The Aral Sea was an endoheic lake (one with no outflow) located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Once the fourth largest lake in the world with an area of 26,300 square miles (68,000 sq. km), it has been shrinking since the 1960s after rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 1997, it had declined to 10% of its original size and split into four lakes, one of which has since disappeared. The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called one of the planet's worst environmental disasters.46°00'30.9"N, 59°17'39.8"E
The Aral Sea
The Aral Sea
The Aral Sea
The Aral Sea was an endoheic lake (one with no outflow) located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Once the fourth largest lake in the world with an area of 26,300 square miles (68,000 sq. km), it has been shrinking since the 1960s after rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 1997, it had declined to 10% of its original size and split into four lakes, one of which has since disappeared. The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called one of the planet's worst environmental disasters.46°00'30.9"N, 59°17'39.8"E