Lake Balkhash summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Lake Balkhash.

Lake Balkhash, or Lake Balqash, Lake, southeastern Kazakhstan. It is about 375 mi (600 km) long, with a maximum depth of roughly 85 ft (25 m). Its chief feeder is the Ili River, which enters at the west in a wide delta. Harsh climate affects its size greatly; its area has varied from about 6,000 sq mi (15,500 sq km) to 7,300 sq mi (19,000 sq km), depending on seasonal precipitation. It is frozen from November to early April. Since the mid-20th century, industrial pollution has caused severe ecological damage.

Kazakhstan Summary

Kazakhstan, landlocked country of Central Asia. It is bounded on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, and on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea, and Turkmenistan; the Caspian Sea bounds Kazakhstan to the southwest. Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia

Lake Ann in North Cascades National Park, Washington

lake Summary

Lake, any relatively large body of slowly moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin of appreciable size. Definitions that precisely distinguish lakes, ponds, swamps, and even rivers and other bodies of nonoceanic water are not well established. It may be said, however, that rivers and

Asia Summary

Asia, the world’s largest and most diverse continent. It occupies the eastern four-fifths of the giant Eurasian landmass. Asia is more a geographic term than a homogeneous continent, and the use of the term to describe such a vast area always carries the potential of obscuring the enormous