Ysuk-Köl

Salt lake in northeastern Kyrgyzstan, in the Terskey Alatau mountain range 1,608 m/5,276 ft above sea-level. With an area of some 6,236–6,330 sq km/c. 2,450 sq mi, Ysuk-Köl is the world's second-largest alpine lake, after Lake Titicaca. Its deepest point is 695 m/2,280 ft, and is fed by up to 50 rivers and streams. There is some commercial fishing on the lake.

Ysuk-Köl was a centre of Scythian civilization, and several burial chambers and petroglyphs have been found. A number of spa towns were established around the lake's shores from the 1870s onwards. The area was closed to foreigners during the Soviet period, due to the existence of a secret naval weapons research establishment on the lake; since Kyrgyz independence, this facility has been closed.

Ysuk-Köl

Duban (oblast) in northeastern Kyrgyzstan, bordering on China to the southeast and Kazakhstan to the north; area 43,200 sq km/16,680 sq mi; population (1996) 426,000. The capital is Karakol. There is stockbreeding, and grain crops, potatoes, and poppies are grown; some coal is mined.

The entire region is part of the northern arm of the Tien Shan mountain range (the Terskey Alatau). There is rich mountain pasturage. Lake Ysuk-Köl lies in the north of the region. Cities in the region include Naryn.

The region was first formed as a Soviet oblast in 1970, and retained as an administrative unit by the government of newly independent Kyrgyzstan in 1991.