Uvs Lake

Uvs Nuur is Mongolia's largest lake by area, about 3,350 km² of shallow, salty water at 759 m in the north-west of the country, about 30 km from the provincial centre of Ulaangom. The lake is roughly 84 km long and 79 km wide, but only about 6 m deep on average. It is the homeland of the Dörvöd and Bayad, two Oirat Mongol groups.

A protected basin

Uvs Nuur sits at the bottom of a closed basin of about 70,000 km² that straddles the border with Russia's Tuva Republic. The Tes river and smaller streams from the surrounding ranges flow in, but nothing flows out, so evaporation has made the lake saline, about half as salty as the sea. The basin is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and, since 2003, a World Heritage Site shared with Russia; the lake and its wetlands have been a Ramsar site since 2004. In a small area it brings together glaciers, alpine tundra, mountain taiga, steppe, semi-desert and sand dunes, including Böörög Deliin Els, one of the northernmost dune fields in the world. Snow leopard, argali and ibex live in the mountains, waterbirds gather on the shores, and the basin is home to demoiselle cranes and Mongolian larks.

Visiting the lake

Most visitors come for birdwatching and a swim in the warm, salty shallows in midsummer, then head into the Kharkhiraa mountains or the dunes. Two or three days is enough for the lake and dunes; add several more for a mountain trek. Birdwatching is best during the spring and autumn migrations.

Weather and care

The lake freezes from about October to May, and winters here are among the coldest in Mongolia. Keep vehicles on existing tracks, stay back from nesting birds, and camp away from the water's edge to avoid disturbing them.