Neha Patil (Editor)

Tyuleniy Archipelago (Kazakhstan)

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Location
  
Caspian Sea,

Region
  
Mangystau Region

Elevation
  
2 m

Highest elevation
  
2 m (7 ft)

Population
  
5

Area
  
130 km²

Tyuleniy Archipelago (Kazakhstan) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

The Tyuleniy Archipelago, Kazakh: Түлен аралдары Tülen Araldary, Russian: Тюленьи острова is an island group in the north-eastern Caspian Sea located off the Mangyshlak Bay west of the Mangyshlak Peninsula and about 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) NW of the Tupkaragan Peninsula, 27 kilometres (17 miles) north of Bautino. Perhaps the most substantial group of islands in the Caspian, they were first accurately cartographed by Fedor Ivanovich Soimonov who led the 1719 Caspian Expedition, studying the Caspian Sea from 1719 to 1727.

Contents

Map of Tyuleniy Archipelago, Kazakhstan

Administratively, the Tyuleniy Archipelago belongs to the Mangystau Region of Kazakhstan.

Islands

  • Kulaly Island (Kulaly-Aral) is the westernmost and longest island, stretching 25 km from tip to tip. Its shape is slightly irregular, with inlets and headlands. There is a meteorological station with a lighthouse and a Kazakh border guard post on this island, making it the only one in the group inhabited by man. The terrain on Kulaly is either arid or waterlogged and reed-covered.
  • Morskoy Island (Morskoy Aral) is the next island and the second largest island. It is also the biggest in area, with a length of 19 km and a maximum width of 7 km. This island consists mostly of wetland.
  • Rybachy Island (formerly Ostrov Svyatoy) is long and narrow and is located south of Morskoy.
  • Podgornyy Island is located NE of Rybachy.
  • Novyy Island is the easternmost island. It is located between Podgorny and the mainland and used to have an irregular shape until about 2009. Recent pictures show that this island has eroded heavily.

    • Ecology

    The islands are desert-like and sandy, with little grass. There are reeds on the leeward side of Kulaly as well as on the other islands, which are much lower and waterlogged. Many Caspian seals come to the islands' shores, hence their name "Tyuleniy", which means "seal".

    The islands have been declared an IBA and a National Protected Zone (State Reservation). There are large concentrations of seagulls and wetland birds, like coots, wild ducks, swans, egrets and waders, in the archipelago during their nesting period. The Tyuleniy island group is also an important breeding ground for the Sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis).

    References

    Tyuleniy Archipelago (Kazakhstan) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA