Khar-Us Lake

The Khar -Us Nuur ( Mongolian: Хар - Ус нуур, " Schwarzwassersee ") is a large freshwater lake in the west of Mongolia. It is located in the north of Khovd Aimag east of the city Khovd. The lake is about 1160 m above sea level, the lake occupies 1,578 square kilometers. The deepest part of the lake is only 4.5 m deep. The largest tributary is the River Khovd Gol, which forms at the mouth of the lake in a delta.

Around the lake is the Khar -Us Nuur National Park. It was founded in 1997 on the recommendation of the WWF and covers an area of ​​8,500 square kilometers. It is home to endangered species such as the giant Altai wild sheep, Siberian ibex, the snow leopard and the black stork. It also protects the park one of the most important wetlands of Mongolia, which serves over 200 different species of birds as a resting place.