Trip from Uralsk to Lake Shalkar -
Vacation on Lake Shalkar -
Lake Shalkar is one of the most beautiful ancient monuments in the Ural region. It has special ecological, scientific, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic value. It is the deepest and largest body of water in the West Kazakhstan region. This natural reservoir is considered very ancient, and its origins are still debated.
However, one "version" is more plausible. Lake Shalkar is part of the former Khvalynsk Sea. Since ancient times, Lake Shalkar has attracted attention; its shores were inhabited by the Oghuz and Pecheneg tribes, and later by the Kipchak and Turkic tribes – the ancestors of the Kazakh people. The lake was rich in flora and fauna.
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How to get there and visit
Lake Shalkar is in the West Kazakhstan region, part of the Ural Basin. The lake is located in the Terekty district.
Tourist information
Lake Shalkar was described by the Arab merchant and scholar Ahmed ibn Fadlan, who visited Volga Bulgaria in 921-922. Describing the route from Khorezm to Bulgaria, Ahmed ibn Fadlan devoted considerable attention to the paleography of the Eurasian center of the early Middle Ages. In his accounts of the settlement of the Oghuz and Pecheneg tribes in the Lake Shalkar region, he partially mentions the Shamar, Ankoty, and Vabna (Small Ankaty) rivers, describing them as "all the great rivers."
The elevation is 16.7 meters above sea level. Lake Shalkar covers an area of 205.8 km², is 18.4 km long, and has a maximum surface area of 14.7 km². The pit is clearly defined. The shores in the northern and southwestern parts are gently sloping, while the rest are rocky, 3-10 meters high. The Sholakankaty (Shalkarankaty) and Yesenakkaty rivers flow into the lake, and when the water level reaches 15.5 meters, the Solyanka River flows out of the lake. The water level rises in the spring and falls in the fall. The lake is oval in shape and extends from north to south. The maximum depth is 18 meters, with depths of 10 to 12 meters accounting for 30% of the lake bed, and depths of less than two meters accounting for 30%.
History
The largest urban settlement on the shores of Lake Shalkar is the White Mosque, located on the banks of the Sholakankaty River. The city's founding can be dated to the 18th-19th centuries. It is one of the largest urban cultural monuments in the region. A similar old town is Saraishyk in the Atyrau region.
The lake began to be studied as a natural site between 1768 and 1774 during a zoological expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences led by Academician P.S. Pallas. Pallas not only described the lake in detail but also wrote about fishing, its organization, and regulation.
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