Lake Sevan
lake in Armenia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Sevan (Armenian: Սևանա լիճ, romanized: Sevana lich) is a large lake in Armenia. It is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. Sevan is one of the largest freshwater high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is in Gegharkunik Province. It is 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) above sea level. The surface area of the basin of lake is about 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi). It covers about one sixth of Armenia's total area. The lake itself is 1,241 km2 (479 sq mi). Its volume is 32.8 km3 (7.9 cu mi). Sevan is fed by 28 rivers and streams. Only 10% of the water that enters the lake is drained by the Hrazdan River. The remaining 90% evaporates.
The lake is the source of about 90% of the fish and 80% of the crayfish caught in Armenia. Sevan is very important to the economy and culture of the area. The only large island (now a peninsula) is home to a medieval monastery.
Sevan was used for irrigation of the Ararat plain and creating hydroelectric power during the Soviet period. This causes the level of water to decrease by around 20 m (66 ft). Its volume was reduced by more than 40%. Later two tunnels were built to move water from highland rivers. This stopped the decrease and its level began rising. Before people begane changing the lake's ecosystem, the lake was at an altitude of 1,916 m (6,286 ft) above sea level, 95 m (312 ft) deep, covered an area of 1,416 km2 (547 sq mi) (5% of Armenia's entire area), and had a volume of 58.5 km3 (14.0 cu mi).