Barsa-Kelmes
Former island in the defunct Aral Sea / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the former island. For other uses, see Barsakelmes (disambiguation).
Barsa-Kelmes (Russian: Барсакельмес, Kazakh: Барсакелмес, Barsakelmes meaning "the place of no return") is a former island, the largest in the Aral Sea. Its area was 133 km2 in the 1980s,[1] but as the sea became more shallow it steadily grew, until in the 1990s it ceased to be an island. Its highest altitude is 113 m.
"Barsa-Kelmes" means "the place of no return". It was given such a name because of a number of stories of people (or groups of people) returning years or even decades after going to the island, thinking they had been gone only 2 or 3 days. [2]
It encompasses the Barsa-Kelmes Nature Reserve. Because of the native salt deposits, visitors are recommended to close their eyes during dust storms and strong winds.