Bulunkul is a shallow, freshwater lake in

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region,, abbr. / is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area, but only two percen ...

, in southeast

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, about 130 km east of the provincial capital of

Khorugh Khorugh ( tg, Хоруғ, ; russian: Хорог, translit=Khorog; ) is the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in Tajikistan. It is also the capital of the Shughnon District of Gorno-Badakhshan. It has a population of 30,5 ...

. Lying in the upper Gunt valley of the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the worl ...

, it has an area of 3900 ha with a maximum depth of 6 m. Dense vegetation covers much of its surface. It is 1.5 km from a similar lake,

Yashilkul Yashilkul (russian: Яшилькуль; tg, Яшилкӯл) is a freshwater lake in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, in southeast Tajikistan, about east of the provincial capital of Khorugh. Lying in the upper Gunt valley of the Pamir Mou ...

, both of which are surrounded by other

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s as well as

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a soil texture, textur ...

and

pebble A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predomina ...

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. ...

s. It forms part of the Bulunkul and Yashilkul lakes and mountains Important Bird Area. The lake was stocked with 37 000 gibel carp in 1967. The village of Bulunkul is known as one of the coldest inhabited places in Central Asia with a record minimum temperature of -63 degrees Celsius. The lake and village of Bulunkul are featured in
short environmental film
ref> by the United Nations University.

References

External links

* Lakes of Tajikistan Important Bird Areas of Tajikistan Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region {{Tajikistan-geo-stub