Balyktykol ( kk, Балықтыкөл; russian: Балыктыколь)
/ref> is a lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...
in Karkaraly District
Karkaraly District ( kk, Қарқаралы ауданы, ) is a district of Karaganda Region in central Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Karkaraly. As of 2019, the district is home to a population of 36,025 peop ...
, Karaganda Region
Karaganda Region ( kk, Qarağandy oblysy; russian: Карагандинская область, translit=Karagandinskaja oblast′), also spelled Qaraghandy Region, is a region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Karaganda.
On 17 March 2022 it was an ...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...
, one of many lakes by that name.Karkaraly
Karkaraly ( kk, Қарқаралы, ''Qarqaraly'') (russian: Каркаралинск, ''Karkaralinsk''), also known as Karkaralinsk, is the capital of the Karkaraly District in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. Permanent settlement in the ar ...
city. The nearest inhabited places are Karabulak to the southeast, Yegindybulak
Yegindybulak ( kk, Егіндібұлақ, ''Egindibulaq'') is a settlement in Karkaraly District, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of the Yegindybulak Rural District (KATO code - 354851100). Population:
History
Th ...
to the east by Mount Ku
Mount Ku ( kk, Қу тауы) is a mountain massif in the Karkaraly District, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan.''Nature of Kazakhstan: Encyclopedia'' / General editor. B. O. Jacob. - Almaty: "Kazakh Encyclopedia" LLP, 2011. T.Z. - 304 pages. ISBN 996 ...
, and Koyandy village to the NW of the northwestern lakeshore.Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
under threat.
Geography
Balyktykol is a heart-shaped lake in the central/eastern Kazakh Uplands
The Kazakh Uplands ( kk, Сарыарқа, ''Saryarqa'' - "Yellow Ridge", russian: Казахский мелкосопочник, Kazakhskiy Melkosopochnik), also known as the Kazakh Hummocks, is a large peneplain formation extending throughout t ...
. It lies about to the east of lake Karasor surrounded by low hills. The lakeshores are low and gently sloping in the northwest and in the east, but in the remaining stretches they are rocky, with steep cliffs. There is a long and wide peninsula in the southeast dividing the southern part into two bays. The bottom of the lake is sand and mud.[ Google Earth]
Flora and fauna
There is steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslan ...
vegetation around Balyktykol, with wormwood
Wormwood may refer to:
Biology
* Several plants of the genus ''Artemisia'':
** ''Artemisia abrotanum'', southern wormwood
** '' Artemisia absinthium'', common wormwood, grande wormwood or absinthe wormwood
** ''Artemisia annua'', sweet wormwood o ...
and sedge
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus '' Carex'' ...
s. In some areas meadows are fringing the banks with fescue
''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on e ...
, spear grass, '' Achnatherum splendens'' and ''Caragana
''Caragana'' is a genus of about 80–100 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to Asia and eastern Europe.
They are shrubs or small trees growing tall. They have even-pinnate leaves with small leaflets, and solitary or ...
'' growing tall. Every year at the lake there is a large concentration of migratory birds. The main fish species in the lake are crucian carp
The crucian carp (''Carassius carassius'') is a medium-sized member of the common carp family Cyprinidae. It occurs widely in northern European regions. Its name derives from the Low German ''karusse'' or ''karutze'', possibly from Medieval Lati ...
and common bream
The common bream, freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream, carp bream or sweaty bream (''Abramis brama''), is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is now considered to be the only species in the genus ''Abramis''. ...
.[Balyktykol Lake - BirdLife Data Zone](_blank)
/ref>
See also
*List of lakes of Kazakhstan
Excluding the northernmost districts, Kazakhstan consists of endorheic basins, where rivers flow into one of the numerous lakes. The most important drainage system is known as Yedisu, meaning "seven rivers" in Turkic languages. Below is the list o ...
References
External links
Juri rides to Balyktykol Lake
(in Russian)
{{Lakes of Kazakhstan
Lakes of Kazakhstan
Karaganda Region
Kazakh Uplands
Important Bird Areas of Kazakhstan