__NOTOC__ Kartsakhi Lake (Georgian: კარწახის ტბა, ''karts'akhis tba''), or Lake Khozapini ( ka, ხოზაფინის ტბა, ''khozap'inis tba''; Turkish: ''Hazapin Gölü''), or Lake Aktaş ( tr, Aktaş Gölü), is a

soda lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality, typically with a pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt complex ...

in the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

. It straddles the

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

(53%) and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

(47%). The village of Kartsakhi lies near the lake's northeastern shore. It is the second largest lake in Georgia, covering an area of 26.3 or 26.6 square kilometers at an altitude of 1799 m. It is fed by a number of creeks. During the rainy season, its excess water discharges into the Kura River.Wetland page
/ref>

Fauna

It is an important bird habitat; it holds one of the largest populations of the

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Eurasia. It is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. It is one of the largest species of owl, and femal ...

in the country, along with populations of the

Dalmatian pelican The Dalmatian pelican (''Pelecanus crispus'') is the largest member of the pelican family, and perhaps the world's largest freshwater bird, although rivaled in weight and length by the largest swans. They are elegant soaring birds, with wingspa ...

and great white pelican.

References

Lakes of Georgia (country) Geography of Samtskhe–Javakheti Lakes of Turkey Landforms of Ardahan Province Important Bird Areas of Georgia International lakes of Asia Georgia (country)–Turkey border Çıldır District Important Bird Areas of Turkey {{Turkey-geo-stub