# Iskanderkul

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**Iskanderkul** (Russian: Искандеркуль; Tajik: Искандаркӯл) is a mountain [lake](/source/Lake) of [glacial](/source/Glacier) origin in [Tajikistan](/source/Tajikistan)'s [Sughd Province](/source/Sughd_Province). It lies at an altitude of 2,195 metres (7,201 ft) on the northern slopes of the [Gissar Range](/source/Gissar_Range) in the [Fann Mountains](/source/Fann_Mountains). Triangular in shape, it has a surface area of 3.4 square kilometres (1.3 sq mi) and is up to 72 metres (236 ft) deep. Formed by a landslide[citation needed] that blocks the Saratogh river, the outflow of the lake is called the [Iskander Darya](/source/Iskander_Darya), which joins the [Yaghnob River](/source/Yaghnob_River) to form the [Fan Darya](/source/Fan_Darya), a major left tributary of the [Zeravshan River](/source/Zeravshan_River).

134 km from [Dushanbe](/source/Dushanbe) and 23 km from the Dushanbe—[Khujand](/source/Khujand) road, Iskanderkul is a popular tourist destination.[1]

The lake takes its name from [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great)'s passage in Tajikistan: *Iskander* is the Persian pronunciation of Alexander, and *kul* means lake in many [Turkic languages](/source/Turkic_language).[2] There are two legends connecting the lake to Alexander. The first one states it used to be a location the inhabitants of which resisted Alexander's rule, and in fury, the king ordered to divert a river and annihilate them. The second legend states that [Bucephalus](/source/Bucephalus) had drowned in the lake.[3][4]

## Birds

A 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) tract of land including the lake and surrounding mountains has been designated a nature reserve. As well as the lake itself, habitats found in the reserve include rivers, [water meadows](/source/Water_meadow), [broad-leaved](/source/Broad-leaved_tree) and [juniper](/source/Juniperus) forests, mountain [shrubland](/source/Shrubland) and [sub-alpine](/source/Sub-alpine) meadows.

Over half of the reserve, comprising 177 square kilometres (68 sq mi), has been identified by [BirdLife International](/source/BirdLife_International) as an [Important Bird Area](/source/Important_Bird_Area) because it supports significant numbers of the populations of various bird species, either as residents, or as breeding or [passage migrants](/source/Bird_migration). These include [Himalayan snowcocks](/source/Himalayan_snowcock), [saker falcons](/source/Saker_falcon), [cinereous vultures](/source/Cinereous_vulture), [yellow-billed choughs](/source/Yellow-billed_chough), [Hume's larks](/source/Hume's_lark), [sulphur-bellied warblers](/source/Sulphur-bellied_warbler), [wallcreepers](/source/Wallcreeper), [Himalayan rubythroats](/source/Himalayan_rubythroat), [white-winged redstarts](/source/White-winged_redstart), [white-winged snowfinches](/source/White-winged_snowfinch), [alpine accentors](/source/Alpine_accentor), [rufous-streaked accentors](/source/Rufous-streaked_accentor), [brown accentors](/source/Brown_accentor), [water pipits](/source/Water_pipit), [fire-fronted serins](/source/Fire-fronted_serin), [plain mountain finches](/source/Plain_mountain_finch), [crimson-winged finches](/source/Asian_crimson-winged_finch), [red-mantled rosefinches](/source/Red-mantled_rosefinch) and [white-winged grosbeaks](/source/White-winged_grosbeak).[5]

## References

1. *Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan*, Kamoludin Abdullaev and Shahram Akbarzadeh. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, and London. 2002, p. 95.

1. ["Iskanderkul and Sarytag"](https://caravanistan.com/tajikistan/north/fann-mountains/iskanderkul/). *Caravanistan*. Retrieved 2020-02-26.

1. ["Iskanderkul Travel Guide"](https://www.advantour.com/tajikistan/iskanderkul.htm)

1. ["Iskanderkul lake | Tajikistan Travel Guide"](http://www.traveltajikistan.net/gosee/iskanderkul_lake/)

1. ["Iskanderkul lake and mountains"](http://www.birdlife.org). *Important Bird Areas factsheet*. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-31.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Iskanderkul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskanderkul) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskanderkul?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.