Karakul (Tajikistan)

Karakul (Tajikistan)

Karakul or Qaraqul (Tajik: Қарoкул), or "Black Lake", is a 52 km (32 mi) diameter endorheic lake in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, which lies at an altitude of 3,900 m (12,800 ft) above mean sea level. A peninsula projecting from the south shore and an island off the north shore divide the lake into two basins, a smaller eastern one which is relatively shallow, between 13 to 19 m (43 to 62 ft) deep, and a larger western one, 221 to 230 m (725 to 750 ft) deep. It has no drainage outlet.

To the British cartographers and the British administration in India, this lake was known as "Lake Victoria of the Pamirs," named in honor of Queen Victoria, the British monarch. (In the past, lake Zorkul has been confused with the Karakul, as being the "Lake Victoria" noted by the Western sources. This is a mistake). All British maps of the time—and in fact, the Imperial Russian maps—used Victoria for the name of the lake. Queen Victoria was the grandmother of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II. The name fell into gradual disuse with the advent of the Soviets and the British departure from India. The Kirgiz name is now used universally and exclusively for the lake, with old Saka/Pamiri name for the lake---the "Zira"—used alongside the Kirgiz name, becoming totally obsolete.