Siling Co

Where is Siling Co?

Countries on its shores: China.

Middle of the lake: 31.78° N, 89.10° E

The story behind it

Siling Co lies north of the Gangdisê mountains in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is about 72 km long from west to east and almost 23 km wide. Two rivers flow into it, but no river flows out, so the lake is salty. Books give different sizes for it, from about 1 640 to about 1 865 km², because its area changes over time. It is up to 33 metres deep. The air here is thin and cold: in July the average is less than 10 °C. In winter the whole lake freezes, and the ice can stay until late May. Only one kind of fish lives in its water. Since 1993 the lake has been part of a nature reserve of 400 000 hectares. About 120 kinds of birds live there, among them many black-necked cranes. Long ago, in the Ice Age, Siling Co, Nam Co and other lakes formed one huge lake.

Find it on the globe

Siling 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.