The Aral Sea is a landlocked sea located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It has been shrinking at a significant rate over the last couple of decades due to extensive irrigation from the Soviet Era, and also contains large amounts of pollution from weapons testing. Almost all of the area that made up the sea in 1960 is now desert.[1][2]
At one time it took up 24,904 square miles and was the fourth largest lake in the world. It is commercially important for fishing.[3]
References
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/678898.stm
- ↑ Aral Sea. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
- ↑ The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989