Song Kol Lake
Interesting facts
- The lake had no fish until the Soviet era, when whitefish were stocked from 1959 in what became one of Kyrgyzstan's most successful fish introductions.
- Around ten fish species are now recorded in the lake.
- The lake sits in a high basin about 57 kilometres long and 29 kilometres wide, enclosed by ridges on every side.
- Its water is fresh but changes with the seasons, carrying about 465 milligrams of dissolved minerals per litre in summer and about 306 in winter.
- Despite the altitude, the shallow water warms to about 20–23 °C at the surface in summer.
- The lake supports one of the highest-altitude breeding populations of the demoiselle crane in the world.
- Ancient stone circles near the lake resemble ritual structures found in Mongolia and the Altai, linking the site to a wide nomadic world.
- Ice on the lake typically breaks up from mid-April but does not vanish completely until late May.
Why it is worth it
Song-Köl is a broad, shallow lake set at more than 3,000 metres in the mountains of central Kyrgyzstan, ringed by ridges and by wide open pastures. The water lies at 3,016 metres above sea level and covers about 270 square kilometres, stretching some 29 km long and up to 18 km wide, yet its greatest depth is only 13.2 metres. It is the second largest lake in Kyrgyzstan after Issyk-Kul, and the largest of fresh water.
Mountains enclose the basin on all sides: the Songköl Too ridge to the north and the Borbor Alabas and Moldo Too ranges to the south. Glaciers and four permanent rivers feed the lake, and its water leaves by evaporation and through the river Kajyrty, which belongs to the Naryn basin. Winters at this altitude are long and harsh. The average yearly temperature is below freezing, January averages around minus 20 °C, snow covers the ground for 180 to 200 days a year, and the lake is sealed by ice a metre or more thick until it begins to break up in the second half of April. In July the mean temperature reaches only about 11 °C.
The grasslands and marshy shores are a refuge for birds; some 190 species have been recorded at the lake, and black-headed gulls and demoiselle cranes breed here in colonies, along with bar-headed geese, black storks and birds of prey. Part of the lake and its shores has been protected within the Karatal-Japyryk nature reserve since 1998, and in 2011 Song-Köl was listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance. People have used this high valley for a very long time: ancient petroglyphs, stone settings and burial mounds scattered around the basin bear witness to nomadic settlement long before the present day.
Getting there
Song-Köl lies in the north of Naryn Region, about 85 km from the regional capital, Naryn. The nearest international airport is Manas International Airport (BSZ) near Bishkek, about 146 km away in a straight line.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Song-Köl is an alpine lake in northern Naryn Region, Kyrgyzstan. It lies at an altitude of 3016 m, and has an area of about 270 km2 and volume of 2.64 km3. The lake's maximum length is 29 km, breadth about 18 km at its widest, and the deepest point is 13.2 m. It is the second largest lake in Kyrgyzstan after Issyk-Kul, and the largest fresh water lake in the country.
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