Lakes(Nuur)

Water is distributed unevenly in Mongolia, predominately in lakes and rivers to the northwest. The low-lying area between the Mongol Altai and Khangai Mountains is often called the “Depression of the Great Lake’s although it is technically not a depression (ie: below sea level). The area is 600km long and up to 250km wide. At its lowest, northernmost point is lake Uvs, Mongolia’s largest saltwater lake(3,350km2). Lake Uvs is relatively shallow, 20m at its greatest depth; it lies 759m above sea level. The northeastern corner of the lake lies in Russian territory, having been annexed by Ambassador Molotov in 1957. Gobi-type soils and sands fill this low-lying area where smaller lakes and the world’s northernmost sand dunes are found.

Lake Khovsgol, the deepest lake (282m), is the country’s largest freshwater resource. Over 90 river enter it, and one flows out, the Egiin Gol (475km), a tributary of the river Selenge which flows into Lake Baikal, in Siberia. Baikal is the world’s biggest body of fresh water and is linked by the rivers Angara and Yenisey to the Arctic Ocean. Lake Khovsgol is the second-largest lake in Mongolia (2,760km2 and 136km long).