Essay About Aral Sea

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Geographical Setting The Aral Sea is a natural endorheic basin situated in the heart of Central Asia on the Eurasian continent. It straddles along the border of Kazakhstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the south. It was formerly the world’s fourth largest inland sea behind the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior and Lake Victoria. The basin is formed from the continuous inflow of water from the Syr Darya river in the north and from the Amu Darya river in the South. It encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The region surrounding the Aral Sea is largely arid and semi-arid. Having no outflow, the sea’s level, area and volume were maintained through a natural balance between river inflow and surface evaporation. In the 1960s, the surface of the Aral Sea measured around 68,000 km square with an average depth of 16m and a maximum depth of 68m.

Historical Background …show more content…

The Aral Sea was referred as ‘North Sea’ or Western Sea” in Chinese documents dating to 200 BC . In addition, Byzantine ambassador made a reference to a sea-lake in the region in 568 AD and Arab geographers had further ameliorated the description of the sea around 10 AD. Moreove, the Aral Sea was once a part of the famed East-West trading passage, the Silk Road.

The Russian presence in the region can be traced in the early eighteenth century with the beginning of Russian expedition in 1715-1716. It became more expansive in the nineteenth century with the deployment of two Russian vessels in 1847 on the Aral Sea and more researches were extended to sea and surrounding region. Continuous expedition and flourishing of research on the Aral allowed development of navigation and trade on the sea and the two connecting

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