Nam Co

Where is Nam Co?

Countries on its shores: China.

Middle of the lake: 30.69° N, 90.44° E

The story behind it

Nam Co lies at the northern foot of the Nyenchen Tanglha mountains, in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It stretches about 70 km from east to west and 30 km from north to south. Among China's salt lakes, only Qinghai Lake is bigger. No river flows out of Nam Co: water from snow and springs runs in and stays there. The deepest spot is 125 metres, and about half of the lake is more than 90 metres deep. Winters are bitterly cold, down to −40 °C. In December the whole lake freezes, and ice up to 30 cm thick stays until March. Five small islands without people rise from the water, and a peninsula called Tashi Dor reaches into the lake. For centuries, Tibetan pilgrims have visited caves on its shores. Long ago, in the Ice Age, Nam Co and Siling Co were joined in one giant lake.

Find it on the globe

Nam Co 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.