YKS 2021 · Soru 59

The Aral Sea is a saltwater body in central Asia. It is bordered by Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south. The Aral Sea once covered an area of 68,000 square kilometres. However, it started to shrink during the second half of the 1900s, as most of the inflowing river water was used for irrigation before it reached the sea. The sea also loses water through evaporation. ---- The Aral has therefore shrunk drastically in its area and volume. By the end of the 1900s, the Aral Sea had lost so much water that the exposed land divided the sea into three separate parts.