Uvs Lake
Uvs Lake (Mongolian: Увс нуур; Tuvan: Успа-Хөл) is a highly saline lake in an endorheic basin - Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia with a small part in Russia. It is the largest lake in Mongolia by surface area, covering 3,350 km² at 759 m above sea level.
The northeastern tip of the lake is situated in the Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation. The largest settlement near the lake is Ulaangom. This shallow and very saline body of water is a remainder of a huge saline sea which covered a much larger area several thousand years ago.
Name
The name Uvs Nuur (sometimes spelled Ubsa Nor or Ubsunur) derives from subsen, a Mongolian word referring to the bitter dregs left behind in the making of airag (Mongolian milk wine), and nuur, the Mongolian word for lake. The name is undoubtedly a reference to the lake's salty, undrinkable water.
Geography
Uvs Lake has a length of 84 km and a width of 79 km, with an average depth of 6 m. Its basin is separated from the rest of the Great Lakes Depression by the Khan Khökhii ridge. However, it is not a rift lake as some mistakenly think.