Issik-kul

Issik-kul (Kirghiz, 'warm water'), a lake in central Asia, in the Russian province of Semiryetchensk, situated, at an elevation of 5000 feet above sea-level, between the Terskei Ala-tau range on the south and the Kungei Ala-tau on the north. It measures 112 miles long, 38 miles broad, and covers an area of 1980 sq. m. Its water is very salt, but full of fish, especially carp. Notwithstanding the fact that it receives forty or more rivers, its surface falls permanently at the rate of 8 or 9 inches a year.