Hulun Lake

Hulun Lake (simplified Chinese: 呼伦湖; traditional Chinese: 呼倫湖; pinyin: Hūlún Hú; Mongolian: Хөлөн нуур, romanized: Khölön nuur; lit. 'foot lake') or Dalai Lake^[4][5] (Mongolian: Далай нуур, romanized: Dalai nuur; lit. 'ocean lake') is a large lake in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China.

Hulun Lake
Panorama of lake with reed beds.
Hulun Lake
Location	Inner Mongolia (China)
Coordinates	48°58′23″N 117°26′08″E
Primary inflows	Kherlen River, Orshuun Gol
Primary outflows	Mutnaya Protoka (temporal Argun River−Amur Basin tributary)
Catchment area	33,469 km2 (12,922 sq mi)[1]
Basin countries	China, Mongolia
Max. length	90 km (56 mi)[2]
Max. width	27 km (17 mi)[2]
Surface area	2,339 km2 (903 sq mi)
Average depth	5.7 m (19 ft)[1]
Surface elevation	539 m (1,768 ft)
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Dalai Lake National Nature Reserve, Inner Mongolia
Designated	11 January 2002
Reference no.	1146[3]

Hulun Lake
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	呼倫湖
Simplified Chinese	呼伦湖
Postal	Hulun Lake
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hūlún Hú
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic	Хөлөн нуур
Mongolian script	ᠬᠦᠯᠦᠨ ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ
Transcriptions SASM/GNC Külün naɣur

Description

Hulun Lake reflecting clouds and sky.

It is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in all of China, covering approximately 2,339 km². In years with high precipitation, the normally exit−less endorheic lake may overflow at its northern shore, and the water will meet the Argun River (Ergune) after about 30 kilometres (19 mi).

The lake is not far from Manzhouli, which is on a major passenger rail-line. Although there are several villages nearby, Manzhouli is the nearest city of notable size. As of 1995 annual fish production was about 7,000 tons, 100 tons of shrimp, 4 kilograms of pearls, 1.5 million crayfish. Hulun Lake is also one of the key reed production areas in China.^[1]

Hulun Lake and its wetlands are a Biosphere reserve and a Ramsar site of China, Dalai Lake National Nature Reserve.^[5][6]

See also

• Amur River basin
• Endorheic lakes of Asia