Issyk-Kul

This article is about the Kyrgyz lake. For the Kyrgyz region, see Issyk-Kul Region. For the Kyrgyz district, see Issyk-Kul District. For the Kyrgyz airport, see Issyk-Kul International Airport.

Issyk-Kul
Temurtu-Nor
Issyk-Kul Location within Kyrgyzstan Issyk-Kul Location within West and Central Asia
Issyk-Kul from space, September 1992
Coordinates	42°25′N 77°15′E
Lake type	Ancient lake, Endorheic Mountain lake Monomictic, saline
Primary inflows	Glaciers
Primary outflows	Evaporation
Catchment area	15,844 square kilometres (6,117 sq mi)
Basin countries	Kyrgyzstan
Max. length	178 kilometres (111 mi)
Max. width	60.1 kilometres (37.3 mi)
Surface area	6,236 square kilometres (2,408 sq mi)
Average depth	278.4 metres (913 ft)
Max. depth	668 metres (2,192 ft)
Water volume	1,736 cubic kilometres (416 mi3)
Residence time	~330 years
Salinity	6g/L
Shore length1	669 kilometres (416 mi)
Surface elevation	1,607 metres (5,272 ft)
Settlements	Balykchy, Cholpon-Ata, Karakol
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	The Issyk-kul State Nature Reserve with the Issyk-kul Lake
Designated	12 November 2002
Reference no.	1231
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Issyk-Kul (Russian: Иссык-Куль) or Ysyk-Köl (Kyrgyz: Ысык-Көл [ɯsɯ́q kʰɵl]; lit. 'Hot Lake') is an endorheic saline lake in the western Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan—just south of a dividing range separating Kyrgyzstan from Kazakhstan. It is the eighth-deepest lake in the world, the eleventh-largest lake in the world by volume, and the second-largest saline lake. It is located at an elevation of 1,607 metres (5,272 ft). Despite the elevation and low temperatures during winter, it rarely freezes due to its high salinity.

The lake is a Ramsar site of globally significant biodiversity and forms part of the Issyk-Kul Biosphere Reserve.