.