Turkey - May 17th, 2009

Lake Çıldır is a large freshwater lake in the Ardahan Province, northeastern part of Turkey, visible here northwest of the center of the image. The lake is close to the borders with Georgia and Armenia.

Lake Çıldır is located at an elevation of about 1,900 m and surrounded by mountains. It has an area of 123.00 km² and maximum depth of about 42 m. Water from the lake is used for irrigation.

A smaller lake, Lake Aktaş, can be seen north of Lake Çıldır. It is located on the border of Georgia and Turkey.

Another smaller lake, Lake Arpi, is visible east of Lakes Çıldır and Aktaş, on the other side of the snow-capped peaks. It can be found at an altitude of 2,023 m in the Shirak Province of Armenia. Fed by thaws and four streams, it is the source of the Akhurian River, known as the Arpaçay River in Turkish.

Moving to the southwest of those three lakes, the dark blue waters of an artificial reservoir are visible. This is the Arpaçay Reservoir, in the Kars Province of Turkey’s the Eastern Anatolia region. The reservoir was created by the dam of the same name, finished in 1983, on the aforementioned Akhurian (or Arpaçay) River.

Tags: Akhurian River Anatolia Ardahan Province Armenia Arpaçay Dam Arpaçay Reservoir Arpaçay River Georgia Lake Aktaş Lake Arpi Lake Çıldır Shirak Province Turkey |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a response, or trackback