Shalqar, Salt lake in Terekti District, West Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan

Shalqar is a salt lake in the Terekti district of Western Kazakhstan, about 70 kilometers south-southeast of Oral. It lies at 17.5 meters above sea level in a clearly formed depression, stretches 18.4 kilometers north to south and 14.7 kilometers wide, with a maximum depth of 13 to 18 meters. Its northern shores are flat and bordered by salt marshes, while elsewhere the banks rise 3 to 10 meters.

The lake formed from the ancient Khvalynsky Sea, which connected to the Caspian Sea during prehistoric times. The geological development reflects how the Caspian depression once extended across a wider area before retreating.

The shores served as settlement grounds for nomadic groups whose descendants became part of the modern Kazakh population. This location held significance in the migration patterns of early peoples across Central Asia.

The lake lies in the Terekti district, about 70 km south-southeast of Oral. Its water is brackish in spring when it drains into the Ural and becomes bitter-salty by late summer, so it is unfit for drinking. The lake freezes in November and thaws in May, and water levels rise by up to 2 m in spring.

Local residents call Shalqar the "Little Sea". On windy days whitecaps cover the surface and the noise resembles a real sea. The lake holds about 1.4 billion cubic metres of water.