Botkul ( kk, Боткөл; russian: Боткуль) is a
bittern salt lake in the
Kazakhstan–Russia border.
There is no salt mining at the lake. Its waters have a bitter, stinging taste and a strong smell of
hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The unde ...
. The authorities are exploring the potential of developing Botkul as a tourist attraction.
Water of Russia - Боткуль
/ref>
Geography
Botkul is an endorheic lake located east of the course of the Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
in the Caspian Lowland, about to the south of lake Elton. The main river feeding its waters is the Solyonaya, a small stream flowing from the west. The lake is shallow and in years of drought it dries completely up.[Боткуль](_blank)
''Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov
Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Про́хоров; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist known ...
. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (in Russian)Google Earth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
es. The Kazakhstan–Russia border runs across the middle of the lake from NNE to SSW. The western part of the lake lies in Pallasovsky District
Pallasovsky District (russian: Палла́совский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the thirty-three in Volgograd Oblast, Russia.Law #139-OD As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Pallasovsky Municipal Di ...
, Volgograd Oblast
Volgograd Oblast (russian: Волгогра́дская о́бласть, ''Volgogradskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the Volga region, Volga region of Southern Russia. Its adminis ...
, Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and the eastern in Bokey Orda District, West Kazakhstan Region
West Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Батыс Қазақстан облысы, translit=Batys Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Западно-Казахстанская область, translit=Zapadno-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan. The re ...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. Saykyn, located to the northeast, is the nearest village.
See also
* List of lakes of Kazakhstan
* List of lakes of Russia
References
External links
*
Tourism and recreational potential of the salt lakes of Western Kazakhstan
Lakes of Kazakhstan
Lakes of Volgograd Oblast
Endorheic lakes of Asia
West Kazakhstan Region
{{Kazakhstan-geo-stub