The Aral Sea is a formerly undrained salt lake in Central Asia, located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Since the 1960s, the level of the sea began to decline rapidly because of the diversion of water for irrigation purposes from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers.

Several port cities, such as Aralsk, suddenly found themselves far from the sea, many ships were abandoned. Photos by: Denis Frantsouzov.

once it was the sea

Tags: Abandoned · Kzyl-Orda oblast

In October 2013, the Kazakh Geographic Society organized a historical and archaeological, ethnographic expedition to Kyzylorda region located in the southern part of the country. During the six-day expedition, the participants drove about 3.5 thousand kilometers.

The region has a vast historical and cultural heritage, beautiful nature. Here are some photos taken during the expedition by Damir Otegen and Vasily Mihailin, voxpopuli.kz.

picturesque landscapes

Tags: Kzyl-Orda oblast · landscapes

During Soviet times the volume of production of salt in Kyzylorda oblast of Kazakhstan reached 600,000 tons annually, ensuring the needs of all 15 republics of the USSR.

Today the region produces about 250,000 tons of salt that is used only for the needs of domestic market. Salt reserves in this area are about 11 million tons, enough to continue production for the next 40-50 years. Photos by voxpopuli.kz

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Tags: Aralsk city · Kzyl-Orda oblast · salt