Aral Sea, Former lake between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia.
The Aral Sea, once among the largest inland bodies of water in the world, lies in the desert regions of Central Asia between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Most of the former water surface is now covered by salt deposits, while only small remnants of the original lake remain.
In the 1960s, Soviet irrigation projects diverted water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, causing the lake to shrink rapidly. Within a few decades, the lake split into separate bodies of water and much of the lakebed dried out completely.
Local communities now gather around the remaining water areas to fish on a much smaller scale than before. In some villages, people keep old fishing boats as reminders of the way of life that once depended entirely on the lake.
The region is remote and difficult to reach, with few roads running through the dry landscape. Visitors should bring plenty of water and supplies, as there is little infrastructure or services nearby.
The former seabed turned into the Aralkum Desert, where abandoned ships sit on sand far from any water. Some of these vessels have been rusting for decades in places that once lay deep beneath the surface of the lake.
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