Kokaral
Encyclopedia
Kokaral was until 1973 an island in Kazakhstan
, in the northern part of the Aral Sea
. It had an area of 273 km² (1960), and its highest point was the 163 meter high hill called Daut. On its northern shore was situated the fishing villages of Kokaral, Avan and Akbasty.
Due to the shrinking of the Aral Sea, the island became connected to the mainland in the 1960s at its western end, and became the Kokaral Peninsula. From 1987 on it became connected to the surrounding land also at its eastern end, over the Berg Strait, turning the peninsula into an isthmus separating the North Aral Sea
and the South Aral Sea
.
In 2005 the Dike Kokaral
across the Berg Strait was completed. The dike stops water from the North Aral Sea from spilling over into the South Aral Sea, and thus contributes to maintaining and increasing the waterlevel in the northern sea.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, in the northern part of the Aral Sea
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...
. It had an area of 273 km² (1960), and its highest point was the 163 meter high hill called Daut. On its northern shore was situated the fishing villages of Kokaral, Avan and Akbasty.
Due to the shrinking of the Aral Sea, the island became connected to the mainland in the 1960s at its western end, and became the Kokaral Peninsula. From 1987 on it became connected to the surrounding land also at its eastern end, over the Berg Strait, turning the peninsula into an isthmus separating the North Aral Sea
North Aral Sea
The North Aral Sea is the portion of the former Aral Sea that is fed by the Syr Darya River. It split from the South Aral Sea in 1986 as water levels dropped due to river diversion for agriculture. The poorly built Dike Kokaral intended to contain the North Aral Sea and save its fisheries failed...
and the South Aral Sea
South Aral Sea
The South Aral Sea is a lake in the basin of the former Aral Sea which formed in 1986 when that body divided in two, due to diversion of river inflow for agriculture...
.
In 2005 the Dike Kokaral
Dike Kokaral
Dike Kokaral is a levee across a narrow stretch of the Aral Sea, splitting off the North Aral Sea from the much larger South Aral Sea . Work was completed in August 2005....
across the Berg Strait was completed. The dike stops water from the North Aral Sea from spilling over into the South Aral Sea, and thus contributes to maintaining and increasing the waterlevel in the northern sea.